Securing customer testimonials is a powerful way to build credibility and trust with prospects. However, asking for testimonials—especially via email—requires a strategic approach to maximize success.
Rather than providing examples you can copy and paste, this article explores the overarching approach to asking a customer for a testimonial. We also provide an email template that utilizes these strategies.
If you just want the email template, scroll down a bit, but I recommend reading along to structure an email that blends these strategies with your specific use case.
Pre-Reach Out
Establishing a success story plan is important before reaching out to customers. This lets you prioritize your efforts toward customers who best support your go-to-market (GTM) strategy.
We recommend segmenting your case studies as you segment your customers and prospects into ICPs (Ideal Customer Profile). This also ensures that your request for a testimonial feels more relevant and meaningful to the customer.
You can reach out with a specific ask regarding a topic the customer is qualified to speak on.
In addition, before sending a testimonial request, ensure the customer has had a positive experience with your product or service. Most of the time, you will have a sense of this based on feedback from your customer-facing team members.
Still, we also recommend utilizing customer success metrics to pinpoint potential opportunities, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction(CSAT).
If you track these, use them to filter qualified customers into reports that the marketing team can access. Naturally, testimonials aren't the most significant priority for CS leaders, so making these accessible to marketing so they can initiate the process can generate more testimonials in the long run.
Have the Right Person Reach Out
The person with the closest relationship to the customer—or the most senior person at your company—should be the one to send the request. Honestly, this should never come from somebody within your marketing department.
Remember, you're asking for a favor! Customers like to do favors for people they know (a dedicated CSM, Account Manager, Consultant, etc.), people with authority(executive team member), or people who can return a favor in the future (both).
Don't be offended, but that's not a marketing staff member!
Personalize Your Approach
Generic, copy-paste emails won't resonate with customers. Tailor your message to their specific experience:
- Reference their company or use case.
- Mention specific outcomes they've achieved.
- Acknowledge any personal connection or prior conversations.
When you clarify in your email why you're reaching out to them, it signals that you're investing resources into their success story. As a customer, this is a positive sign—it suggests your product roadmap aligns with their needs and demonstrates your growing expertise within their industry, making you a better long-term partner.
Make Them the Star of the Story
In this article, we detailed how to get more customers to agree to case studies by making them the star of the story. Ensure you highlight these examples when contacting new customers for a case study request.
Include a couple of previous examples of case studies that highlighted the expertise of the subject you interviewed. Suddenly, you're not just asking them for a favor to promote your company.
You're asking them for a favor so they can share their industry insight with the broader community. The latter is a much more exciting ask!
Add Formality to the Process
Show customers you mean business by investing in a professional testimonial service. When you do this, it does a couple of things.
1) It shows your commitment to the process because you value their testimonial greatly. 2) It increases the formality of the process so that the customer stakeholder only commits if they feel they can provide a quality testimonial and, indeed, attend the interview.
We talk about this and many other benefits of outsourcing customer testimonials here.
Sample Email
So, with all that said, here's a great email template you can use when requesting a customer testimonial.
Subject Line: Sharing Your Experience With Our Community Hi , I hope this email finds you well! I must admit, I do have a favor to ask. I was reviewing the incredible results has achieved with , and I couldn't help but note . We'd love to feature your story as a testimonial to help others in see what's possible. We'd also like to get your perspective on a couple of topics surrounding the future of as it relates to I've attached some samples for your review. The process is straightforward. We work with an outside agency to conduct the interviews to ensure we can make the most of your time (and ensure you look good, too). Please let me know if you'd be interested. Either way, thank you for being an incredible partner! Best regards,
Bonus: Use Your Customer-Facing Teams to Follow Up
While the initial request should come from someone with a strong relationship or seniority, customer-facing teams best handle follow-ups. Customer success managers or support teams can bring up the testimonial request during check-in calls or email exchanges.
"Great, we'll follow up with that documentation you requested. By the way, did you happen to see an email from my executive regarding a testimonial? I'd be happy to help facilitate that if needed, as we'd love to share your experience!"
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind all stakeholders involved with this process. Your customer success team is more concerned with the client renewing and growing than your case study.
If they had to choose between a custom attending a QBR versus a marketing interview, the former is a priority. With that said, a customer's willingness to provide a testimonial is a fantastic barometer regarding your client's health, and the feedback they provide can inform you in many valuable ways.
If you're a marketing professional, take your customer testimonial request process seriously because you have to be respectful not just to the end customer but also to your colleagues with different priorities. If you do it right up front, eventually, everyone involved will see the benefit.
And you'll be sending testimonial request emails routinely.