When Is the Best Time to ask for a Video Testimonial?

A question Vouch customers often ask is “When is the best time to ask for a video testimonial?”

Is it when you onboard a new customer?

When they've experienced good results?

Or, when they’ve hit a particular usage milestone?

It’s a great question. A well-timed request can boost both your response rate and the quality of the testimonial.

The simple answer is - as often as possible. The more often you ask your customers for testimonials, the more diverse videos you’ll receive. This’ll give you the best chance of building a library full of high-quality video testimonials. A place you can always find a relevant testimonial for every sales conversation or marketing channel.

That said, there are some magic moments in the customer journey that are perfect for capturing pointed video testimonials.

Keep reading for:

- Customer touch points perfect for collecting testimonials

- Signals your customer is ready to share

- Advice from Jeff Ernst is Founder and CEO of SlapFive

- Our email template for testimonial requests

For companies with thousands of customers 

If you’re a company with many customers, you’ll need a testimonial request process that can scale alongside your customer base. 

Aim to have an always-on testimonial request that either:

- Is accessible 24/7 at a high-traffic customer touchpoint

- Or is triggered automatically at key events in the customer lifecycle

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24/7 video testimonial requests

With Vouch it’s easy to add an always-on request at a high customer touch point. Simply create a campaign with some non-specific questions that any customer could answer, then drop the public recorder link wherever you like.

Some high-traffic customer touch points to consider:

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- On your website or in app: Add a pop up to collect feedback.

- In email newsletters: Include an always-on call to action.

- On social media: Share with your entire following, and reach out 1:1 following a mention.

- In communities: Slack or Discord communities are often where you’ll already find customers sharing feedback organically. 

- At events: Vouch’s public recorder link can also be generated as a QR code, perfect for capturing testimonials at events or conferences.

- On a dedicated landing page: Create a page that gives your customers context and showcases examples of customer video testimonials that came before, to help inspire them. Reduce the friction with Vouch’s recorder embed, so your customers can record their testimonial without ever leaving the page. 

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Remember, different customers will follow you on different platforms. By adding your Vouch links to multiple touch points, you’ll have a greater chance of success.

Automated video testimonial requests

Automatic requests, triggered at key points in the customer lifecycle, are also a great way to capture video testimonials at specific moments. Or when a particular experience is fresh in mind. It also removes the risk of human error and oversight, ensuring that perfectly-timed requests are sent every time.

With Vouch, you can take advantage of a host of integrations that’ll automate the process and do the heavy lifting for you. Check them out here. 

Some points in the customer lifecycle to consider:

- Post purchase: Timing is everything. Give your customer enough time to experience your product or service, but not so long that they lose any of that initial excitement that’ll bring the video testimonial to life.

- Post onboarding: Ask pointed questions about their onboarding experience and how quickly they were able to experience value.

- Product usage: Trigger a feedback request following a usage milestone. Great for subscription models.

- Customer success: Seek feedback following a positive result, campaign end or problem solved.

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“Strike while the iron’s hot”

Jeff Ernst is Founder and CEO of SlapFive, a Customer Marketing Software platform for driving Customer-Led Growth. He advises marketers to think about ‘magical moments’ in the customer experience, where timely feedback can be captured.

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If you have a 1:1 relationship with clients

Businesses with 1:1 relationships clients should still provide an opportunity to collect feedback and praise via an always-on video testimonial request. However, if you have check-ins, progress calls, or any kind of 1:1 meeting, you’ll benefit from an additional pulse check that’ll indicate the right time to capture great video testimonials.

If any of the following events happens on a call or in person, follow up with a set of questions that’ll give your client a platform to share their story:‍

- Great campaign results: A great opportunity to ask pointed questions around the impact of your product or service and capture some quantifiable results.

- A customer support issue is resolved: If your customer success team has gone above and beyond, capture your clients great experience.

- Unsolicited praise: Were they showering you with praise on your call? Follow up with a swift Vouch request, letting them know how valuable their testimonial will be.

- Request for renewal: This indicates not only a happy customer, but someone who has solid experience with your product or service. Video testimonial gold.

The psychology of testimonials

When we’ve received something great, psychologically we feel compelled to give back. However, as Katelyn Bourgoin points out, our urge to reciprocate decays over time. You can avoid reciprocity decay by asking for a video testimonial immediately after praise is given in a client call, or a great result is achieved. Time your request while your client is feeling peak gratitude.

Save time by creating an email template, or steal ours below. Then you can simply copy, paste and personalize when the opportunity arises. It’ll help you strike while the irons hot and never miss an opportunity to ask for a video testimonial. 

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Email template 

Hi [customer name],

It was great speaking with you earlier and hearing about [insert moment of customer satisfaction]

Customer testimonials are so valuable to us and we'd be thrilled if you’d be willing to answer a few questions about your experience via video.

You don't need any special equipment or software. You can use your smartphone or computer to record a short video of yourself answering the questions, and we'll take care of the rest.

Here are the questions we'd love for you to answer: [Insert questions here]

It’d be great if you could mention: [Killer insight they mentioned on the call]

Please feel free to share as much detail as you'd like. We’re using a video platform called Vouch which allows you to make notes, record as many times as you need, and choose your best take. To submit your video responses, simply click this link. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Thank you so much for your time and your feedback.

Best regards,

[Your name]

[Company name]

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More advice for capturing video testimonials

Get your customers primed and ready to respond to your request with our blog on the best way to ask for a video testimonial. 

Fast track your campaign set up with our suggestions of the best testimonial questions to ask your customers or clients, or check out Vouch's in product question template library.

And finally if your customer needs a bit of guidance for recording their testimonial, you can share our guide on how to record a video testimonial. 

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Like to try Vouch?

Loved by companies like Canva, Nike, Cisco, Stryker, HubSpot, Amazon and more, tools like Vouch make leveraging video in your business remarkably easy.

Be sure to book a Vouch demo today and chat with a video content expert.