Steal my client testimonial process

I love collecting client testimonials. I mean, who doesn’t love it when people say nice things about you? 😂

Not only that: these testimonials serve as social proof of the amazing work you do. Just check out what a client recently said about mine:

And when you’ve gathered a nice collection of testimonials, they can influence potential clients to hire you.

Here’s my client testimonial process. Feel free to steal it.

Decide who to ask for a testimonial

The standard approach is to ask your main point of contact. In other words, the person whom you regularly liaise with about projects.

But apart from them, you may also regularly work with other team members. They, too, are potential testimonial writers—especially if you’ve already gotten a testimonial from your main point of contact.

Ask for a testimonial at the right time

The end of a project is always a good time to ask for a testimonial. By then, the testimonial writer will know what it’s like working with you and can write a credible testimonial based on their experience.

But if your collaboration with the client (1) won’t end anytime soon, or (2) you don’t know when it’ll end, you can get a testimonial midway through the collaboration.

Since my projects are mainly long-term ones, I generally start thinking about asking for a testimonial once we’ve worked together for at least 6 months.

I also make my ask only if I feel the writer will likely have good things to say. For example, if they’ve consistently praised my work recently, I’ll build on that satisfaction by asking for a testimonial.

Let the writer know where you’ll use their testimonial

When asking for a testimonial, I also let the person know I intend to use it:

• On my LinkedIn profile (view my testimonials here!)
• In other places, e.g. my website and emails with potential clients

I do this as a small courtesy, so that they know where their words may appear.

Plus, since they’ll need to post the completed testimonial to LinkedIn on my behalf, I want to give them a heads-up about this. I’d rather not leave it as an additional, last-minute “sorry, could you help me with one more thing?” request after they’ve sent me the testimonial.

Provide input on the testimonial’s content

Let’s say the person agrees to write the testimonial (woohoo!). Instead of leaving them to write anything that comes to mind, I take a more strategic approach.

I provide the testimonial writer with a list of prompts:

• What we worked together on: This info provides the testimonial reader with context on the scope of my collaboration with the writer
• How long we worked together for: This info is especially valuable if we’ve collaborated for a long time, because it signals their continued satisfaction with my work. And to save the writer the hassle of trying to remember when we started working together, I’ll go through my records and find the start date for them.
• What they’ve enjoyed about working with me: If they had recently said certain good things about my work, I might suggest they mention them in the testimonial
• Results they’ve achieved from working with me: Hard data (e.g. “3 months later, blog traffic increased by X%”) and specific anecdotes are great here, if the writer can share them
• How achieving these outcomes have made you feel: This is a new point I added recently. Our emotions drive many of our decisions. So if, for example, the testimonial writer shares that entrusting work to me has lifted a burden off their shoulders, their testimonial might appeal to potential clients who are stressed and want similar relief.
• Anything else they’d like to mention that would make the testimonial more compelling: To give the writer the chance to mention anything else they’d like to say
• How the writer would like to be credited for the testimonial: Pretty standard—their full name, title/role and organisation

When the testimonial writer sends me their draft testimonial, I might suggest changes to improve certain phrasing or fix typos. But I don’t insist they make edits if they aren’t willing to. They’re already doing me a favour by writing me the testimonial.

Use the hard-earned testimonial

After getting the testimonial, I make sure I use it!

I feature my testimonials on my LinkedIn profile for others to see anytime. But when interacting with potential clients, I typically curate up to 3 testimonials for them to check out, based on factors like:

• Similarities in project scope
• Qualities the potential client is looking for (e.g. if they want someone with high attention to detail, and I have a testimonial commending my attention to detail)

Unless they’re really interested in you, potential clients might not read through all your testimonials. So, just highlight a few that you think have the best chances of snagging you the job.

More freelancer news

What would you do if your client had a payment freeze?

A freelancer recently posted on Reddit (r/singaporejobs) about one of their clients, which is “one of the biggest international advertising firms in Singapore”, having implemented a payment freeze. As a result, they haven’t been paid for 5 days (as of the date of posting) and wanted to know what they should do about it.

The top-voted reply advised the OP to take steps like:

• Continuing to push for payment
• Withholding work until payment comes in
• Being firm in seeking payment so they don’t get taken advantage of, whether now or in the future

What I found especially interesting was the commenter’s assertion that freelancers shouldn’t be affected by payment freezes. The reason: our services are expenses that the client would have already budgeted for. 🤔

​View the freelancer’s Reddit post here.​

If you were in the freelancer’s shoes, what would you do?

Active platform workers to get $200 cash

From the end of April, active platform workers will each get $200 in cash from the Singapore government to reduce the impact of recent fuel price hikes on their earnings.

Fuel prices have spiked due to the Iran war, with platform workers experiencing an average $200 increase in fuel costs as a result (hence the amount of cash relief given).

Platform workers whose net earnings were at least $500/month from Dec 2025 to Feb 2026 qualify for the cash relief. If you’re eligible, you’ll get the payment via either PayNow or GovCash.

​More info on this news here.​