I've just started my business and want to start collecting testimonials from friends who I've done projects for (about 6 so far will participate), so I've been brainstorming about how to come up with a questionnaire that can guide them through the process to make it easier to write targeted comments. I would love it if some pros could critique it ... especially because I want to use a questionnaire from now on with my new clients. Here goes:

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Thank you for taking the time to offer some comments about my Project Assistant service. I appreciate you as a client and am looking forward to your feedback. Your comments could be about a particular project I completed for you and/or a general overview of your opinion of my work ethic, business standards, etc. (If you allow permission for me to use this information on my website and in marketing materials, it would be helpful to phrase positive comments as a “commercial”.) Feel free to fill out as many or as few of these questions as you wish. If you would prefer instead to just offer one sentence with one or two nice things about my work, that would be fine.

What are some of the projects you have hired me to do?

What did you like best about my performance?

In what ways did my service help you?

How would you rate the reasonableness of the price you were charged for the project? Did you feel like you got a good value?

Did the items I produced for you have visual appeal and look professional? Please explain.

What impressed you about my work?

Did I deliver the items to you in a prompt, efficient fashion?

How much time and energy do you think my service has saved you?

Was I professional and courteous in my dealings with you?

Was my skill level to your satisfaction?

Would you use my service again in the future?

Would you recommend my service to others? Please explain.

Did you have any hesitation/reservations about using my service at first? If so, why?

Was there anything you thought could be better about my performance?

Please list 3 positive traits about my work.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Summary sentence, in a nutshell:


Thank you very much for your input. I appreciate the value of your time! Would you like to give permission allowing me to quote your comments in my marketing materials?

oNo ... oYes: (Signature)________ ouse my initials only ... ouse my full name


Name: _______________________ Job Title: ____________________ Phone: ____________________ oinclude it


Email: ____________________________ oinclude it ...Your Website URL:_____________

Company: ___________________ City & State: ______________________ Date: _____________

============================== ======================


(The blank lines will be better, of course ... they're not showing up correctly in this post for some reason.)


If the questionnaire seems too long, which of the questions do you personally think are most important? Is there anything I left out?

Thanks for any advice,
zippy

Hi Zippy,

I think it is too long and some of the questions are redundant.

I would limit the questions to no more than 5.

But my real response is to just ask for a testimonial after you finish the work...ask for a few sentences and see what you get.

If you create a questionnaire you will need to put this in paragraph format and then send it back to the client for review. So just to make it easier overall, just ask for a few sentences.

But if you use the questionnaire, I've made some comments below. The highlighted questions could be used for your questionnaire purposes.

Janine

What are some of the projects you have hired me to do? - you can answer this yourself.

What did you like best about my performance?

In what ways did my service help you?

How would you rate the reasonableness of the price you were charged for the project? Did you feel like [as if] you [received] got a good value?

Did the items I produced for you have visual appeal and look professional? Please explain. - not necessary.

What impressed you about my work? - repetitive

Did I deliver the items to you in a prompt, efficient fashion?

How much time and energy do you think my service has saved you? - not needed

Was I professional and courteous in my dealings with you?

Was my skill level to your satisfaction? - repetitive

Would you use my service again in the future?

Would you recommend my service to others? Please explain. This is a yes or no

Did you have any hesitation/reservations about using my service at first? If so, why? - actually, this is a good question but I'm not sure it is needed for a testimonial

Was there anything you thought could be better about my performance?

Please list 3 positive traits about my work. - redundant

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Originally Posted by Your Virtual Wizard

I think it is too long and some of the questions are redundant.

Thanks very much for the honest reply. Some questions may seem redundant because I wasn't sure how to get them to zone in on specifics ... for example, I want them to mention things like professional visual appeal of the documents, my efficiency, skill, their time savings, etc. -- things that prospective clients would like to know about me that could really sell my service. I can't figure out how to get those details from them without writing the whole testimonial or asking lots of questions. Some of these friends aren't professionals and may be unsure how to word it.

I believe a testimonial is an opinion so I don't believe that you can steer someone to say something you want them to state.

It really is good enough to have a testimonial that states you have done a great job; that you met or exceeded the expectations of the client and that they would do business with you again. So it stands to reason that anyone reading the testimonial will know that you were efficient; that you saved the client time; that they liked the documents you worked on; that they felt your pricing was fair, etc. or else they wouldn't have given you the testimonial in the first place.

But to try to get to the specifics...well, my guess is that the length of the questionnaire may stop someone from even filling it out.

You want to make it easy for the client. Writing a testimonial should only take a few minutes. I think you are asking for too much time. That is why many testimonials come directly from an email sent after work is submitted.

So if you get, 'Thank you so much for the great work! blah, blah, blah', you could turn that around and say, "I'd like to use your comments as a testimonial on my website and blog where I will link your comments back to your own website." More than likely, they will rewrite the statement (this happens more times than not) and send you something more detailed. That's the testimonial you use; not something you are 'getting them to say'.

Again, that's my opinion from a few years of obtaining testimonials.

Janine

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Thanks, Janine. You made some great points. My problem right now is that I don't have a client base yet since I'm just officially starting the business. I am in the process of working on a project for my first "real" client, so I don't have any "thank you for a great job" responses yet. That's why I'm calling upon several friends who I've done a tiny project for here and there over the years to come up with testimonials (only a couple of them have websites). But I don't just want a bunch of vague comments, so the steering seemed like a good idea.

I want something like the testimonials you have on your website ... #3, #4, and #5 are exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. The details your clients provided would make anyone interested in a VA feel impelled to contact you. Those testimonials really sell you, they're like mini commercials.

Anyway, I will shorten my questionnaire for the friends for sure. For my future clients, I like what you said about asking for a few words after they express appreciation. And if they have a website, mentioning the link back should motivate them to write up a really good testimonial.

Thanks again for the critique!

Zippy,

I missed that this questionnaire was for your friends who are more likely to fill this out for you.

I'm sure they will, then!

Good Luck!

Janine

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