Your customers say great things in person, by text and in emails. Then a new customer checks your site and sees none of it. Reviews live on Google. Testimonials live where you put them: your website, your quote, your proposal. Here's how to ask, what the FTC says, and where I'd put testimonials so they actually help.
Ask at the same moment you'd ask for a review: right after the work is done and the customer is happy. The question is different: “Can I quote you on that?” When a customer writes something specific in an email or text (“honestly the cleanest job site we've ever had”), ask if you can use those exact words with their first name and town. That's the whole system: catch real praise when it happens, and ask to keep it. A short phone call works too. Ask three questions: what was the problem, what happened, what surprised you. My take: answers like that sound like a real person because they are.
The FTC's endorsement guides say an endorsement must reflect the honest opinion and experience of the person giving it (FTC). If a testimonial shows a result you can't show is typical, the guides say the ad should clearly disclose what customers generally get (16 CFR 255.2). If there's a connection readers wouldn't expect, like payment, a free or discounted product, or a family or personal relationship, it must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously (16 CFR 255.5). And in 2024 the FTC finalized a rule banning fake reviews and testimonials, including ones from people who don't exist or never used the business, which lets it seek civil penalties against knowing violators (FTC). For an honest business none of this is hard: real words from real customers, typical results, and say so when you gave something.
My take: a separate “Testimonials” page is the wrong home. Put each one next to the decision it supports. The roofing quote goes out with two roofing testimonials. The service page carries the testimonial about that service. The pricing page carries the one that says it was worth it. Specific beats glowing. “They found the leak two other companies missed” tells a buyer something. “Great company, highly recommend!!” tells them nothing. With permission, add first names, towns and photos so readers can see a real person said it. And keep them fresh. If your newest testimonial is from 2019, readers will notice.
Reviews live on sites you don't control, like Google and Yelp, where anyone can read them. Testimonials are quotes a customer gave you permission to use in your own materials. My take: run both, and start both the same way, by asking when the customer is happy.
Only with clear disclosure. The FTC says that when an endorser has been paid or given something of value, that connection should usually be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. It also says you can't make an incentive, like a discount, depend on a review being positive (FTC). My take: real words from customers you didn't pay are the cleaner path.
Trimming for length or fixing a typo is fine as long as the meaning stays theirs. Changing the meaning, making the claim bigger or adding words they never said is not. The FTC's guides say an endorsement may not be “presented out of context or reworded so as to distort in any way” the person's opinion or experience. The rule also says you don't need their exact words unless your ad says or suggests you're using them (16 CFR 255.1). My take: quotation marks suggest exactly that, so keep quoted words theirs.
My take: two or three specific, recent ones per service beat forty generic ones. Cover each main service and each worry customers bring up (price, speed, cleanliness, communication) with one testimonial that answers it.
Not sure if customers searching in your town can find your business? Email alejandro@ojedaworks.com and I'll check for free.
See also: How to ask customers for reviews · How to respond to negative reviews · Content & Social