Testimonial & Case Study Collector

Three things kill most testimonial collections: bad timing, vague asks, and putting the writing burden on the client. The 48-hour window matters because details get fuzzy fast — at two weeks, enthusiasm has faded; at three months, the specific numbers are forgotten and you get "great to work with." The skill anchors the ask to peak satisfaction and gives the client a structure so their endorsement comes out specific, credible, and usable.

Four approaches, matched to the situation. Guided questions when the client will write but needs prompts. Draft-and-approve when the client won't write anything unprompted — most will approve a well-written draft faster than they'd write from scratch, and this has the highest conversion rate. Interview when you're producing a full case study or video. And a three-email sequence that combines all three when you want maximum flexibility. The skill picks the right one based on relationship strength, client style, and the format you actually need.

The question bank is structured around the universal testimonial arc: before, after, feel, and proof. Situation questions surface the "before" — what wasn't working, what they'd already tried. Outcome questions surface the "after" — specific results, the moment it felt worth it. Emotional questions get the texture and the recommendation language. Specificity questions push for the one metric that does more persuasive work than five sentences of praise: "revenue increased 34% in 90 days" beats "amazing results, highly recommend" by an order of magnitude.

The case-study structure follows: result-focused headline leading with the number, brief challenge section in their words, deliberately short solution section because the solution is not the star, results as the centrepiece with the biggest number leading, pull-quote from the testimonial, and a suggested visual proof point. Permissions get handled up front — full name, company, title, photo — because retroactive permissions fail. And the skill won't wait for the perfect case study you'll never get around to asking for: a short specific quote collected today beats a perfect one that never lands.