How should a coach ask a client for a testimonial?

Ask the session after a result lands, and give them one question to start from, such as what they were stuck on when you began. Clients who are asked "could you write me a testimonial?" freeze. A specific question gets a story.

What if my coaching clients want to stay anonymous?

Executive clients often do. A role and an industry, like "engineering manager" or "founder, retail", is often enough.

Are coaching testimonials with results allowed?

Yes, if they are real and typical. The FTC expects results in testimonials to reflect what clients generally get, or to say clearly that they do not. Let clients describe their own results in their own words, and do not edit in numbers.

Should a coach use video testimonials?

They help, but they are hard to get. Most clients will write three sentences long before they will film themselves. Start with written ones and ask your happiest clients for video later.

How many testimonials does a coach need before launching a program?

Three or four from people who match the program's audience are enough to start. If you are new, ask the people you coached for free or at a discount while you were training, and ask them about where they started rather than how good you are. A prospect deciding whether to book a discovery call wants to see one person in their own position who got somewhere, and that matters far more than how many testimonials sit on the page.

coaches

Testimonials for coaches

Prove it worked for someone like them.

Coaching is an act of faith bought in advance. A prospect cannot see the result before paying, so the only evidence is someone like them saying the result arrived.

Right below is the text I would send a client, ready to copy.

Start freeNo card needed. Cancel whenever.

A text you can send

The text I would send after a good job

The session after a goal lands.

Hi Raj, congratulations again on the promotion. Would you write a few sentences about what our sessions were like? What you were stuck on when we started is the part people in your position want to hear. It takes a couple of minutes: [your link]

Swap in your own names. The link comes from your dashboard.

Coach testimonial examples

The kind of thing coaches collect with Exalted. Each one is invented and labelled as an example.

Example

I came in wanting to stop dreading Mondays and assumed that was a personality problem. Four months later I had asked for the role I actually wanted and got it. She never let me hide behind vague answers.

James O. · Client, six months

Example

I had read every productivity book and still could not finish my thesis. She did not give me a system. She asked what I was avoiding and why, every week, until I ran out of excuses. I defended in April.

Dr. Elena V. · Coaching client

Example

I hired him to get ready for a promotion and expected tips on presenting. Most of our sessions were about delegating, which I did not want to hear. I got the role, and my team says I am easier to work for.

Raj P. · Engineering manager

Example

Twelve weeks of running coaching for a first half marathon at 52. The plan fit around my shifts and she adjusted it every time I got a cold. I finished, and I am signed up for the next one.

Carol D. · Running client

Coaching is paid for before anyone can see it working, so a prospect is looking for proof it worked for someone in their position. Each of these says where the client started and where they ended up. A reader who sees their own starting point in one will book.

How it works

1
Share one link
You get a single link. Send it by text or email to a client whose work went well.
2
They write it, in a minute
No account and no app to download. They rate you and write a couple of lines.
3
You approve what appears
Nothing is public until you say so. Approve the good ones and they appear on your website automatically.

When to ask

The session after a goal lands: the promotion, or the conversation they had been avoiding for a year.

The single biggest reason coaches have no testimonials is that nobody asks while the work is still fresh, not that clients are unwilling.

Questions that get a real answer

“Please leave a review” produces “great service”, which persuades nobody. Ask something specific instead:

What were you stuck on when we started?
What changed first, and when did you notice?
What would you tell someone deciding whether to book?

Or an email

For clients who have finished a program.

Subject: Twelve weeks later

Hi Carol,

Congratulations on the finish. I hope your legs have forgiven you.

Most people who ask me about coaching are not sure it will work for them, the way you were not sure at 52. Would you write two or three sentences about how the twelve weeks went? Where you started from is the most useful part.

It takes a couple of minutes, with no account to make: [your link]

Thanks, Jess

Swap in your own names and the details of the job. The link comes from your dashboard.

Where people check a coach first

LinkedIn
For career and executive coaches, where recommendations sit under your profile. Prospects check you there before a discovery call.
Instagram and podcasts
Where many prospects first hear you. They follow for a while and then go to your site to decide.
Google Business Profile
Matters most for local coaches like running or fitness coaches people want to meet in person.
Word of mouth
A colleague mentions you after a good year. The prospect then reads your site to check you suit their situation.
Your own website
The page where someone decides to book a discovery call. Testimonials there, sorted by the problem they solved, do the job a sales page cannot.

Questions coaches ask

How should a coach ask a client for a testimonial?: Ask the session after a result lands, and give them one question to start from, such as what they were stuck on when you began. Clients who are asked "could you write me a testimonial?" freeze. A specific question gets a story.
What if my coaching clients want to stay anonymous?: Executive clients often do. A role and an industry, like "engineering manager" or "founder, retail", is often enough.
Are coaching testimonials with results allowed?: Yes, if they are real and typical. The FTC expects results in testimonials to reflect what clients generally get, or to say clearly that they do not. Let clients describe their own results in their own words, and do not edit in numbers.
Should a coach use video testimonials?: They help, but they are hard to get. Most clients will write three sentences long before they will film themselves. Start with written ones and ask your happiest clients for video later.
How many testimonials does a coach need before launching a program?: Three or four from people who match the program's audience are enough to start. If you are new, ask the people you coached for free or at a discount while you were training, and ask them about where they started rather than how good you are. A prospect deciding whether to book a discovery call wants to see one person in their own position who got somewhere, and that matters far more than how many testimonials sit on the page.

Every testimonial Exalted publishes is written by a real person and approved by the business owner.

Your reputation, as a ladder

Each approved testimonial moves you up a tier, so you have a reason to keep asking. Visitors see the tier and know how established you are.

Friendly1+ approved

Honored5+ approved

Revered15+ approved

Exalted30+ approved

Pricing

Starter is $9 a month or $85 a year. Pro is $19 a month or $180 a year. Both are free until your fifth testimonial, and neither asks for a card to begin.

See what is in each plan

Worth reading before you ask

More on the blog. If you ask for Google reviews too, the free Google review link generator and the review request templates need no account. If you want a client quote as a picture to post, I made a free testimonial image maker.

Start collecting this week

Set up a link in about five minutes and send it to the last client who thanked you.

Start free