Want a Powerful Letter of Reference? Here’s the Script You Need | HackerNoon

Without a doubt, one of my most significant assets as a professional and a business person is my letters of reference and testimonials for my services; they do a better job of selling me than I do.

Seriously, I challenge you to tell me you don’t want to hire me after taking a quick gander at my third-party credibility here on Limitless Mindset, for my marketing firm and my recommendations on LinkedIn (Update: I had to create a new LinkedIn profile after they banned me for a very silly reason – want to leave me a recommendation?)

Building an impressive body of 3rd party credibility takes five things…

1. Boldness to ask your coworkers, boss, friends, or clients who have paid you money to write you references. Honestly, it’s awkward, and it takes guts to ask for a reference, but it’s absolutely worth it. Get over yourself and just do it!

2. A good template; most people have no idea how to write a good letter of reference. Make it easy for them by sending an outline of what content you would like their testimonial to cover. Feel free to steal the template I have below.

3. Persistence is super important. Pretty close to 100% of those you ask for a reference will say “yes”; however, very few will actually follow through and write it up and send it to you promptly. On average, you will have to remind people three times to write a letter of reference. One of my very best letters of reference came from a client I had to remind nine times over several months.

4. Photos – In the digital age, it’s easier than ever to fake testimonials, so indicators of authenticity are important. The most effective is a 200×200 pixel thumbnail image of the testimonial author. If appropriate, I will include their full name, title, and link to their company.

5. Reciprocity – Make this a win-win for the other party. Write them a testimonial or letter of reference in return. If they are dragging their feet on your reference, write theirs first and send it to them.

Notice that I did not include “hard work” as an essential ingredient in building a body of 3rd party credibility. Third-party credibility is quintessential life hacking, and it is, by nature, high leverage. Hard work is not always required.

Requesting a letter of reference occurs in two steps…

1. Request for reference

This is, most importantly, a brief message where your goal is to get them to agree to write a letter of reference for you.

Hey ____,

I thought I’d drop you a line and ask if you could write me a letter of reference for the ________ project

If you’re open to that, I can provide a simple template/outline that will make it a breeze to do (I’m sure you can write great letters of reference without a template, but I find that my clients get them done a lot quicker with the template.)

Let me know and I’ll be sure to return the favor.

They will respond in the positive, follow up with…

2. Letter of reference details

In my letter of reference, please hit as many of these bullet points as you can…:

• About you – your professional background.
• How you found me.
• Any positive personal or professional results from our relationship – especially unexpected positive results.
• My communication style, understanding of your goals, my solutions, and ease of dealing with me.
• The quality of my workmanship and ability to work quickly to accomplish your goals.
• Any positive results you’ve had in your business as a result.
• If possible, mention specific numbers (e.g., increased revenue three times, brought in a $5,000 client, moved us to the #1 spot in Google, etc.) when describing the results.
• Specific problems or pain points that I solved.
• My prompt professionalism, getting things done quickly and accurately.
• Mention my range of expertise and knowledge in areas helpful to you.
• Any doubts or uncertainties you had before starting to work with me.
• How long we’ve worked together.
• Anything else you want to mention.

This letter of reference or testimonial can be as short or as long as you want.

If you have a LinkedIn account, please add a recommendation to my LinkedIn profile (I’ll be sure to return the favor); if not, you can send it to me via email.

Finally, I need your permission to use your full name (if not, I’ll use your first name and the first initial of your last name) and a photo of you in the testimonials section of my website. Can you provide a photo, or shall I find one of you?

Let me know what success you have from tweaking this testimonial request template…