Potential clients want to know you are legit and good at what you do. Hearing that from satisfied clients (and not just you) underlines the message. I don’t know about you, but when I’m looking for help from a professional, I ask around. Then I go to his or her website. If there are testimonials I read them. “Oh,” I think, “she helps people with the same problem I have.”

How do you create great testimonials?

1. Ask! When a client tells you, “My legs and feet feel so much better,” OR “I am pain free for a week after I see you,” OR “My wife notices I am way more relaxed with the family,” capture that comment. Respond, “I’m so happy to hear that. May I write that down? I’m collecting testimonials.”

2. Give clients brief evaluation forms, either after every session or every once in a while. Ask how the work is helping them. On the forms, get them to be specific.

— Why are they coming to see you (what is their main problem/concern)?
— If your work is helping, how it is helping specifically?

— May you use their comments and name in a testimonial? (Any time you collect a testimonial, be sure to ask if you can use their full name.)

3. Before you use a testimonial, edit it. Make sure it:

— Spotlights a single benefit.
— Focuses on that benefit, and not on what a great therapist you are. (You want other people to see themselves in it.)
— Highlights any emotion in it. For example, “When pulled a muscle in my back, I was really happy when Massage Works got me in the very next day!” “Frankly, I never thought my headaches could get better. But after 5 sessions of reflexology, they are mostly gone!”
— Captures the main points in 3 sentences or less.

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