The Testimonial Toolkit

Your plug and play process for getting useful testimonials, fast.

You need testimonials.

You need them yesterday, or at least by next week. Tomorrow would be ideal.

The point is getting testimonials (especially in any real quantity) feels like a monumental task, especially when you are under a deadline. It can feel awkward to ask. Most clients get a case of writer’s block and can’t come back with anything other than “They are awesome! Work with them!” which isn’t the most useful of endorsements. Or you end up spending time writing it for them and getting their approval, which doesn’t have that authentic good feeling going for it – and they all sound the same – like you. Not to mention all of the back and forth.

It’s one thing when you want to get more in depth feedback and are willing and able to put in the time, but sometimes you just need some brief helpful quotes from your clients that show others you can be trusted.

And that is exactly what the Testimonial Toolkit will help you get.

What is it exactly?

The toolkit is instructions and a suite of digital resources that you can put to use immediately as your new process for gathering testimonials for your business. It’s basically a ready to use process, complete with form, email templates and storage database that you can insert into your workflow to get those much needed testimonials quickly and painlessly.

I tell you exactly what to ask, why to ask it, and give you a way to collect it and keep it organized.

What’s Included?

5 questions that pull out the most useful pieces of your clients story that help potential clients see…

How do I know this is the right solution for me?
What’s it going to be like?
What’s in it for me? Show me some results.

The rest of what I’ve included is just grease on the wheels to make getting those testimonials as easy as possible, both for you and for your clients.

Pre-built ready to copy and USE online Airtable form and spreadsheet [the best free tool for this job]. [Includes walk through video]
3 things to ask for up front to save you lots of back and forth [built into the form already]
Recommended tool matrix so you don’t have to spend time trying to see if this works in Typeform, Survey Monkey, Google Forms, etc. I’ve already tested them all.
Swipe-able invitation email templates to use for the asking part.
Ideas & FAQs on customizing the questions, when to ask and best practices.
Ideas for where and how to use those testimonials if you don’t have a plan.

Want to see some examples?

These are real testimonials from my own customer research clients that were gathered with this exact tool. I’ve included their full responses so that you can see the volume of content you can get. You can always use snippets or edit them down as needed.

Interviewing for Case Studies

“I was looking for ways to drive interest with more high-end clients for my signature retainer service. I really just expected to get a video and transcript of the interview. Karyn said she would “code” it for me, but I didn’t really have a good understanding of what that would look like in practice.

The Airtable database with all my coded transcripts broken into quotes is AMAZING. It’s probably the most valuable part of my interviews. But really, the most valuable part was simply moving this item off my to-do list and not having to do it for myself. I now use case studies as my main lead magnet on my website to attract more qualified leads to my application process.”

Lacy Boggs

Director, The Content Direction Agency

Research Consulting/Coaching

“I wanted to incorporate market research and customer interviews into my email copy writing services and I already knew you and I know from our conversations and recommendations from others that you are the absolute best.

I expected to learn the basics about the JTBD framework. I was worried that because there was no format to our calls, I might not get that much out of them. Especially if I didn’t show up prepared with a specific scenario or situation.

You exceeded my expectations in terms of the usefulness of the calls. You were able, on the fly, to help me through the specific scenario I brought to you, without any prep from me beforehand. (I never had to send you documents or descriptions of the scenarios ahead of time.) Which was amazing. You were also very generous with your time and gave me 1-on-1 more time than I paid for.

I really liked being able to come to you with exact real-world scenarios that were going on in my business at that moment. I felt that it was well worth the money I was paying to feel completely 100% assured that I was taking the right steps with the way I was conducting customer interviews for my clients. It was like a very fast apprenticeship.

I now offer entry-level customer research to all of my implementation clients, and I teach it in my Sweet Spot Program. I understand how to ask market research questions so that I elicit compelling copy about the problems that my clients’ target markets are experiencing. This was a key piece that was missing from my client services. I’m also able to teach my done-with-you clients the basics so they can carry out research themselves. Most of them have NEVER done these kind of interviews before and it’s game-changing in terms of how they sell their services.

Maggie Frank-Hsu

maggiefrankhsu.com

Interviewing for Insights & Marketing

“I needed to get a really clear handle on why my clients were hiring me instead of someone else. I was worried my clients might not want to participate in the process, or that I might not like what they had to say.

Karyn’s interviews and reports exceeded my expectations. After I finally talked myself into watching the interviews, I was really happy I did. My clients were happy to participate and Karyn’s reports were concise and well-written and contained loads of useful information.

The most valuable piece was the Airtable reporting that I could keep and use in my own materials. Much of it has gone directly into my marketing and packages. I have a much better idea of why people hire me over someone else and that has helped my be more discerning in my client base and to offer more profitable services that these clients are seeking.”

Laurie Rauk

https://laurierauk.ca/

Interviewing for Case Studies & More

“I knew I wanted to collect testimonials but it felt so overwhelming. I had this resistance to asking clients to tell me how awesome I am. But, I also knew that by sharing their stories, they’d inspire others. So, I was at the point of, “Okay, I’m gonna do this, so how do I make this super-easy?” And then my good friend and fellow entrepreneur Amber Duggar told me about Karyn and a beautiful relationship was born. 🙂

I wasn’t worried about anything. I was excited I could delegate part of the testimonial-getting!

It absolutely exceeded my expectations! Karyn did a fabulous job creating the space for my clients to tell their authentic stories of transformation. And I now have so many wonderful snippets of inspiration that I can share in my marketing.

Karyn makes this super-simple. All I have to do is introduce her to my clients and it’s done. She sends me the docs at the end and I turn it into marketing magic. 🙂

My clients get a chance to share their stories and this empowers THEM to soar even higher.And for my business, the case studies and other marketing materials that I create from Karyn’s interviews have resulted in more leads. I’ve had potential clients tell me that they’ve been following me for a while and it was these testimonials that prompted them to finally reach out and get help.Love what you’re doing, Karyn! Keep up the fabulous work! :)”

Jen Bunk

CEO, The People Stack, thepeoplestack.com

If you’d like to save yourself loads of time and start collecting fresh testimonials today, this kit is for you.

No fluff, just progress.