It’s occurred to me: “What makes a good testimonial?” If I was to write one in five sentences, this is what it would cover.
I remember a few years ago being approached by a client who said: “If you ever need a recommendation, I’d be happy to provide one”. It’s always nice when that happens, but in this case the client went further, adding: “Or if you just want to write something from me, that’s fine”. Reader, you can be sure that I took them up on the offer. I probably just dashed something off while the going was good, but it’s occurred to me since on numerous occasions: “What makes a good testimonial?”
If I was to write a testimonial as a customer, I’d look to do it in five sentences:
- The business circumstances in which I found myself
- The specific issue that I faced
- The benefit(s) provided by the product or service that I bought
- Specific metrics
- How the product or service continued to help me
This simply follows the narrative structure that works in so many story-telling circumstances, but it’s a nice little template to have. It can be used in a range of circumstances, from LinkedIn recommendations to hotel reviews.