How to get good testimonials for your health business
We’ve all seen that person who shares the most amazing results and glowing words from their clients, and, be honest, doesn’t it make you want to hire them? Damn straight it does! I want you to be able to share the same thing in your business, so today I’m going to teach you how to get good testimonials for your health business.
Why are testimonials treated like solid gold in business? It’s called social proof, and something clicks in our brains that if someone else got those results, we can, too. I don’t know about you, but there’s been times when I didn’t even need something that someone was selling, but they share a great testimonial and I’m like … hmm, maybe I DO need that thing? And I don’t succumb to peer pressure very easily. That’s the power of the almighty testimonial.
Not only is a good testimonial perfect for sharing on a sales page, but also on social media, especially when you’re launching.
The problem is that trying to get good testimonials from your clients can feel like pulling teeth.
If you’re sitting there waiting for some magical email to come in singing your praises from the rooftops, that’s not going to happen. Just like most other things in your business, you’ve gotta work for them!
Over the years I’ve fine-tuned my method for gathering testimonials so that you stop getting a one word answer on your feedback surveys that make it impossible to craft a testimonial out of it (i.e. Question: How did you find the program? Answer: Good 🙄), but also realized that testimonials can come from many other places so you have to have a system in place to capture them.
I’ve also learned, from watching other people use testimonials to sell their programs like it’s their actual job (hint: it kind of is, it’s called marketing), that I should be using my testimonials way more often and in many more ways than just on my sales page.
Ready to learn the ins and outs of how to get a good testimonial for your health business? Let’s dive in:
Why testimonials?
Us humans are social creatures, and we love seeing someone else do something we’re considering before we do, probably to decrease the risk of us ourselves having a negative outcome.
When someone is considering investing in your products or services, they’re giving up their hard-earned money and their valuable time to do it, so they want to make sure it’s worth it in terms of giving them the result that they want.
Depending on their types of products or services you sell, this could range from a meal plan for a few dollars (less risk) to spending thousands of dollars on a big-ticket program where they will invest dozens of hours implementing your system (more risk).
No matter what you see being sold, especially online, people are looking for proof that it’s going to work for them, and that proof doesn’t have to come from someone they already know and trust.
Here’s a couple of stats that prove testimonials (and public reviews) work:
70% of people trust reviews and recommendations from strangers (source: Nielsen)
One case study showed how including testimonials on a sales page increased conversions by 34% (source: VWO)
There are tons more statistics, but to be honest, I don’t find most of them from reputable resources, so I’m not including them.
Types of testimonials
Way back when (real time: 10 years ago), one of the only ways to gather a testimonial was through writing. Either by email or in a survey, your customers would have to write out their (hopefully great) experience about working with you.
Turns out, there are many easier ways that can build even more trust with your future paying customers thanks to technology.
Here are some different types of testimonials that you might not have even thought were testimonials:
1. Written testimonials submitted directly to you
This is the old school testimonial, the one where you ask for feedback in an email or a survey, and your customers send it back to you.
In this case, you technically could edit the testimonials, or outright lie altogether and share testimonials that aren’t even real (yes, I’m sure people have done this, it IS the internet, after all!).
I find that this type of testimonial is best to position as a feedback survey, which you can find the exact questions that I use if you keep reading.
Here’s an example of feedback that can easily be turned into a testimonial:
2. Written testimonials submitted publicly on social media
I love getting these testimonials because there’s nothing more powerful than seeing someone share publicly so everyone else can see in it’s raw form.
Most times for me, these testimonials have come without my prompting, totally organically on social media, when I shared something about my product or service. Past clients have seen the post, and left a comment below with a raving review.
Immediately I leave a heartfelt reply, because when someone takes the time to leave public praise for you, it should be treated like gold.
Before I forget, I then private message the client and asked if I could use their comment as a testimonial. Even thought they left the comment publicly, I’d hate for any of my customers to feel like they were taken advantage of if they see me use their own words 6 months later during a launch (all of them have said yes).
I then screenshot it with my phone and save it to a folder on my cloud storage called “Testimonials”, and name the image as ‘Name of customer - date - method of how it was left’.
For example, a recent testimonial was named ‘Jane Smith - 21 July 2020 - IG post’.
I love saving screenshots, as people can see the marks of the platforms, and sometimes even the date, which proves it was a publicly left comment, which to me adds credibility and proof that it hasn’t been altered in any way.
Here’s an example of some screenshots from 2018, that I pieced together as one image to share during my launch of Brand, Build, Blog:
3. Written testimonials submitted privATELY to you or on social media
I find written testimonials submitted privately to me one of the BEST sources of testimonials! They’re heartfelt, customers don’t overthink it, and they don’t even know that they’re leaving you a testimonial.
These testimonials could come in private messages directly to you, via email, or in a private Facebook group that is set aside for your product or service.
Again, just like comments submitted publicly, I reply immediately to messages with a heartfelt response, and then I follow it up with a request asking if I could save this message and use it as a public testimonial. I’ve never had anyone say no!
Here’s a few examples that have full permission of the customer so that I can share them:
That last one (Brianne) isn’t so much of a testimonial but a progress update, but it shows other potential clients the kind of things they’ll be doing and the results they’ll be getting (in the Brianne example, planning 52 weeks of content is a HUGE result if you procrastinate on this sort of stuff, or don’t know what to even write in the first place).
If you have a Facebook group or Slack channel for your online or group programs, these are perfect places to gather updates/testimonials like these.
I have a reminder in my calendar every month or so to put up a post (example below) in my Facebook group for my course, and people share all kinds of updates that could be turned into testimonials. From booking their first paying client, to designing their own logos with previous no experience, to finishing their websites, most of the comments below these posts could be used as testimonials:
4. video testimonials submitted publicly on social media or privATELY to you
With the advent of Instagram stories, it’s incredibly easy for someone to leave you a public video testimonial (that they might not even realize is a testimonial!), that you can record on your phone.
Video testimonials are the epitome of a testimonial, because you can see that the person is real (and not made up), and that they really mean what they’re saying.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video testimonial is worth 10,000.
If someone sends you a video testimonial directly, be sure to save it to the camera roll on your phone to use later. From there, you can upload it directly into Instagram Stories (works best if less than 60 seconds, otherwise you’ll have to edit it into separate 60 seconds videos) or as an IGTV episode, and even as a YouTube video.
If someone shares a shoutout on Instagram Stories and tags you (or otherwise draws your attention to it), you can use the following steps to record it directly to your phone to use for later (if using an iPhone):
Add the Screen Recording app to your control center (if it’s not already there) by going to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls, then tap the green plus sign next to ‘Screen Recording’.
If you’re using an iPhone 8 or earlier, access your Control Center by swiping up from the bottom edge of your screen. If using an iPhone X or later, access your Control Center by swiping down from the upper right corner of the screen.
3. Press on the button that looks like a target icon, with a circle inside of a circle. This will start recording your screen when the timer counts down from 3. Whatever you do on your screen until you press stop will be recorded.
4. Go into the Instagram app (or whatever other platform that a testimonial was left on), open up the video testimonial, and watch it from beginning to end.
5. Once you’ve finished watching it, click the red bar on the top left corner of your screen to stop the recording.
6. The recording will now be in your photos app! You can now edit out the beginning where you were navigating to the start of the testimonial, and if there was any extra video at the end before you stopped the recording.
7. Upload the recording to wherever you save your files (if accessible on your phone), or Airdrop it to your own computer so you can save it elsewhere.
If you have an Android phone, you’ll have to Google “how to screen record android” and see what latest apps you can use for this.
Where to share testimonials
1. On a sales page
If you have a dedicated sales page, it’s a no brainer to include testimonials. To me, it’s non-negotiable.
Now, if you have past clients for that particular product or service, try your best to get testimonials after they’ve completed their result (more details on that below).
If your product or service is brand new and you don’t have any yet, include testimonials from a past product or service that is closest to your new one.
I like to include testimonials directly above the buy now sections on my sales pages. Here’s a few examples from my Brand, Build, Blog course (the first one automatically transitions to more testimonials, the second one is static):
Remember that if you have a page on your website solely devoted to a lead magnet, such as a challenge, mini course, or quiz opt-in, you can treat this like a mini sales page and include testimonials here, too.
2. On your home page
Of course I love seeing testimonials on a sales page, but what about generating traffic TO your sales page with testimonials on other pages of your website?
I love putting testimonials on a home page, and you could also consider putting them on your ‘About’ page. If you have a general ‘Work with Me’ page that shows multiple options of working with you (linked to a full sales page or not), sprinkle them in there, too.
Testimonials are like Frank’s Red Hot sauce: put that sh!t on everything.
Here’s examples from my past websites, as well as a few different website templates that I’ve built:
3. In a case study on your blog
An in-depth case study on your blog is one of the BEST testimonials ever, as it provides so many more details of why your product or service was successful than one or two sentences in a regular testimonial ever could.
I recently published a case study on my own blog with results of a client launch who I coached, and it resulted in 3 applications to the program, with one already booked ($6,000 income), one deciding if she’s going to commit in the fall, and one waiting until spring of 2021 after she’s had a baby. That’s $6,000 income directly from one blog post, with the possibility of $10-$12,000 more. Talk about a fantastic return on investment!
I then link to that case study with a button below a shorter testimonial from that client right on the sales page for the paid program, as you can see here:
This helps anyone who hasn’t read the case study blog post itself to see real people getting real results with the program that they’re currently learning about, and therefore interested in at that very moment.
Keep reading to get some ideas below of how you can get your clients to let you write an in-depth case study on them, since you’ll most likely need details from them to complete it.
4. ON SOCIAL MEDIA
I mean, duh, this is a no brainer, you need to share your testimonials on social media so other people (who likely aren’t paying customers) can see how awesome you are!
You could sprinkle some in your feed, share them to your Stories, and you could even interview one of your customers (which can then get turned into a written case study) into a YouTube video and potentially an IGTV video - with the customer’s consent, of course.
If you don’t want to “mess up” the aesthetics of your feed, you could put up a multi-image post, with the first one being a regular image that you’d use, and the remaining ones after that have one testimonial per image. People can scroll through after you call attention to the testimonials in the caption.
Also, last time I checked, multi-image posts get shown repeatedly to followers who haven’t liked it yet, with the second image shown if they didn’t like the first.
Here’s some great examples of testimonials from Instagram posts:
5. In a webinar
Listen, we all know that when we sign up to a webinar, we’re going to get sold something (99% of the time). I have an automated webinar funnel that has helped me sell thousands of dollars worth of my course, and you know my introverted heart loves me an automated anything.
When you’re selling during a webinar, whether live or recorded, most people aren’t necessarily reading the entire sales page, which is where your testimonials usually live. You’re essentially short cutting that during the slides when you’re pitching.
So share those testimonials right in your webinar!
You can repeat the same ones that are on the sales page, or you can share new ones. You can even use them to answer FAQ’s at the end of the webinar if it applies.
Here’s my exact testimonial slides from my webinar, all 9 of them that are sprinkled throughout the hour:
6. A SOCIAL PROOF POP-UP ON YOUR WEBSITE
If you sell physical or digital products on your website, a social proof pop-up is a great way to draw attention to other customers purchasing your products.
Depending on what platform you use for your website (i.e. WordPress and Squarespace especially), you can find third party companies or plug-ins selling the ability to add these pop-ups.
One of my favourite companies for customizing your Squarespace website has a social proof pop-up for $5 a month.
When you’re browsing on their website, you’ll notice every 10 seconds or so a small box pops up from the lower left hand corner sharing the first name and last initial of a customer, what they purchased, and when they purchased (X hours or days ago).
It’s pretty non-invasive, and it makes a few customers over a few days look like you’re having lots of sales of your products.
Note, if you use Squarespace, you have to have customers purchase through your own website, and not third-party check out software, for a plug-in like this to work.
If you use WordPress, there are TONS of paid plug-ins you can use to show social proof of purchases. Click here for a great article that has links to 17 different tools you can use on your website for this.
7. Before and during a launch
If you’re launching, or preparing to launch, you want to create as much excitement and hype as possible to get others to consider buying your product or service (duh), and what creates hype better than other people sharing their great results they got while following your advice?
Again, it’s not just about sharing a testimonial on your sales page, because the majority of people might not even click to it!
You want to share your testimonials where your potential customers already are, especially on social media.
This is exactly why I share 9 different testimonials during the webinar for my course, because most people won’t even click to the sales page to read them.
I’m not shy about sharing testimonials when I’m in launch mode, and I usually do that in a few different ways:
In the few weeks leading up to a launch (yes, 6 weeks before the cart opens is actually ‘launch mode’ time for me), this is the perfect time to share a case study blog post that I talked about above.
Keep reading to the section below to learn a new way I’ll be sharing testimonials in the month before my next launch.
During my 5 days of livestreams, before the cart opens, I love to interview one of my clients or customers about the product. I always position it about learning, we teach something that the client did right to get the results they wanted, but the process is always based in the system I teach in the paid product, and we make sure to mention it directly a few times.
Every single day that the cart is open, I share a series of Instagram stories that always includes testimonials (example above or to the left). Each day’s stories is targeted to what phase of the launch I’m in (cart open announcement, early bird bonus ending tomorrow, early bird bonus ending today, cart closing in X days, cart closing tomorrow, cart closing today), and I’ll use different testimonials on different days.
I also make use of Instagram functions like the countdown timer and question boxes, and pre-design the Instagram story images to make room for these.
I got the idea for this IG story image series from watching other business owners in other niches during their launches. I saved their story images as inspiration, and put them in a folder on my computer for later. It took me a few days to design the original templates, but now I have them saved to edit before future launches, and they’ve become an asset that helps me save tons of time during my launches.
I save all the images in a folder on my photo app so they’re easy to access, and I put up a new series every 24 hours during my launch. I even set a alarm reminding me of the exact time I can go and delete the old stories (which should be about to expire) and put up the new ones.
How to get good testimonials
Getting good testimonials isn’t a given, you can tell from what I’ve already shared that they take work and intention, just like everything else in your business.
Here’s all my best tips on exactly how to get good testimonials:
1. create an amazing product or service
This sounds like a foregone conclusion, but it’s actually the most important part.
To get good testimonials, you have to have a great product or service that actually gets results.
The better your product or service, the better your testimonials.
It’s not enough to just put out an online course to make you $97 a pop, and your customer thinks is absolute crap. I’ve bought a few of these before, and I will never purchase anything from that person again, much less promote their free stuff, like their podcast or blog (no matter how good it seems on the surface).
Of course your paid offering won’t work for everyone, but the people who it IS for, you should do everything in your power (and price level, it’s not about giving them everything for virtually no money!) to help them achieve their desired results.
This includes continuing to upgrade your online course, group program, or 1-1 coaching, especially as new technology or information is put out about the subject of the offering.
For example, my Brand, Build, Blog course has been out for 6 years. I did a major overhaul in the summer of 2018, where I completely re-did all the video training, and I’m doing the same thing in summer of 2020. My current students get all updates for free (which will include a customizable, installed-for-them website template for Deluxe students), and the value I’m adding is worth hundreds of dollars that they didn’t have to pay for.
This is why I get raving reviews and testimonials without asking, and your products and services should be the same.
2. put up regular posts in a fb group, slack channel, or members only area
I’ve already showed you the post that I put up on a regular basis in my course FB group asking about what they’re working on, which results in testimonials I can share.
You could also do the following:
if you have monthly or regular calls, at the beginning of the call ask for them to share their wins or updates in the chat box or comments. Someone is bound to share their results, which you can take a screenshot of and share immediately in your Instagram Stories, and then store in a folder and add to a sales page or use as part of a future launch.
Put up a poll asking for feedback on what they’d like to see in future updates/version of the program. Yes, people will share what they want to see, but some will probably share what they already love and ask you to keep it, which, again, you can screenshot and turn into a testimonial.
Put up a weekly post asking what they’re working/focusing on, and sharing what you’re working/focusing on. Members will sometimes share what results they’ve already gotten with your program and what their future goals are. People love hearing progress testimonials where the results weren’t impossible, but more realistic goals that people reached AND they’re going even further with.
Remember that if you’re regularly engaging with your students and customers, they’re much more likely to up celebratory posts when they hit a huge milestone or achievement, and those make amazing testimonials, too!
3. make it a part of a giveaway/game
This is something super fun and exciting that I’ll be doing before my next launch, which is making a game out of people showing public testimonials and feedback about your program.
The idea is that you reach out to all your current customers about a month before your next launch, and share that you’re doing a huge giveaway.
You pick a prize that’s super valuable to them, the more applicable the better.
Anything from a few months of a meal prep service, to a huge prize pack of your favourite superfoods or clean skincare, a massage or spa day, to other physical products that will make their life easier, get creative!
Since my course is about branding and building a website, I’m thinking about options such as a year of Squarespace, gift certificates for custom code plug-ins (for them to customize their website even more) or to Creative Market (for them to find the font of their dreams), 6 month membership for stock photos, a package with a local-to-them photographer, or even a half day with me to streamline their business and strategize for their next launch.
To win the prize package, I’ll be setting up a points system for different ways they can choose to spread the word and leave testimonials.
The highest points can be earned by publicly sharing a video testimonial and/or film one on their own phones and send it directly to me (I’ll share a list with them beforehand of details I’d love for them to cover), with lower amounts of points for everything from publicly commenting on a certain Instagram post, completing my feedback survey, showing progress pictures or before and afters on social media, and more.
The idea is that they create content and tag me on it on social media, making it super easy for me to re-share it to my own Instagram stories in the entire month before the launch. I can also save the content and use it later.
It’s up to them how much they want to participate and how, but I know I’ll have some super fans who will end up leaving me 3 to 5 separate testimonials that I can use in different ways later on during the launch and in future launches.
This idea was given to me by Margo Carroll, and I’m so thankful she told me about this because this is something I probably would have never come up with myself.
4. ask for them directly
If you’ve been creating a community with your paid students or customers, chances are that they care just as much about your success as you do theirs. They can feel how much love you’ve put into your program, and they want to spread the word to others.
Sometimes, being vulnerable and asking them directly for help with the form of a testimonial is the most successful of all.
Depending on how you’ve been communicating with your customers throughout your program, pick the most personal way to reach out to them, such as text, direct email, or direct message, and write a personal, heartfelt, genuine ask to them.
It could go something like this;
"Hey [name],
I’ve loved having you in my program, and I’m honoured you chose to invest your money and time with me. I’m so excited that you’ve [goal they’ve achieved using your program], I know how much it meant to you to get to where you are today, and how much work you’ve put into it.
You should be so proud of yourself, and I am, too!
[Optional: insert funny GIF here, if you speak fluent GIF like I do ;)]
I’m getting ready to launch another round of my program, and I’m working on getting some testimonials from current members to use during my launch.
I’d love if you’d help me reach more people by giving me any feedback or sharing specific results you’ve achieved using my program.
[Optional: As a token of my appreciation, I’ll send you a little gift in the mail as a thank you for taking the time to help me out! <— or something similar with a freebie]
Thank so much for considering this request, I know you’re busy and I appreciate you even reading this message.
XO,
Ashley
Don’t be surprised when you get flooded with loving messages from your sweet customers, singing your praises from the rooftops.
5. send a feedback survey
This is the way that I’m most comfortable with, and over the years I’ve sent dozens of feedback surveys to both paying customers and non-paying customers to figure out what they want from me going forward.
Now, the thing about feedback surveys is;
It can be hard getting people to click to it and give you their feedback; and
What do you ask them to get them to say more than “it was good” or “yes/no”?
Well, I find that the answer to issue #1 is to literally throw money at the problem: give them a reward for giving you their feedback.
Whether it’s an affordable physical token (sample of essential oils), a small gift card ($10), or 30 minutes with you for each person who answers the survey, each person would get a small gift. On the flip side you could have a draw from all the feedback entries for one huge prize like a $100 gift card, entry to one of your paid programs for free, or more time with you.
You know your audience best, and most times your audience is much like you, so ask yourself what would entice you to answer a feedback survey, and then give them that!
Be aware that depending on your audience or following size, you probably won’t get hundreds of entries, more likely not even a dozen. Believe it or not, if you get just 10 people to answer a feedback survey, you’re doing really well.
Know that feedback from 10 people who are your ideal audience can be worth more than 100 random people giving you feedback.
Feedback Survey Questions for your biz
The key to asking great questions to get great feedback (issue #2), which you can turn into amazing testimonials, can be helped with my download below!
Here’s my personal list of the 11 questions to ask in a feedback survey so you can ensure amazing testimonials (the last one gets you case studies).
Just plug in the name of your program, copy the questions into free software like Google Forms or Typeform, and you’re ready to collect amazing feedback like the boss you are.
JUST FILL IN YOUR INFO BELOW TO GET THE “from feedback to f-yeah” feedback survey questions!
I hope this system works for you. Let me know if you get any amazing testimonials by tagging me on Instagram @ashleysrokosz so that I can share it (as my own testimonial ;).
