Blog written by: Certified Dubsado Specialist Sarah Day
Tired of getting generic, 3-word "[name] was great!" reviews from your clients (if they even give you a review at all)? 🙄
As a busy entrepreneur who pours my heart and soul into every project, I have to admit that those platitudes are pretty deflating. Luckily, there are some steps you and I can take to proactively encourage our clients to write better, more powerful reviews for us more often.
But before we dive in, let’s first explore WHY our clients are not writing good testimonials. For the sake of this post, I’m going to assume it’s NOT because they received poor service from you. 'Cause that’s just ridiculous! 😉
The biggest reasons your clients are not writing quality reviews are:
These may seem obvious to you but the truth is, your clients are just as busy as you are. You have to make sharing their testimonial as easy for them as possible. I’m going to show you how, as we tackle each one of these issues individually.
The easiest way to get more reviews and testimonials is to simply ask for them! People are much more likely to respond to your direct request for a review than they are to voluntarily seek out a place online to post their feedback (even if they had a great experience). Which brings us to our first strategy:
Established business owners have developed a repeatable, step-by-step process they use for every client, every time. It’s what makes them experts. It’s also what creates the predictable results their clients have paid for and rely on. In the same way that you know what step to take after a new client signs up, you should also have a step built into your process for asking for a testimonial as soon as the project is complete. If you’re always asking for reviews, you’re much more likely to actually get reviews.
Maybe asking for reviews is technically already a part of your process, but you find yourself forgetting to send that request or sending it once and never following up. This brings us to #2:
The best way to remember to ask clients for a review is to not HAVE to remember it. There are countless ways to create a system of automation for your business that will either remind you to send your testimonial request on time or it will send that request on your behalf automatically.
Personally, I prefer the latter. In fact, I’ve developed a simple yet powerful testimonial request workflow in Dubsado* that runs as part of my overall client experience for every single project I take on. This workflow automatically sends out a Feedback Form asking clients to share their story. It also includes automated reminders and a “thank you” email if/when they do complete the form.
*This is my Dubsado affiliate link. If you sign up for a paid subscription using this link, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. When you sign up, you will also be eligible to earn your own affiliate commissions through Dubsado!
Let’s face it: unless your target audience is 🖋️copywriters, most of your clients probably don’t know how to write amazing testimonials that paint the full picture of their personal transformation story. It’s not something that comes natural to them, so you need to use #3:
If the only question you’re asking your clients at the end of your work together is “How did we do?” it’s no wonder the answer you’re getting is simply “Great!” We need to help clients go deeper and share their before, during, and after experience.
To help with this, Donald Miller, the author of Building a Story Brand, shares these question that can be used to help paint that full picture:
By asking specific questions like these, you’re more likely to get higher quality answers. As a result, those answers can be crafted into a transformational story that inspires other potential clients to want those same results from you. If you’re not already asking these kinds of questions, I highly recommend that you start. Check out the next section for a free template you can use! 📄
As I mentioned earlier, I have a Feedback Form that’s automatically sent out to my clients at the end of our work together. Having a standard form like this is the best way to ask your guiding questions and to make sure clients are sharing those quality answers.
If you’re a fellow Dubsado user, you can download my free Feedback Form template directly into your account to start using with your own clients.
You can take this a step even further and really supercharge your testimonials by:
Now that you’re getting clients to go deeper with your guiding questions, you can also help them share to a wider audience by simply telling them where else they should post. If you do it right (like the way I share in my testimonial request workflow), this can be a simple step that most happy clients will gladly take. They've already done the hard work of writing down their story. If you tell them where else they can share those thoughts online and give them the direct links to do so, they'll be more likely to post that story in multiple places.
For example, if you’re a wedding vendor and you want your clients to review you on The Knot, you need to send them the EXACT URL that takes them straight to your review page. The fewer clicks they have to take to get there, the better!
This may feel like a more advanced tactic for you to use, but it goes back to the very first point we talked about. If you ask, they’re more likely to do. Ask clients to share their story and their results with other business owners they know. Or if that feels like too much, then ask if they know someone they could put you in touch with. Either way, just make the ask! You can include this as a question in your Feedback Form or as a follow-up email after they’ve submitted the form. However you decide to include this step, I definitely recommend automating it whenever possible! 😉
You know you do good work and you have tons of happy clients to prove it. But if they aren’t leaving you glowing reviews or their testimonials are lacking that certain je ne sais quoi, here are 5 things you can do to get more (better quality) reviews:
Looking for more tips and tricks on how to elevate your client experience and optimize your Dubsado account? Follow me on Facebook and Instagram!
Need more custom one-on-one support? Visit sarahleighday.com/services to find out how we can work together.
Not even sure what Dubsado is? Sign up for an amazing free trial to get your feet wet. And bonus, once you decide you’re ready to upgrade to a paid account, you can use my affiliate link and referral code (sarahleighday) to get 30% off your first month or year! Not bad, huh?
Log into your Dubsado account today to get started.
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*Miller, Donald. "3 Ways to Get Authentic, Powerful Customer Testimonials." Web blog post. Building a Story Brand. Web. 13 May 2023.
👋 Hey, I'm Sarah! When I first started helping people with their Dubsado accounts in 2018, I had zero process for my own business and learned the hard way what it's like to feel like your projects are constantly on fire and you're losing money. I didn't want anyone else to have to make the same mistakes I did, so I pivoted my business into something that specifically helps Dubsado users put more structure and strategy behind their operations so they can maximize their time while minimizing their effort (without pulling all their hair out one by one)!
When I'm not delivering VIP Days or creating workflow mini courses, I'm using my workflow strategy skills to help my church function more efficiently and effectively. I'm also a wife and mom with 1 daughter and 2 fur babies. 😊
