Fitness Testimonials: Examples You Can Copy

What is a Customer Testimonial?

Let’s start at the beginning.

A customer testimonial is a statement of recommendation from a client after a positive experience with the services you provide. 

Customer testimonials take many forms, from written quotes and case studies, to video testimonials, and can be displayed across marketing channels of your choice – your website, social media channels, and even on printed materials. 

Our handy guide explores how to use customer testimonials in marketing in more detail. 

3 Steps To Collecting Customer Testimonials For Your Fitness Business

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. 

As awkward as it may seem asking for a testimonial from your clients, most people are really happy to do so. 

It shows that you value your collaboration enough to show the world. 

Our simple guide runs through the best way to gather customer testimonials for your fitness business. 

Step 1: When To Collect Customer Testimonials 

Collecting a killer customer testimonial is all about timing. 

When are your clients most likely to share what a great trainer you are and how you’re helping them achieve their fitness goals?

Usually when they’re at their happiest. 

Now this may vary from business to business, but try asking for testimonials after a great workout session or as part of your mid-point review of their exercise program. 

If clients enjoy their experience with you, see results and feel amazing, they’re more likely to want to share that with others. 

Step 2: How To Collect Customer Testimonials 

There are a couple of different ways you can gather great customer testimonials: manually, or using a tool like Trustmary.

Ask the Right Question

When collecting testimonials from clients, it’s always a good idea to give them guidance on what to write. 

This way you can help them develop a first-class testimonial that helps your business. 

Guidance can be as simple as a few questions that they can answer themselves, such as:

• How did you hear about us?
• What were your personal fitness goals when you began training?
• How did [insert company name] help you on your fitness journey?
• What do you love about the fitness program we’ve developed for you?
• What do you love about the facilities we provide?
• What do you love about the service we provide?
• How would you rate your physical abilities after training with us?
• What results have you seen over time?
• Would you recommend us to a friend or family?

The above questions help tell the story of what it’s like to collaborate with you, from where the customer began their fitness journey, through to where they’ve ended up and how they got there. 

Use a combination of these questions in your request for a customer testimonial to shape your client’s success story, but be careful not to overdo it. 

No one likes a lengthy survey, so start with 4-5 questions and ask for more detail if you need it. 

For more inspiration, check out these 15 questions you could use when asking for a testimonial. 

Collect In the Right Channel

Think about how your clients like to be communicated with. Some may prefer text messages, others might like email, or in person. 

Make sure you collect testimonials in the right channel to suit your clients. Here are a few different ways you can collect customer testimonials:

Testimonial Forms

A testimonial form is an easy way to embed testimonial collection on your website. Testimonial forms can be personalized to suit your brand and added to different points on your website. 

An easy-to-use testimonial form can be used to collect both video and written testimonials, and some services like Trustmary, can be set up to automatically display the testimonials where you want them. 

Email 

A personal request for a testimonial is hard to say no to. Explain why you’re collecting the testimonial and provide a link to the questions in an email. 

Here’s an example of an email testimonial request that you could use. 

Hi Wei, 

Congratulations! It’s been six months since you’ve joined our yoga studio and I’ve loved seeing you at classes each week. Your core strength is definitely improving – keep practicing your vinyasas! 

I wondered if you’d like to share your experiences with other members in the form of a testimonial? 

It would take a few minutes to fill out a quick survey of your experiences with us, and I’ll use the testimonial on our websites and Instagram profile for new customers. 

What do you think? You can find the link here: [link]

Thanks so much in advance!

Sumitra 

Head Instructor, Suma Studios

Testimonial request email might not provoke an instant response, which is why you might need to follow up with another request later

Check out these 3 best examples of testimonial request letters or adapt this review template for your business:

Hi [Customer Name] 

Thank you for being a valued client of [Business Name].

Would you like to share your experiences with other members in the form of a testimonial?

It would take a few minutes to fill out a quick survey of your experiences with us. You can find the link here: [link]

We will use the testimonial in our marketing materials to give new clients a great sense of working with us. 

Thanks so much in advance!

[Your Name]

SMS

SMS marketing is a growing trend, and lends itself nicely to requesting testimonials.

Why?

Because you can stagger the questions so the survey doesn’t seem so overwhelming. 

Check out the flow below:

Text message 1: Hi Delilah, You’ve been smashing your training sessions. Would you want to share the story of your progress so far for our marketing?

Text message 2: Thanks! It’ll just take a few short questions. Q1: What were your fitness goals when you started with us?

Text message 3: Sounds great! Q2: How much progress have you made against your fitness goals so far?

Text message 4: Brilliant! Q3: What do you love about our gym?

Text message 5: Why thank you! Last question: Would you recommend us to a friend or family?

Text message 6: Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with us. We will share your story on our website and social media channels to help other members. 

Alternatively, you can send a simple link to a testimonial form in a text message.

Hi Delilah, You’ve been smashing your training sessions. Would you want to share the story of your progress so far for our marketing? Click on this link to tell us about your experiences. 

In Person

Simply asking for a testimonial is a great way to get a client to agree to providing a testimonial. 

It’s pretty hard to say ‘no’ to someone when they are standing right in front of you. 

Of course, you can’t collect the actual testimonial at that point in time, but you can send them a follow up email or a link to a testimonial form later. 

By asking in person, you increase the chances of them clicking on the link and providing a testimonial. 

Want to simplify collecting testimonials? Sign up for a free trial to Trustmary to see how.

Step 3: Where To Use Customer Testimonials 

Now that you’ve gathered some great testimonials, it’s time to share them with the world. 

But where should you display your clients’ words?

The beauty about testimonials is that they can be used across any of your marketing materials.

Why not try some of these places to show off what your clients think about your service:

Website

Your homepage, services page or even a dedicated testimonial page are all great places to show how your fitness programs stand out from the rest. 

Alternative gym GymBox uses a quote from a client testimonial about a kettlebell class as the first thing people see on its website. 

Social Media 

If you’re already using social media to promote your fitness facility, or demonstrate workout sessions,  then you should definitely be sharing your testimonials there too. 

Personal trainer Louise Cornish does just that by including testimonials from clients on her Instagram account.

You’ve already established an audience of people who are interested in you – they will also want to know what others have to say too! 

Email Newsletter

Do you email potential clients details of upcoming boot camps, or tips on how to promote a healthy lifestyle? Why not add a customer testimonial in there too, to show how you’ve helped others improve their physical health and fitness levels. 

Blogilates, a fitness blog, used customer testimonials in its email newsletter to promote its online daily workouts.

Maximize the impact of your customer testimonials. Check out our guide to using customer testimonials in marketing.  

Some Tips to Collecting Customer Testimonials

Getting your client’s thoughts on your business doesn’t have to be difficult, but it can come with some challenges.

Here are some tips to make the process easier: 

Ask Often, Ask Again

I said earlier that clients generally are quite happy to give testimonials. While that is true, daily life and a busy schedule gets in the way. 

Make sure you follow up with your clients after you’ve initially asked for a testimonial to remind them. 

At the same time, you should also regularly ask your clients for testimonials. 

You may decide to ask after a particular milestone in your collaboration, or at a certain point in the calendar, like every three months. 

Either way, regularly requesting testimonials maximizes your chance of getting them, but also means you have a bank of up-to-date reviews that you can use to refresh your marketing materials from time to time.

Remember to Say Thanks

It may sound simple but remember to thank your clients if they do provide a testimonial. 

After all, they’ve taken time out of their busy schedules to recommend your business. 

Show them that you appreciate them with a quick thank you email, like the one below, or even with an incentive like a discount or a free consultation. 

Hi Martin, 

Thank you so much for doing a video testimonial for the Beginners Aerial Aerobics course!

Your testimonial helps bring to life the progress that can be made in a very short period, while also showing the training fun we have 🙂

Best, 

Alicia

Never Use Fake Testimonials

I’ve talked quite a lot about trust, but one more thing you should know is that trust is hard to build and easy to break. 

Using fake testimonials is a sure fire way to break your clients’ trust in your business. 

Not only is it dishonest, but you also risk ruining your hard-earned reputation – 83% of consumers refuse to do business with brands they do not trust. 

Include Names and Pictures

And on that note, it’s always a good idea to include names and pictures on your testimonials to build trust. 

38% of customers said they’d be suspicious of the credibility of anonymous reviews.

When you’re spending time and effort collecting testimonials, it’s worth including pictures and names to prove that the client is a real person. 

Or better yet, use video testimonials!

Use Trustmary

Trustmary can speed up the process of collecting customer testimonials that can help your business grow. 

Trustmary’s online tool helps you collect more customer reviews, and high-quality written and video testimonials with customizable testimonial forms that can be embedded and shared from your website. 

The simple-to-use interface and automatic reminders make it easy for your clients to tell the world how you’ve helped them reach their personal fitness goals!

Once your testimonials have been collected, you can display them and all reviews where you want on your website, or share on your social media channels with a click of a button. 

Trustmary’s helpful dashboard gives you all the information you need to see how your testimonials are performing, and update them regularly. 

Best of all, you can try out Trustmary for free!

Conclusion

The fitness industry is going through a challenging time, and to stay competitive, businesses need to set themselves apart from other trainers. 

Customer testimonials are a great way to do that. 

As personal recommendations from your own clients, testimonials help you build trust, show social proof and maximize world-of-mouth advertising for your business. 

They can even help to grow your business!

There are many ways to collect testimonials from your client, but you should focus on finding the right time, questions and channels for your business. 

Once you’ve collected success stories from your satisfied customers, you can use these across your marketing channels to show potential new clients how you are the right business to help them achieve their personal goals. 

A tool like Trustmary can help you gather and display customer testimonials easily, so that you can focus on creating life-changing fitness experiences for your clients. 

If you have existing reviews on Google, you can import them to create your first review widget to your website – for free!

Just type your location below to get started ⬇️  ⬇️