Writing Effective Customer Testimonials

You Don’t Need Better Testimonials —  You Need Better Storytelling Your Testimonials Are Dying in Your Docs Most businesses are sitting on a goldmine of social proof. (And letting it rot) Here's the truth no one's telling you: Raw testimonials don't sell. Stories do. Here's how to transform dead feedback into living proof: 1. Find the Tension First → What kept your client awake at night? → Which "solutions" had already failed? → What made them finally reach out? 2. Build the Stakes → What would happen if nothing changed? → Which obstacles almost stopped them? → What convinced them to trust you? 3. Show the Transformation → What specific results emerged? → Which surprise benefits appeared? → How does their world look different now? Example: Before: "Great service, helped us grow our sales!" After: "We were burning through $40K/month on ads that didn't convert. Two agencies had failed us. Within 8 weeks of implementing the new framework, our cost per lead dropped 65% and our team stopped working weekends." See the difference? One is forgettable. The other makes prospects reach for their wallet. Your testimonials are story gold. Stop letting them gather dust. ♻️ Share if this shifted your thinking 🔔 Follow Mike Hays for more modern marketing psychology

93% of consumers say online reviews influence their purchase decisions. But the way most use social proof actually hurts conversion instead of helping. It's one of digital marketing's greatest ironies. I've analyzed thousands of websites over the past decade and found a consistent pattern: companies add testimonials and reviews to their sites, yet they often sabotage their effectiveness through poor implementation. The psychology is clear: humans are social creatures who look to others when making decisions. But simply sprinkling testimonials throughout your site isn't enough. Here are the common social proof mistakes that kill conversion: ↳ Placing social proof at the wrong stage of the journey Don't show testimonials before establishing what your product actually solves. ↳ Using reviews that sound suspiciously perfect Real reviews have nuance... 4.7 stars is more believable than 5.0. ↳ Showcasing anonymous quotes instead of identifiable people Our brains dismiss "J.S. from California" as potentially fake 🤷🏻♂️ Social proof is most effective when strategically deployed based on where customers are in their decision-making process: ↳ Discovery Use expert endorsements and certification badges to establish credibility ↳ Information Gathering Customer reviews highlighting specific benefits address practical concerns ↳ Decision-making Testimonials addressing potential objections remove final barriers One enterprise client at The Good increased conversions 42% (!!) by simply moving testimonials from their homepage to their decision stage pages. Is your social proof convincing potential customers, or just convincing *you* that you've checked a marketing box?

Gong's 4 top-performing LI video ads are entirely narrated by their customers. The format is genius. The targeting is crisp. Here's how to copy it 👇 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵: • 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘢𝘥 • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘴 ~10-12 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦 + 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭 - 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘀 The Number 1 rule of any customer story is to make it industry-relevant. For this campaign, Gong targeted 3 industries. Science (w/ Elsevier in this video) B2B software (w/ Square) Finance (w/ Nasdaq) I don't work at Gong, so I can't know for sure. But I'd guess these are among the top 3 customer verticals for Gong. Obviously, those are juicy logos. But these work with smaller logos too, as long as the audiences match the creative. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮 - 𝗖𝗼-𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 The punchiest thing about these ads is their focus. No background on their company. No talk about sales methodology. No introduction, even. It's purely focused on Benefit → (because of) → Feature And then they show you the feature themselves. Concise. Clear. Cool. Work with your customer to genuinely discover what their favorite feature is. When it's authentic, it's always better. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯 - 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 Testimonials are expensive if you do 1 per day. So if I were working at a Series A/B B2B SaaS company, I would book multiple rooms in an office space, and get ready for a super day. You can staple this onto a customer event OR host a "dinner" and make this a two-fold initiative. (Ads + your customers exchanging insights) These ads didn't need b-roll of employees. They just needed a VP of Sales at a desk. You can do that anywhere. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰 - 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮 This is one of the top reasons this ad is so compelling. It's a VP of Sales (on camera) talking directly to a VP of Sales (the viewer). So many testimonial ads look off-camera, which sucks. There's no connection with the viewer. Eye contact grabs your attention much faster & holds it. Obviously, use a teleprompter to help your customers with this :) 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟱 - 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵*𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 I watched the full videos for each customer. They were ~2-3 min long. In it, they talked about: → Leadership philosophy → Problem they faced → 2-3 features → Outcomes Then each one of those videos became 3-4 different (0:15) ads. That's how this campaign had a lot of legs. ------ If you aren't a VP of Sales, was this ad still interesting to you? Did I miss something that caught your eye? Let me know in the comments!

The most engaged with section on a B2B landing page: Testimonials. Not surprising. Trust is a huge factor in B2B purchases. Making sure social proof is on there isn't enough. Like every other section, it needs to be strategic. That's where many B2B companies fail. Here are the common mistakes I see: 1. Overloading with too much proof More is better, right? Wrong. You’ll see landing pages sprinkle testimonials every few blocks on a landing page. This is a disruptive experience, especially if it doesn’t fit the flow of information. If your prospect doesn't even know what your product does yet, use the real estate to establish that clarity before plastering with proof. 2. Wild claims and too little proof I’ve seen companies claim to work with 1,000+ companies globally yet will have a single testimonial on a landing page. This makes your initial claim less believable. 3. Using irrelevant social proof If you’re targeting Enterprise but all your logos and testimonials are from smaller companies, then it will hurt credibility before helping it. 4. Not using different *kinds* of social proof Companies can be monotone in their social proof - only using long form or only using logos. There are different ways to add credibility without it being redundant. I call these "lite" proof vs "heavy proof". Lite = logos, one-line testimonials  Heavy = more robust long-form testimonials Use lite earlier on pages.  Heavy to drive your points home further down. 

Hey sales leaders: Two-minute customer stories are probably more valuable to your reps than two-sentence customer stories. Most reps love having lots of customer stories committed to memory -- anecdotes of how your company did cool stuff for customer XYZ. (I'm not referring to formal case studies on websites or in PDFs. I'm referring to talk tracks that reps incorporate into conversations.) Nothing too controversial there. But when I listen to reps incorporate anecdotes into conversations, the anecdotes tend to be about 15-20 seconds. They sound something like: "We worked with X company. They had Y problems. After working with us, they got Z results." A very short anecdote like that can be valuable, but think about it from a buyer's perspective: What does a very short anecdote like that do for me? It's a signal that learning about this solution may be worth my while. Mentally, I'm thinking, "Okay, what they do is at least within the ballpark of what I'm trying to do, so maybe I'll listen." It's like a tag line for a movie: "Henry Fonda in Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men: Life is in their hands -- Death is on their minds." "Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can: The true story of a real fake." "Julia Robers in Erin Brockovich: She brought a small town to its feet and a corporation to its knees." Those may intrigue you a bit, but they're not probably not enough to make you want to see the movie. You know what brief customer anecdotes don't do? They don't draw the listener in. They don't make it easy for the listener to see themselves in the story. They don't have protagonists who overcome adversity. They're not memorable enough to commit to memory, to retell to someone else. They're not engaging. They don't tell compelling stories. They can work in prospecting & very top of funnel activities -- because they have the ability to check an informal qualification box for the buyer. And that's an important purpose in sales. But they mostly fall flat once you're in a legit sales cycle. Imagine getting an executive buyer to join a call and telling this kind of story: "We worked with X company. They had Y problems. After working with us, they got Z results." Boring. Yawn. Crickets. In those scenarios, reps need to be able to captivate the audience. And stories are the oldest and most captivating forms of human communication. So reps need longer, more compelling stories -- with heroes, villains, failures, and victories. Back to the movie metaphor: 1. When prospecting, the movie tagline version of customer stories is usually sufficient. 2. But when a rep is in a sales cycle, they need the movie trailer. They need a story. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What does a longer story sound like? There's no single way to do it, but it does have to have a story arc that the listener can connect with and feel compelled by. Attached is a framework I've used. Check it out. Happy selling. #heysalesleaders #salesexcellence

Testimonial requests tend to sound like homework. “Would you mind filling out a quick review form?” “Could you write a few lines about your experience?” As Abe Lincoln once said - ain't nobody got time for that. Not when they’re drowning in QBR decks and budget asks. But here’s the good news: You’re ALREADY getting testimonials. You’re just not capturing them. How? Well, your best reviews happen mid-sentence...not in post-call surveys. Every week, your customers are saying: - “This saved us so much time.” - “I had no idea we could do that.” - “You’ve made my job way easier.” THAT'S your testimonial. Don’t ask for it later. Double back immediately. “Loved that feedback - any chance I can turn that into a short quote for our team? I’ll write it up for you to approve.” The answer is usually yes. Here’s a 3-part system CSMs can use: 1. Use Sybill to identify key praise moments. Tag the call. Clip the quote. Make it easy for marketing to use. Bonus points if it aligns to a launch, feature, or persona. 2. Send the follow-up within 24 hours. Keep it short: “Hey Samantha - loved what you said on today’s call. I drafted a quick version below. Let me know if you’re cool with it or want to tweak anything.” Now it’s opt-in. You removed homework from the equation. 3. Tie review asks to key milestones. Don’t wait until EBRs. Ask after: - a successful onboarding. - a new feature rollout. - a strong support save. - a surprise ROI win. All you're doing is reinforcing momentum. tl;dr = testimonial collection isn’t so much of a marketing play as it is a CS system. If your team’s sitting on dozens of glowing comments each month, but none of them make it into your website, your decks, or your content, you simply need to do a better job of capturing what's already coming your way. Fix that and the next case study writes itself.

How do you get away from generic testimonials that say things like, "She's great! I loved working with her!"? The best testimonials address real objections and speak to the transformation your clients experience. I send a questionnaire to every client at the end of each project, and it's completely changed the quality of testimonials I receive. Two real testimonials from recent clients show exactly what I mean: Testimonial #1: "Before working with Caitlin, we wondered whether we NEEDED to hire someone. Being on the other side, I can say with 100% confidence that it was a great investment of time and money! If I had tried to write the copy and create the design myself, there is no way it would look half as professional. The logo and designs she created are professional and distinctive and really help us stand out." Why this works: → It addresses the biggest objection I hear—"Can't I just do this myself?" This client literally wondered the same thing, then explains why hiring a pro made all the difference. Testimonial #2: "Hiring Caitlin is truly the best investment in my own company to date. Caitlin is an incredible listener, and I was astounded at how much she gleaned in such a short time, requiring very little lift on my part. She gently nudged where I needed it and left me with something that feels far more polished and much more reflective of my personality than what I was ever able to do on my own. I’m so proud of the result and can’t wait to see how it helps evolve my company in the future." Why this works: → It speaks to my unique process (deep listening, minimal time commitment) and the emotional outcome (pride in the result, true reflection of personality). She also references trying DIY in the past and being glad she chose to get help with the rebrand. Here's the questionnaire I send every client to capture testimonials like these: 👉 What hesitations did you have before hiring me? 👉 What made you decide to work with me? 👉 What did you like most about working with me? 👉 How do you think your new branding and website will impact your business? 👉 What would you say to someone who is thinking about working with me? BONUS question: 👉 Is there anyone you know who might benefit from my services? Would you be willing to refer them to me? I know it's easier to draft testimonials for clients and get their sign-off. But I'm genuinely curious how my clients would describe the experience without any prompting from me. In addition to getting a strong testimonial, it’s also an opportunity for real feedback I can learn from. What's your best tip for getting testimonials that actually sell for you?

The secret to powerful testimonials? 👇 Understanding the 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆! To truly master the art of testimonials, you must: ↳ 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 to demonstrate clear before-and-after scenarios. ↳ Dive into the 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 to make the impact more relatable. ↳ Highlight 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 that set your service apart. [Check out the infographic for more details!] 1. What was your initial problem? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Sets the stage for the testimonial by identifying the challenge faced. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Encourage detailed descriptions to underline the value of your solution. 2. How did the frustration feel? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Emphasizes the emotional relief your service provided. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Prompt for vivid emotional details to paint a clearer before and after picture. 3. What makes our service unique? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Distinguishes your service from others and highlights special features. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Guide clients to mention specific aspects that they found most beneficial. 4. When did you notice our service worked? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Captures the 'aha' moment of your service’s effectiveness. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Ask for a specific instance or turning point to make the story compelling. 5. How is your life better now? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Shows the practical and lasting benefits of your service. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Request both tangible and intangible examples of improvements. 6. How do you feel about your business now? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Reflects the transformation in their business and mindset. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Encourage comparison to their state before using your service for greater impact. 7. What would you tell a friend about us? ↳ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸: Elicits a natural and genuine endorsement. ↳ 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Suggest framing their response as if they were having a casual conversation. Go beyond surface-level praise! 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 of transformation and satisfaction. What strategies have you found most effective for gathering testimonials? #cocreate #marketing #entrepreneurship #business #digitalmarketing #innovation #strategy _____ Found this helpful? Help others by sharing it 📤. Follow me Marco Franzoni for similar insights!

I figured out how to get stronger testimonials and what to do with them. By spending 10+ hours last week studying how experts use them. Here are 9 things I learned: 👉 1. Don't limit them to your sales page. Testimonials and customer stories should appear EVERYWHERE you are. Including your: • Content • Newsletter/Emails • LinkedIn profile Use them at every step of a buyer's journey. 👉 2. Get stories from customers who: • Switched from a competitor to you • Had a successful implementation of your product or service • Upgraded to a higher tier of your offering • Were skeptical at first, but you won them over 👉 3. Make a specific ask when asking for a customer story. "We're hoping you can speak to X, Y, and Z." 👉 4. Don't use the word "case study" when you ask. Instead say "customer story" or "Can we feature you?" 👉 5. When you interview a customer, ask: • Open ended questions • "How did that feel" • "Can you give me an example of that" 👉 6. Get multiple testimonials from each customer. Different ones for different win moments they've had with you. 👉 7. Make it easier for customers to give you testimonials. The biggest roadblock is people don't know what to say. Give them questions or a template to help. 👉 8. Have a system for how you collect, store, and use testimonials. It doesn't have to be complicated, but you need a plan. 👉 9. Alex Hormozi's take on testimonials: "Your proof will sell more than your offer and will do more selling than any promise." I'm guessing he knows a thing or two about that. Want more tips like these? This week on LinkedIn I'll reveal: • How I've built a 6-figure business on a $99 product • An unusual way I use AI to help with content • A new way of thinking about email unsubscribes 👉 Follow me 🔔 Hit the bell at the top of my profile to turn on notifications so you don't miss those posts Thanks for your interest!

You're never going to convert clients with that dry, technical crappola you're posting. Not in B2B, not anywhere. Let me give you a framework that actually works. First off.. Most of your content is too abstract. It's all "operational exhaustion" instead of "shell shock." You're burying the real pain under jargon that nobody feels anything about. Look at what you posted last week. Did it make anyone feel anything? Did they see a movie in their head? If not, you're just adding to the noise. Here's what I want you to do tomorrow: Set a timer for 10 minutes. Look at an object on your desk. Let it trigger a real memory from your work with a client. Write using ONLY sense based language. No explaining, just show what happened. What the hell is sense based language? It's describing things you can actually see, hear, touch, taste or smell. Like this... --> "The CEO's face turned red" (not "he was angry") --> "Her voice cracked when she described the failed launch" (not "she was upset") --> "The team sat in silence, staring at their laptops" (not "the meeting was tense") So... once you do that. Take the last success story you had with a client. Rewrite it like this: "John's shoulders dropped when he showed me the monthly report. Revenue down 22%. His team sat around the conference table, nobody making eye contact. Coffee cups half full, gone cold. Three months later, after implementing our process, John walked into that same room grinning. Slapped the new report on the table. 'Look at this,' he said, pointing to the 35% increase highlighted in green." People read that and think... "This person has actually been in the room. They've seen this problem before." So, stop making garbage content that just adds to the noise. Your next post should make someone see, hear and EXPERIENCE the problem you solve. Make them picture what success looks like. You only need 50 of the right people to see it. And those 50 people need to feel something when they read your stuff. Make it count.