Short answer: most weak testimonials jump straight to the feeling (“brilliant, highly recommend!”) and leave out everything a stranger would want to know. You fix that with three parts: the problem, what you did, and what changed. The rules matter just as much. The words stay the client’s own, they agree in writing before you share them, and nothing is paid for, steered or tidied into something they never said.
Every example below is invented to show the changes. None of them are real people, real businesses or real numbers, so please don’t post them as if a client said them.
Recommendation, testimonial or review: which one are you after?
A lot of LinkedIn advice is about career recommendations, where a former colleague writes about what a good manager you were. That helps if you’re job hunting. If you run a business, you need something else: a client saying what working with you was like.
A client testimonial is a customer’s words about the result they got from you, shared with their permission. A review usually sits on a review site that you don’t control. What is a testimonial covers the full difference, so this post sticks to client testimonials.
Four examples, weak then strong
Trades (a plumber)
Weak: “Great job, very professional, would recommend.”
Strong: “Our boiler had been cutting out every winter and two other firms had just reset it. He found a failing part, explained it without making me feel daft, and it’s been fine since. Turned up when he said he would, too.”
Why it works: the weak one could describe any business anywhere. The strong one names the problem (cutting out every winter), what he did (found the part, explained it) and what changed (it’s been fine since). That last part is the proof. “Without making me feel daft” is the sort of human detail nobody thinks to invent, and you mustn’t try.
Salon (a hairdresser)
Weak: “Love my hair! Best salon ever!!”
Strong: “I’d been scared of going lighter after a bad experience elsewhere. She talked me through what would and wouldn’t work on my hair, and I left feeling like myself, only better. I’ve booked my next one already.”
Why it works: the fear is the problem and the conversation is what she did. “Feeling like myself” is the result, said in the client’s voice with no salon jargon. “I’ve booked my next one already” describes what the client did, and that convinces people more than a compliment does.
Clinic (a physiotherapy practice)
Weak: “They fixed my back. Amazing service.”
Strong: “I’d stopped playing five-a-side because I was nervous about my back. The team kept the plan simple and I understood every step. I’m back playing and not thinking about it.”
Why it works: it says nothing about diagnosis, treatment or anything clinical. It stays on what the client’s life looks like now. Health details need more care than praise for a haircut, and there’s more on that below.
Consultant (a business adviser)
Weak: “Very knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with.”
Strong: “We kept putting off a decision about how to structure the team because every option felt risky. She asked questions we hadn’t asked ourselves, laid out the trade-offs plainly, and we made the call within the week. It’s the first time in a while I’ve felt we weren’t guessing.”
Why it works: “very knowledgeable” is just a claim, while the strong version shows that knowledge being used, in a situation other owners will recognise. The result is a decision made and a worry gone. There’s no statistic, and you shouldn’t add one if the client didn’t give you one.
What the strong versions have in common
They start with the problem, or close to it. The client says what was wrong before they say what was good. That order matters, because someone meeting you for the first time probably has a similar problem.
Each one has a specific detail: the boiler cutting out, the five-a-side, the decision that kept getting put off. Details like these are hard to fake and easy to believe.
They use short sentences in a normal voice. Nobody talks like a brochure, so a testimonial that reads like one makes people suspicious. Rough edges are fine, so leave them in.
And they say what changed, meaning what’s different on Monday morning. That persuades people more than any adjective. How to write a testimonial sets out this structure if you want to check your own against it.
How to ask a client without steering them
This is where good intentions tend to go wrong.
Ask open questions. “What was going on before we started?” “What’s different now?” “Is there anything you’d tell someone thinking of hiring me?” Those three usually get you the problem, the result and the human detail, and you haven’t put a single word in their mouth.
Don’t send them a draft to approve. It’s tempting because clients are busy, but once the words are yours, it has stopped being their testimonial. If a client needs help getting started, give them the questions and let them write it.
Ask everyone you’ve worked with, not only the clients you know are delighted. The CMA’s fake reviews guidance describes cherry-picking as including “encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews” and selecting only favourable reviews for display, and it gives consumer reviews a broad meaning: a review of a product, a trader or anything relevant to a buying decision, in any form. Treat testimonials with the same care, so that what you share reflects what clients generally say. How to ask for a testimonial has wording you can adapt.
Then get a clear yes before you post, in writing, so you can find it later.
What never to post: edited quotes, paid praise and health details
Edited quotes. You post what the client actually said. You can fix an obvious typo if they agree, but you can’t trim a sentence until it means something different, merge two comments into one, or swap in a word you like better. If it needs changing, ask them to change it. If they won’t, post it as it is or don’t post it. The CMA guidance specifically warns against editing reviews to limit the impact of criticism.
Paid praise. Offer no discounts, freebies or prize draw entries in return for a testimonial. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, fake reviews and incentivised reviews that hide the incentive are banned practices, and the CMA notes that many sites don’t allow incentivised reviews at all. Offering nothing keeps you well clear of all of that. Fake reviews and UK law covers the wider picture.
Health details. A clinic testimonial can easily drift into diagnosis or treatment. That’s the client’s private information, and you shouldn’t publish it without their consent. Keep the quote on everyday outcomes, get consent, and read patient review confidentiality before you post anything health-related.
Where to keep the originals so you can show them later
Keep the original exactly as the client sent it: the email, the message or the form. Save their permission next to it, with the date they said yes.
Six months from now, someone may ask where a quote came from, or a client may change their mind. You’ll want to answer in thirty seconds, not thirty minutes. One folder with one file per client is boring, and it works.
When you have the words and the yes, the testimonial card maker turns a quote into an image, including a landscape size for LinkedIn posts. Paste the quote exactly as the client wrote it.
Questions people ask
What should a LinkedIn testimonial say?
It should say what the problem was, what you did about it and what changed afterwards, in the client's own words. A first name and a line about who they are helps. Beyond that, it's their voice, so leave it alone.
What is the difference between a LinkedIn recommendation and a testimonial?
A recommendation is usually a career reference from someone who worked with you. A client testimonial is a customer describing the result they got from your business, shared with their permission.
Can I edit a client's testimonial before posting it?
You can fix an obvious typo if the client agrees, but you can't change the meaning. If the wording needs more than that, ask the client to change it themselves and post what they approve. Never trim, merge or reword a quote into something they didn't say.
Can I offer a discount in return for a LinkedIn testimonial?
Don't. UK law bans fake reviews and incentivised reviews that hide the incentive, and the CMA notes that many sites don't allow incentivised reviews at all. The simple, safe rule is to ask without offering anything in return.
How long should a testimonial be?
Long enough to cover the problem, what you did and the result, which usually takes a few sentences. Don't pad a short one, and don't cut a longer one in a way that changes what the client meant.