Confession: I am a french fry addict. I’ve met a few fries I didn’t like, for sure, but for the most part I’ll gladly share a basket of fries with you any time anywhere. Want to get in on my very best side? Meet me for a mid-day snack of fries and a craft beer and I’ll tell you (almost) anything you want.

But I digress….

When I was in the 4th grade, my mom used to pick me and my sister up from school and, if we were on our very best behavior (read: not that often) take our french fry lovin’ selves to Burger King for a treat. I remember mom ordering a grilled chicken patty with no bun and eating it with a plastic fork and knife while her children dined on fries and a shared Whopper.

On one such trip, my sister sat and stared at her untouched fries as I chowed down. “What’s wrong?” my mom asked Sis. “They didn’t give me any ketchup,” Sister pouted.

This was a pivotal moment for me as a leader so listen closely.

I swiveled in my booth to look Sister square in the eyes and said, “Go ask, ya dummy! She doesn’t know you want it if you don’t tell her!” Swivel back. Continue noshing on fries.

But you know what? She didn’t go ask. And neither my mom or I was going to ask for her. Sister actually never ate those fries (pretty sure mom used the un-spoken Worldwide Mom Code that uneaten toddler fries are calorie free and therefore should be consumed by the momma).

You see that? Sister didn’t eat the fries she so desperately wanted because she was unwilling to ask for what she needed. Ketchup. This changed my life.

I think I’ll title the memoirs I will one day pen: Everything I Need to Know About Leadership I Learned at Burger King.

If you are unwilling to ask for what you want, you won’t get it.

And I want you to get it. All of it.

One of the things we often want as business owners is referrals, praise, and the love of our clients. We want their testimonials, their feedback, and the social proof that comes with other people telling their community how stinkin’ awesome we are. Right?

When I work 1×1 with business owners on their Perfect Process, one of the final stops on that train is the request for testimonials. Our conversations usually go like this:

THEM: And then I hand over all deliverables in a final email and we are done.
ME: And how are you asking for testimonials?
THEM: *silence* …. In an email? If they want to?
ME: Is that a question?

If you aren’t outright asking for testimonials when you are done working with someone, you’re missing a crucial piece of your marketing puzzle. And if you’re asking with a “When you have a moment, can you send me a testimonial?”, you’re probably not seeing the results you want.

Just imagine Sister timidly asking that BK worker for “some kind of sauce maybe if you have a moment and it’s not too much of a bother”. She probably would have had the same results of not asking at all.

So what can you do if you’ve never asked for a testimonial from any of your clients? And how do you add a testimonial request process into your client wrap up?

I’m so glad you asked.

If it’s been a while:

Send an email. But not just any old email with an open ended question. Be specific with your ask and reciprocate in advance.

When I launched valgeisler.com, I realized there were a few people I had worked with in some capacity that I could reach out to for a testimonial as I hadn’t previously. (Yes, I take my own medicine all. the. time.) Here’s what I sent to my pal Heidi:

Hey lovely,

Thanks again for featuring me in your Inner Circle! I love seeing all you are doing – keep it up, lady! I’m writing tonight to ask you for a testimonial for valgeisler.com (my new home in just about a month!) That’s going to be up and rocking by May and I’d be so honored if you could share a little something about my leadership, resourcefulness, and podcast guesting prowess from your point of view.

Here’s one for you to use however you’d like:

Just like every bride needs her Maid of Honor to lean on as she plans her wedding and every bridal professional needs Heidi to lean on as they build their business! Heidi’s keen connection between the ups and downs of being a wedding industry pro and the training and tools you truly need to grow your business makes for a winning combination. If you’re headed into another wedding season feeling like you’re drowning, I highly suggest you work with Heidi to keep your head above water, stat!  – Val Geisler

xo

Val

And you know what Heidi wrote back?

ABSOFREAKINLUTELY. (Or something really close to that)

When you make your request and simultaneously give in advance of any action on their part, you’re showing your own investment in the process and you are more likely to get a response.

If you’ve just wrapped up:

Sending a survey is one of the easiest ways to gather testimonials. I use Typeform for my survey sending but you can use a Google Form, Survey Monkey, or any other surveying platform you are familiar with. The beauty of using a tool to gather the responses is that they all end up in one place and you can go grab them whenever you’d like (organization for the win!).

And don’t just ask for any old sauce, errrr, response. Again, specificity is key.

I use a Canned Response in GMail to make all of my survey testimonial requests. In that email I tell the reader exactly how many questions there are in the survey and approximately how long it will take. Never ever ever (ever) just send a “can you complete this survey, please?” kinda email. The return on those emails is dismal.

Tell the reader what they’re getting themselves into when they click your link. Tell them if you have multiple choice, essay questions, or if they can accomplish it in the 15 minutes between calls they happen to have today. Keep your requests clear, concise, and honor the time of the person you are writing to.

Acknowledgement up front of the time and effort you are asking for directly impacts the results on your survey responses.

Now it’s your turn. Get into action and ask for testimonials today. Bonus points for sharing in the comments when it’s done!