The Testimonial That's So Vague It Could Be About Anyone
You've got forty-three five-star reviews and you're proud of every single one. 💖 Then you sit down to actually pull a few for your website and realise almost all of them say some version of "great service, would recommend." Technically glowing. Practically useless. A new customer reading that learns nothing about what you actually do, how you do it differently, or why it would matter to them — because that exact sentence could sit on literally any business's page, in any industry, anywhere.
What most businesses get wrong
The most common mistake is collecting testimonials passively and publishing whatever comes in, rather than treating testimonial quality as something you actively shape. Most customers aren't trying to write a vague review — they're just busy, and "great service" is the fastest way to express genuine satisfaction without thinking too hard about it. The business's job is to gently draw out the specifics that were already true, not invent anything that wasn't.
The second mistake is publishing the vague version anyway because "at least it's five stars." A wall of generic five-star quotes can actually read as less trustworthy than a handful of specific ones, because specificity is what makes a testimonial feel real to a skeptical reader. Numbers, timelines, exact problems, exact outcomes — those are much harder to fake, so they carry far more weight than enthusiasm alone.
The rewrite framework: three follow-up questions
Question 1 — "What was going on before you came to us?" This surfaces the specific problem or situation, which gives a new reader something to recognise themselves in.
Question 2 — "What exactly did we do, or what was different about working with us?" This pulls out the specific process, product, or approach — the part a competitor can't claim just as easily.
Question 3 — "What changed afterwards, and can you put any kind of number or timeframe on it?" This surfaces the outcome — a result, a time saved, a feeling resolved — ideally with something concrete attached.
Ask these as a short, casual follow-up (a text, a quick call, a simple form after they've already left a review) rather than a formal interview. You're not putting words in their mouth — you're asking them to say a bit more of what they already know, and then quoting them accurately.
After: "We'd been putting off dealing with our backyard for three years because every quote we got felt vague. These guys gave us an exact plan and finished the whole thing in four days, right when they said they would. Would use again in a heartbeat."
After: "I'd tried three other tools before this one and always gave up within a week. The onboarding actually walked me through my specific use case, and I was still using it daily six months later — which has never happened before for me with software like this."
After: "We needed our whole product catalogue reorganised before a big sale weekend, with basically no notice. They turned it around in two days, flagged two pricing errors we hadn't even spotted ourselves, and didn't charge extra for the rush."
How to actually do this
Build the three questions into whatever already happens after a sale or project wraps up — a follow-up email, a thank-you text, a quick call. Send them close to the moment of satisfaction, while the specifics are still fresh, not three months later when all that's left is the general warm feeling. Always send the rewritten version back to the customer for a quick "does this sound right to you?" before publishing — you're tightening their words, not fabricating a new quote on their behalf. And keep a simple running doc of raw answers to these three questions, even for testimonials you don't use immediately; a specific detail that doesn't fit this month's homepage might be exactly what a future case study or sales funnel page needs.
- Don't publish a testimonial so generic it could belong to any competitor.
- Don't put words or numbers in a customer's mouth that they didn't actually say.
- Don't skip sending the rewritten version back for a quick confirmation.
- Don't wait months after the sale to ask follow-up questions — the details fade fast.
- Don't use this framework at all if you're in an AHPRA-regulated health profession — testimonials aren't permitted there regardless of how specific they are.
Frequently asked questions
What if the customer's answer is still pretty vague even after I ask?
That happens, and it's a legitimate limitation of this approach — not every customer can or will give you a quotable detail, even with the right questions. In that case, it's fine to keep the testimonial shorter and more general rather than stretching a thin answer into something that sounds exaggerated.
Is it okay to lightly edit a testimonial for grammar or length?
Yes, light editing for clarity and length is standard practice and expected by most customers. The line to hold is meaning and facts — never add a number, outcome, or claim the customer didn't actually give you.
Should I always get written sign-off before publishing?
It's good practice generally, and becomes genuinely important once you've rewritten or tightened their words at all — a quick "does this look right to publish?" message protects both of you and takes thirty seconds.
Can I use a first name only instead of a full name for privacy?
Absolutely, and many customers prefer it. First name plus general location or situation ("Sarah, small business owner") often reads just as credible as a full name, with less privacy concern for the customer.
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