no email needed

The testimonial ask.

The email that gets you a sentence you can publish, instead of “she was great.” Two blanks to fill, and a follow-up for when a week goes by. I use this exact one.

The email, ready to send

[ fill these two and the copy button writes them into the email · saved on this device ]

Subject: a tiny favor [two minutes, I promise]

Hi ‹name›,

I’m updating my website and I’d love to include a line from you about ‹the project›. To make it painless, could you answer just one of these, whichever is easiest:

· What was going on before we worked together?
· What surprised you about the process?
· What’s different now?

One or two sentences is perfect. And if you’d rather not, genuinely no problem, and this email self-destructs guilt-free.

‹you›

If a week goes by with no reply

Send this once, a week later, and then let it go, because two asks is a request and three is a collections call, and the relationship is worth more than the sentence.

Subject: re: a tiny favor

Hi ‹name›,

No pressure at all on this, and I know inboxes eat things, so this is the one nudge and then I’ll drop it. If one sentence about ‹the project› ever floats to mind, I’d love to have it, and if not then thank you for the work itself, because that part already happened.

‹you›

Why this works when “any feedback?” doesn’t

  • One question, and they choose which one. Asking for “any feedback” gets you “she was great,” and a specific question gets you a sentence with a before and an after in it, which is the entire anatomy of a testimonial.
  • The time cap, which is the “two minutes” in the subject line, makes saying yes easy, because they know what they’re agreeing to before they even open it.
  • The guilt-free exit makes the whole thing kind, and it also raises the reply rate, because nobody wants to say no to somebody who has already made no an easy answer.

When it comes back

Trim it and keep their words rather than yours, and then ask “okay to publish this with your first name and your business?” Put it near the price on your site once they say yes, because a testimonial works hardest standing right next to the number.

When to send it

Send it within two weeks of finishing, while the relief is still fresh for both of you, and the best ask is usually the one that goes out slightly before you feel ready to send it, because waiting doesn’t make the email better and it does make the project harder to remember. That feeling of not being quite ready is normal, and it isn’t a sign that you should wait, because the person on the other end is going to be glad you asked.

do this nowPut one real name in the blank above and copy the email, because sending it takes two minutes and the reply is a sentence you get to keep on your site.

Yours to keep. And if you don’t have anyone to send it to yet, that’s what Get It Live is for.

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