How to Ask a Client for a Testimonial by Email

A testimonial request works best when the client has enough experience of your work to comment on it. Ask after a useful milestone or completed project, and give them room to decline.

Tell them where you would like to use their words. Permission to send private feedback is not automatically permission to publish it with their name and company.

Make the request specific and optional

Subject: A short comment about the onboarding project

Hello Amira,

Now that the onboarding guide is in use, would you be comfortable sharing a short comment about working with us?

A few sentences about the problem you needed to solve and whether the guide helped would be useful. We’d like to quote it on our website, but I would send you the exact wording and attribution for approval first.

No problem if your company doesn’t allow this.

Kind regards, Alex

The questions give the client a starting point without asking them to praise a particular result. Don’t supply invented performance numbers or encourage claims they can’t verify.

Confirm publication permission

Subject: Approval of your website quote

Hi Morgan,

Thank you for the feedback. We’d like to use the following quote on our website:

“The revised guide made our account setup instructions much easier to follow.”

Would you approve that wording with the attribution “Morgan Lee, Operations Manager at Cedar”? Please let me know if you’d prefer a different attribution or no company name.

Thanks, Casey

Use the client’s actual words. If you shorten a quote, keep its meaning and let the client approve the edited version. The quotation above is fictional and should not be published as a real testimonial.

If the client hasn’t replied

One brief follow-up may be enough: “I’m following up on the testimonial request below. If now isn’t a good time, there’s no need to send anything.” A testimonial is optional, so don’t treat the request like an overdue project task.

Check whether company approval is needed before using a logo, job title, or customer name. If permission is unclear, keep the feedback private.

For feedback intended to improve the work rather than promote it, use a feedback request email. Those requests should leave room for criticism as well as praise.