Glowing testimonials from your clients are wonderful to have as you promote your real estate business. But how do you get them? First and foremost, you need to ask. Many very happy clients will go on their merry way in life, and not think about writing a note or testimonial. While they love you and love your service, it just slips many peoples\' minds.

And those who do think about it may get distracted by other things in life. So the glowing thank you cards may be few and far between, but that does not mean that your clients wouldn\'t be more than happy to provide a terrific testimonial for you. All you have to do is ask them. So what\'s next?

Decide what it is that you exactly want. Do you want a simple quotable paragraph to add to your website and marketing materials? Or would you like to get some more feedback about you, your real estate team and your client\'s buying or selling experience? The more feedback you\'re interested in, the more you should consider asking your client to fill out a survey.

You can either send printed surveys via snail mail or email surveys to their email address, no longer than a single page. They should be very specific questions, perhaps with a short example or two. Don\'t forget to ask for that testimonial at the end of the survey! It can be as simple as: \"Overall, how was your experience working with me and my team?\" And make sure you indicate that the answer may be used in print and online marketing.

With a printed survey, you need to add a return envelope with an address and a stamp. Email surveys should not be too fancy, or high-tech, as you may turn off some of your less tech-savvy clients. It can truly be as easy as a text email with questions. The client can hit reply, fill in the blanks and hit the send button to get it back to you.

You may even want to sweeten the pot and provide a further incentive to return those surveys. You can offer something to every single client returning a survey, such as a $5-$10 gift card to a coffee shop or the movie store. Or, you can think big and hold a monthly drawing for all surveys returned and offer a larger prize to the drawing winner.

However, don\'t forget the power of the personal touch. And in this case, it may be the personal voice. Instead of use paper or email to do the work for you, consider picking up the phone and calling your clients. It\'s a great excuse to check up on them, ask them how they are doing, if they or someone they know has any current real estate needs and so forth.

At the end of the phone call you can ask them about their experience, which will lead right into the testimonial. As your client is talking, she may just say something that is the perfect quote and if that\'s the case, you can say \"Wow, what a compliment! Can I use that in my marketing material?\" Few people will say no to such a request. In other cases, you may have to ask directly for that testimonial, and that\'s okay.

Just tell them what the testimonial is for and in most instances your client will spout out something for you to use. It is also nifty to do this on the phone because you may be able to direct them to provide a more specific testimonial. While \"My real estate agent is the best,\" may make you feel good, it does nothing to indicate to other clients and prospects your expertise, professionalism and so on. The more specific and detailed a testimonial, the better and more packed with power it is for marketing use.

Every so often a client may just put the \"burden\" of a testimonial back on you, asking you to just \"come up with something.\" If you do this, make sure you go back to the client and tell him what the quote is, whether it is accurate and if you have his permission to use it along with their name or initials. You do not want to conjure up a testimonial on behalf of your client and then use it without this confirmation. You don\'t want a client coming to you later and saying that those weren\'t his words and you were overstating things a bit.