A testimonial request email template is not really about wording. Four things decide the reply rate: who it comes from, when it arrives, how much work it asks for, and whether it is specific about what you want. Get those right and a plain email outperforms a designed campaign. On the worked example a 42% reply rate turns 42 asks into 18 testimonials; a mass send to the same list would not come close.
From the person who did the work
Not from marketing, not from a no-reply address. The relationship is with the individual, and the ask trades on it. This one change moves the reply rate more than every other on the page combined. It also decides where the reply goes: an answer sitting in one person's inbox is how testimonials get lost, so the record has to catch it either way.
Within two weeks of the thing going well
Ask when the result is fresh and the customer is still pleased. A request that arrives four months later reads as a favour rather than a natural end to the job. On the worked example twelve minutes per ask covers writing it and chasing once; a stale ask costs the same twelve minutes and returns far less, which is why the timing is worth more than the wording.
Ask for two sentences and say why
'Two sentences about what changed, for our services page.' Specific, small and honest about where it goes. The vague version: 'would you mind writing us a testimonial': is where the silence comes from.
Questions people ask about testimonial request email template
Should I offer an incentive?
Be careful. A material connection between you and the endorser has to be disclosed, so a discount for a review turns a clean testimonial into one that needs a disclosure.
How many times should I chase?
Once, a week later, in the same thread. The worked example allows twelve minutes per ask, which is about one write and one chase.
Can I send the same template to everybody?
The structure, yes. The first line has to be about them, and it is the line that gets the rest read.