Production

How to get great customer testimonial videos (and get customers to say yes)

By Joel Zeiser, Co-Founder, Director & Cinematographer23 September 20263 min read

Short answer: a great testimonial video comes from a prepared interview, not a Q&A. Ask a happy customer for two to three hours, do the recce and shot list before you arrive, write questions that draw out why they bought rather than what they bought, and shoot it well enough that the same video works on social and in a live sales pitch. That is how we have produced testimonials for SolarSmart for over eighteen months.

Getting the customer to say yes

People say no to "can we film you" and yes to "would you tell your story for twenty minutes, we will handle everything." Ask the customers who already left a review or sent a thank-you email. Tell them exactly how long it takes, that there is no script, and that they will see it before it goes out. Offer to come to their home or premises so it costs them nothing but the time.

Plan the whole shoot before anyone shows up

A happy customer will usually give you two or three hours, not a full day, and the video still has to look high-end. So the job lives or dies on planning. For the Belvedere College donor film we did a full recce, a shot list, mood boards and a schedule timed to the minute, and that is why one day was enough for a broadcast-quality film. For a testimonial the same discipline shrinks to an hour of prep: know the room, know the light, know the five cutaways you need.

Ask about the why, not the what

"What did you buy?" gets a spec sheet. "What was going on that made you look for this?" gets a story. Every testimonial we make is built around the real reason the purchase mattered to that customer, because that is what convinces the next person to pick up the phone. The questions we use most:

• What was the problem before, and how did it feel day to day?
• What nearly stopped you going ahead?
• What was the install or delivery actually like?
• What is different now? Be specific.
• What would you say to someone sitting where you were six months ago?

Write the questions in advance, but do not hand them to the customer. Let them answer in their own words and keep the camera rolling through the pauses. The best line is usually the one after they think they have finished.

Shoot it to be used twice

The same testimonial should run as a vertical social clip and as a 16:9 piece a salesperson can play in a meeting, where a real customer's story lands at the exact moment a decision is being made. Frame for both from the start. Capture cutaways of the product in use, the premises, and the customer doing something normal, so the edit is not a talking head for ninety seconds.

Real customers beat actors, every time

For Evolve Eco Solutions we filmed actual homeowners, unscripted, and those testimonials outperformed every polished brand ad. Nobody believes a studio. Everybody believes a neighbour. Keep the production quality high and the performance honest.

If you want a steady stream of testimonials without your team managing shoots, that is what our retainer does. Book a free strategy call and we will plan the first three with you.