How to get testimonials
Passively
You can set up the ability for people to leave reviews on your site, on social media pages, and/or on sites like Google and Yelp, and just wait. This is how most people get testimonials. It can work, but it also can involve a lot of waiting. You also run the risk of random people leaving negative reviews, even if they’ve not been a client. I had it happen to me when I challenged a man on a WordPress forum when he was giving bad – and expensive – recommendations. He tracked down my business page and left a horrible false review.
Proactively
Make it a part of your workflow to ask your clients for reviews. You can – and should! – do that in conjunction with the review setups above. Personally, I would reach out to my clients about 3 months postpartum and send them a link to where they could leave a review. I made it as simple as possible, kept it to a single link, and waited until the initial overwhelming postpartum time period was over. Another approach I took was posting to my social media channels on my birthday, saying “Happy Birthday to Me! All I want for my birthday is for clients to leave me a review!” with the link.
How to use testimonials
Not every review is going to be a workable testimonial for your site, but you certainly can use the text of those reviews (or excerpts as long as you’re not being misleading) as testimonials on your site. I found that specific testimonials like “Andrea had so much helpful information and knew just how to rub my back in transition.” to be more helpful than “Andrea is the BEST!”
Because there are so many partners out there who are worried about being replaced, I reached out to a few dads I’d worked with who started out skeptical but became big fans and asked if they would write a testimonial about their experience. Both were happy to do it and both made it on my web site.
You can get testimonials and reviews from birthing parents, partners, nurses, or care providers you work with frequently. They all can have a positive impact on how you present yourself to those looking for a doula.
On your web site
There are two schools of thought: One is to have a testimonials page, the other is to have a testimonial or two on every page of your site. I personally am a fan of the second one. Whenever possible, I like to have the testimonial personalized with the name and photo of the person giving it, but that’s not always possible. Many of my clients have been happy to give me a testimonial, but shied away from having their name and photo posted. I like to carefully place testimonials where they can be most effective. For example, post one that talks about how you’re worth every penny next to your pricing, one about your skills as a postpartum doula next to your postpartum offerings, etc.
Some like to have a page of testimonials, and occasionally they’ll call it something else, like “what clients say about me” or “love notes” etc. Just make sure it’s readable!
On social media
With permission, you can share the nice things people share about you on social media. Any time I get a nice note, card or text, or my clients post about me on their social media, I ask permission to share. And often my clients are fine with that.
Testimonials can be a great way to build a prospective client’s confidence in you. Just make sure that you’re using them thoughtfully and effectively!