Testimonials – on your web site, on LinkedIn, inside written proposals – are very powerful.

They show a prospective client the perspective of someone who, at one point, was in their shoes, wondering if they should hire you.

Two things I’ve noticed…

#1. You have to ask for them.

Your clients may love you (not as much as mine love me, but still), but it rarely occurs to them to put it in writing. So you have to ask.

#2. Even the people you ask have trouble getting around to it.

First, because they are busy and this is a low priority. But mostly, I’ve found, because they don’t know what to say.

So make it easy on them. Wait until they write or say something nice to you and ask if you can use their name and words.

The client I mentioned earlier wrote me a little thank you note yesterday, out of the blue. So I asked. All she had to do was say “yes” and she was done.