And before the *cancel* button is clicked, let me explain.
You’ve seen them everywhere.
“Loved it! 5 stars!”
“Highly recommend!”
“Game-changer!”
Nice? Sure. But persuasive? Ermm…. nope.
Your eyes glaze over and with barely a *meh* you scroll on past.
For the value they add, they might as well not be there.
Because a great testimonial doesn’t just tell people you’re good at what you do.
If you’re in business, have a website (you *have* a website, right?!), you’ve worked with clients… there’s already an assumption that you must be good enough.
A great testimonial should be detailed. Tangible. It should remove the reader’s doubts and objections before they were even aware they had them.
It should make them feel something.
Why Most Testimonials Fall Flat
A weak testimonial says:
“This course was great!”
A strong testimonial says:
“Before taking this course, I was overwhelmed and second-guessing every decision I made—that’s if I could even make a decision.
Now, I have a strategy. I have a plan. The worry and anxiety are gone. And for the first time in my career, I feel confident and assured—and my clients can see and feel the difference.
And the best thing? My calendar is booked solid for the next 3 months, and I owe it all to this course.”
✅ It speaks to common pain points that others will be feeling
✅ It highlights specific results that others want
✅ It details the emotional transformation that others dream of achieving
And it plants the idea of “Well, if it worked for them… it’s bound to work for me, too”
And makes it much more likely that those “others” reading those testimonials are one step away from becoming your next customer.
I know what you’re thinking.
“That sounds great, but whenever I ask for a testimonial, I get a couple of vague lines about how nice I am—if I even get a response at all.”
The good news is, there’s an easy fix and all it takes is to STOP asking clients to write a testimonial for you.
They’re so focussed on their current success, they don’t particularly want to revisit how they felt before they met you. They might even struggle to remember everything they did. So they dash off a vanilla “this course was great” and breathe a sigh of relief that it’s over with.
Instead, talk to them.
💡 Ask them how they felt before they worked with you.
💡 How they felt while they worked with you.
💡 And how they feel now that they’ve got the results they’d hoped for.
And then use what they say to write a testimonial that tells that story.
Now I’m not saying make it up, and I’m absolutely not saying to put words into their mouths.
But take what they say and restructure it, refine it, and highlight what matters most to future customers and before you know it, you’ve got a scroll-stopping testimonial that makes a difference.
(and of course, you must *always* get their agreement before using it).
For the last two weeks, I’ve been interviewing people who’ve worked with my client and getting them to open up and share their stories to help me market a new course they’re creating, and I’ve got some incredible testimonials to write based on what they said.
And yes, I’m writing them, because I’m a writer… and they are not.
I know the objections my client’s ideal customers will have in their minds and with the very real experiences of past customers, we can bust them wide open.
That’s the difference between a testimonial that’s doing little more than filling space and a testimonial that actually helps you to sell yourself and your course.