Testimonial Request Email
Asks a happy customer for a reference or review.
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Dear Sir / Madam,
We recently finished [the work you did together] and you were kind enough to say it went well. I wanted to ask a small favour.
Would you be willing to put a few lines of that in writing so we can use it publicly? To make it easy, here is what would help most: [two or three specific prompts]
A couple of sentences is plenty, and of course we will send it to you for approval before it goes anywhere. If now is not a good time, please just say so — it will not change anything between us.
What is a Testimonial Request?
A testimonial request asks a satisfied customer for a short quote, review or reference that you may publish. It matters because unprompted testimonials are rare and the ones you get are rarely usable — too vague, too long, or unattributable. A request that asks three specific questions and includes written permission produces something you can put on a page today, rather than a kind email you are not sure you are allowed to quote.
Consultants, agencies, tradespeople, software companies, training providers, clinics, universities and freelancers all send these, usually at one of four moments: just after a project is delivered, after support resolved something well, before a case study is written, or as part of a periodic push for reviews on a platform that matters to the business. The recipient is the individual who felt the benefit rather than the person who signed the contract, because the person who used the service is the one who can describe the difference in concrete terms.
Testimonials and reviews are regulated marketing in most markets, and the rules have tightened. The FTC endorsement guides and its rule on fake and incentivised reviews apply in the United States, the CMA's remit and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act in the UK, the Omnibus Directive's requirement to explain how reviews are verified across the EU, ASCI guidance and the Indian standard for online reviews, and the ACCC's position in Australia. Any incentive generally has to be disclosed. Separately, publishing a named person's role, employer and photograph is personal data — check the consent requirements under GDPR, the DPDP Act or the equivalent.
Permission to quote is not permission to edit into something they did not say, and trimming for length is the outer limit of what most people expect. It is not a logo licence — using the customer's brand marks needs its own approval, often from a different team. It does not transfer copyright in their words unless you ask for that, and it is not a reference: a procurement panel wants a named person who will take a call, which is a separate and larger request.
What to put in a Testimonial Request
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business name | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Customer name | For example: Halliwell Interiors Inc. |
| Customer address | For example: 44 High Street, Columbus, OH 43215 |
| The work you did together | For example: the kitchen refit at your High Street site |
| Prompts for them | For example: what problem you came to us with, what we actually did, and whether you would use us again |
| Signatory name optional | For example: K. Srinivasa Rao |
| Signatory designation optional | For example: Honorary Secretary |
| Issued to (full name) | For example: James Whitfield |
| Their address | For example: 588 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
How to write a Testimonial Request
Ask the person who already praised you
Start from evidence: the client who sent a thank-you email, the customer who left a good support rating, the manager who said it went well on the closing call. Quoting their own words back — ‘you mentioned the handover was the smoothest you had run’ — makes the request feel like a natural next step rather than a cold ask, and it tells them exactly what you would like them to expand on.
Make the ask small and specific
Ask three questions rather than requesting a testimonial. What was the problem before, what changed, and what would you tell someone considering it. Say how long it needs to be — two or three sentences — and how long it should take. ‘Would you write us a testimonial?’ hands the customer a blank page and a homework assignment, and it is the version that never gets returned.
Offer a draft they can change
Offer to write a version from what they have already told you, on the clear understanding that they can rewrite or reject any of it and that nothing is published until they approve the final wording. This removes the effort while keeping the words theirs. Never publish a draft that has not come back approved, however confident you are that they would have agreed to it.
Get the permission in writing
Confirm in an email they reply to: the exact quote, the attribution to use — name, job title, organisation, or a first name and sector if they prefer — whether a photograph or logo may be used, where it will appear, and that it may stay published until they ask you to remove it. A reply saying yes to that list is the record you will want if anything is queried later.
Say what you will not do
Tell them plainly that you will not add claims they did not make, will not use it in a context they have not seen, and will remove it on request within a stated period. If their employer has a communications policy, offer to route it through that team. Making the limits explicit is usually what converts a hesitant maybe into a yes.
Common mistakes
- Asking for a testimonial while a complaint, snag list or unpaid invoice is still open, which turns a routine request into evidence that you are not tracking the account.
- Sending an open request with no questions and no length guide, which leaves the customer with a blank page and produces nothing.
- Offering a discount or gift for a positive review without disclosing the incentive, which breaches endorsement rules in most of the markets the site serves.
- Publishing a full name, job title and employer without a written record of consent, which is both a data protection issue and a fast way to lose the client.
- Editing a quote so it claims more than the customer said, which is the version they will be shown by someone else and asked to confirm.
Frequently asked questions
How do you ask a customer for a testimonial?
Ask the individual who experienced the benefit, reference the specific thing they already said, and replace the open request with three short questions about the problem, the change and what they would tell a peer. Offer to draft it for their approval, state how long it should be, and confirm the attribution and permission in writing before anything is published.
What should a testimonial request email say?
Why you are asking this person specifically, three questions to answer, the length you need, the offer to draft it for them, exactly where it will be published, and what attribution you would like to use. Close with a soft deadline. Anything longer than a short screen reduces the response rate, because the length of the request sets the expectation for the length of the reply.
Can I offer a discount in exchange for a review?
Incentivising reviews is heavily restricted and, where permitted, generally requires clear disclosure of the incentive alongside the review. Conditioning any reward on the review being positive is prohibited under the FTC guides and equivalent rules in the UK, EU, India and Australia. Review platforms usually ban it in their own terms as well. The safer route is to ask well and ask often.
Do I need permission to publish a customer testimonial?
Yes, and get it in writing. Publishing a person's name, job title, employer or image is processing personal data under regimes such as GDPR and India's DPDP Act, and many business contracts separately restrict naming a client publicly. An email confirming the exact quote, the attribution and where it will appear takes two minutes and settles the question permanently.
How many testimonials should a website have?
Enough to cover the different situations a prospective buyer might be in, rather than a target number. Three specific, attributed testimonials from recognisable types of customer do more than twenty anonymous lines. Place them next to the claim they support instead of collecting them all on one page nobody visits, and date or refresh them so they do not quietly become historical.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.