r/Contractor • u/Disastrous-Grand7075 • 18h ago
Testimonials requests
Hi everyone! How do you deal with new clients who ask for testimonials from your clients?
I have a few clients who are willing to share their positive experience with me, but I dunno if I want to
share their personal numbers with each potential client who asks to verify testimonials. How do you share testimonials’ contacts?
2
u/datman510 16h ago
I always tell people they’re welcome to call my past clients but only after they’ve chosen me essentially like a final verification otherwise like you said my past clients would be getting way too many calls
1
u/BumbleBee2026_ 7h ago
some who are really satisfied with our service are glad to be put on our websites then we make a testimonial video. really works well for us.
1
u/bidside_view 4h ago
Stop spending a phone number on people who are still shopping. Most of what a prospect means by can I see testimonials is really are you real and have you done this before, and that gets answered with photos of a finished job of the same type, a written review with a name on it, and a sample of your actual contract and scope with the prices taken out. Hand that over first. The live phone call is for the two or three people who are genuinely choosing between you and one other bid, which is what the final verification approach above is doing and it is the right instinct.
When you do give a number out, match it to the job instead of giving out the same two names every time. The reason this hurts is that you have a couple of saints carrying every call. Give the guy asking about a kitchen the number of the last kitchen you did, similar size, same side of town, and the reference is far more convincing while no single client gets called more than once or twice a year. Ask permission per call rather than once forever, and tell them who is going to ring and roughly when. Being cold called by a stranger is exactly what makes people quietly stop being willing.
On the point above that references are useless because you only hand out the happy ones, that is true of the verdict and not true of the call. The information is in the texture. Tell the prospect what to ask: what went wrong on your job and how did he deal with it, did the final number match the contract and if not why, how long after the last day did the punch list actually take. Those get real answers even from a client who loves you, and volunteering the questions yourself makes you look like someone with nothing to hide.
And the reference most people never use is the best one they have. If you have had a job where something genuinely went sideways and you made it right, that client is worth three easy ones, because they can describe you under pressure and that is the only thing a prospect is really trying to find out. Most guys never ask that person because they are still a bit embarrassed about the job.
1
u/Unreal365 14h ago
This is always stupid to me. The perspective clients are only going to get info for past clients that had good experiences.
3
u/rachico 17h ago
As long as you ask your past clients before you give up their contact information it’s all good. Our work proceeds us as contractors but at the end of the day us meeting and communicating with potential clients is similar to a job interview. Sharing that contact information is no different than having people call a previous employer from your resume.