Can I ask my client for a testimonial of my work?
As a freelancer your customer is rightly enthroned as king. What your clients think goes a long way in determining how well you flourish. Or how fast you fall!! Have you ever come across that freelancer that nobody likes? Well, me neither!! It is therefore important that you understand the game so as to not play yourself as a freelancer. After sacrificing long hours into painstakingly research and providing hours of work and services for your client, how do you finally ask for that glowing recommendation.
Here are a few tips to help you get those AMAZING recommendations!!
Offer Incentives
It is an inherent human characteristic to only help people when there is something to gain. This is not black a black hat tactic, as it has been used for donkeys years now!! Restaurants offer you a chance to win a free meal or cash if you take part in a survey. I’m sure you have also received email surveys which offer you a discount or the ability to win a prize of some sort! The same logic works for getting a solid testimonial. Many clients say “Why should I go through the stress of telling the whole world you are good at e.g blog writing, after all I am paying you for the service”, however, when a client is offered something in return it seems like a fair deal and everybody wins.
Advertise Others Who Offer You A Testimonial
Another characteristic of living things is competition. Humans are naturally competitive and social media marketers know how to use this fact to their advantage. For example Facebook can tell you how many of your friends like or are using a particular app, persuading you to also like or sign up for the app, product, service, your sole aim to to also achieve what your friends have achieved. This same logic applies to clients, at least, a huge number of them. By telling or showing your clients of how others have given excellent testimonials of you they will automatically want to do the same and go the extra mile.
Make Your Intentions Known From The Onset
Honesty is an invaluable virtue in which saves a lot of time and confusion. You can start your request by suggesting to your client that you deliver top notch jobs and you always welcome constructive criticisms and outstanding reviews. This not only plants the idea in the client’s mind it also shows them that you know your onions and you are not one who beats around the bush!! In order to effectively use this, you, however, have to deliver infallible quality which can be vouched for.
There you have it, you cannot know the outcome of a matter unless you go for it, so my advice is to ask away. Do not allow the fear of the unknown deprive you of that solid testimonial.