Testimonial Collector

Position in workflow: v1.0 Case Study Builder → v1.0 Testimonial Collector → GTM channels (placement)

Execution Mode

Default is standard. See .claude/rules/08-skill-execution-modes.md for selection logic.

Mode	What this skill produces
quick	One trigger (e.g., NPS promoters) + collection email + 5–10 testimonials processed
standard	3 triggers (NPS, milestone, post-purchase) + processing workflow + consent management + per-placement formatting
deep	5+ triggers + automated harvest + sentiment-segmentation + per-segment placement targeting + measurement loop

What This Does

Systematically harvests short-form testimonials — 1–3 sentence quotes with name + role + logo — and processes them into placement-ready assets. Testimonials are the lower-effort complement to case studies: they don't carry a full story but they multiply social proof on landing pages, pricing pages, ad creative, and outreach.

This skill solves the "we have happy customers but no quotes" problem — most teams have plenty of positive feedback in support tickets, NPS responses, and renewal calls, but never capture it as marketing-ready assets. The fix is a system, not heroic effort.

How It Works

1. Identify collection triggers — Each trigger is an event that suggests the customer is in a moment to share positive feedback:
   • NPS Promoter response (score 9–10) — Lowest-friction; they already wrote feedback
   • Activation milestone (Day 30 / Day 90 active) — They've seen value by now
   • Post-purchase / post-upgrade — Decision fresh in mind
   • Renewal — Strong signal of ongoing value
   • Support resolution (positive) — Acute "you saved my day" moment
   • Referral from customer — They already advocated
2. Build per-trigger collection mechanism:
   • NPS Promoter → automated email asking permission to use response + adding 1-question follow-up
   • Milestone → in-app prompt or email with one-line ask
   • Post-purchase → email 7 days after purchase
   • Renewal → CSM-led ask during renewal call
   • Support → followup in support thread after positive resolution
3. Process incoming testimonials — Each goes through:
   • Consent confirmation (scope: name? role? logo? use anywhere?)
   • Light edit for clarity (their voice; don't rewrite)
   • Tag by segment fit (in-beachhead / adjacent / off-segment)
   • Tag by outcome theme (speed / cost / activation / quality / etc.)
4. Place in marketing surfaces — Per testimonial:
   • Pricing page (logo + quote)
   • Landing page hero (1 prominent quote)
   • Feature pages (segment-relevant quotes)
   • Ad creative (testimonial-style ads)
   • Email signatures / sales decks
   • Investor decks
5. Measure placement performance [standard+] — Some testimonials convert; some don't. Track per-placement conversion to identify which quotes earn their spot.

Example

B2B SaaS, 3 collection triggers active.

Trigger 1: NPS Promoter (9–10). NPS run quarterly. Promoters get followup email:

Thanks for the 10! Your response — "Cut our reporting time in half" — would be a powerful testimonial for our pricing page. May we use it with your name and role? Reply YES and we'll send back the version we'd publish for your approval.

Auto-fires when NPS response submitted with score ≥ 9.

Trigger 2: Day-30 active milestone. In-app prompt at first login after Day 30 active:

You've been active for a month! In one sentence, what's working best? → [text box] → [Submit + permission checkbox]

Trigger 3: Post-purchase (Day 7). Email 7 days after first paid charge:

Quick favor — what convinced you to upgrade? Your answer might appear (with your permission) on our pricing page.

Processing: Inbound testimonials enter a triage doc. Per testimonial:

• Consent confirmed (scope: name / role / logo / anywhere)
• Light edit (clarity only — kept their voice)
• Segment tag (in-beachhead: yes/no)
• Theme tag (speed / cost / activation / quality)
• Placement decision (pricing / landing / feature page / ad / multi)

Placement: Pricing page logo wall expanded with 6 new testimonials in the beachhead segment. A/B test the hero-section quote on landing pages.

What You Get Back

• CFD-TST-* entries — One per testimonial; the durable record with consent, source, segment, theme
• GTM-TST-* entries — Per-placement formatting (the placed quote with surrounding context)
• Consent records — Customer-by-customer scope and version history
• Placement-performance log — Per-quote conversion rate (which testimonials earn their spot)

When to Use It

Trigger	Mode
First testimonial harvest system (none in place)	standard
Quarterly NPS run + harvest	quick
Pricing page redesign needs more social proof	standard
Landing page A/B test needs quote variants	quick
Pre-investor / pre-Series A push for logo + quote density	deep
New segment expansion (need segment-specific testimonials)	deep

Consumes

• CFD-* customer feedback (all sources, especially v0.9 feedback loop) — Raw inbound testimonial material
• NPS / CSAT data (from v0.9 Feedback Loop Setup) — Promoter responses are the highest-yield source
• ADO-REF-* candidates — Reference accounts already in cultivation are testimonial-eligible
• PER-* personas + ADO-BEACHHEAD-* — Segment tagging
• BR-POS-* — Tone constraints; testimonials shouldn't contradict positioning

Produces

• CFD-TST-* entries in SoT/SoT.customer_feedback.md
• GTM-TST-* entries (with Type=Testimonial-Placement) per placement
• Consent records — Append-only log with scope and version
• Placement-performance metrics — Per-quote A/B data feeding back into selection

Output Template

CFD-TST-XXX: Testimonial — [Customer name]
Type: Testimonial
Date received: YYYY-MM-DD
Source trigger: [NPS-promoter | Day-30-milestone | Post-purchase | Renewal | Support | Referral]
Customer: [Name, Role, Company, Logo]

Verbatim text:
  "[The actual quote, lightly edited for clarity only]"

Original text (for audit):
  "[The raw response]"

Tags:
  Segment fit: [In-beachhead | Adjacent | Off-segment]
  Theme: [Speed | Cost | Activation | Quality | Reliability | Specific-use-case]
  Length: [Words / chars]

Consent:
  Scope: [Name? Role? Logo? Use-anywhere?]
  Approved by: [Customer name]
  Approved date: YYYY-MM-DD
  Approved version: vX

Placement eligibility:
  - Pricing page logo wall: [Yes/No]
  - Landing page hero: [Yes/No]
  - Feature page (which): [Yes/No]
  - Ad creative: [Yes/No]
  - Sales deck: [Yes/No]
  - Investor deck: [Yes/No]

Linked IDs: PER-XXX (segment), ADO-REF-YYY (if cultivated), CFD-ZZZ (interview source if applicable)

GTM-TST-XXX: Testimonial Placement — [Quote summary]
Type: Testimonial-Placement
Source: CFD-TST-AAA
Placement: [URL or surface, e.g., "/pricing — hero zone"]
Format: [Quote + Name + Role + Logo | Quote + Logo only | Quote in card]

Surrounding context:
  [What this testimonial sits next to — headline, CTA, product feature]

A/B test (if active):
  Variant A: [This testimonial]
  Variant B: [Alternative]
  Metric: [Click-through, signup-rate, etc.]
  Started: YYYY-MM-DD

Performance (if measured):
  [Per-quote conversion data]

Linked IDs: CFD-TST-AAA (source), GTM-YYY (page channel), KPI-ZZZ (placement metric)

Anti-Patterns

Pattern	Signal	Fix
Heroic one-time harvest	"We collected 20 testimonials in a sprint, then stopped"	Triggers run continuously; harvest is a system, not a project
No consent record	Publishing without explicit approval	Consent record per testimonial, scope-explicit
Marketing rewrite	"I love [product]" rewritten from "It's pretty useful"	Light edits for clarity only; their voice
No segment tagging	All testimonials placed everywhere	Segment-relevant placement converts better; tag and target
Stale walls	Pricing page testimonials from 2 years ago	Refresh quarterly; rotate underperformers
No placement measurement	All testimonials treated as equally good	Some quotes convert 3× others; measure and prune
Anonymous testimonials	"VP at major fintech" with no name/logo	Pragmatists discount anonymous; named + logo or skip
Off-segment testimonials during chasm crossing	Visionary-startup quotes on a page targeting enterprise pragmatists	In-segment placements only during chasm crossing

Quality Gates

Before placing testimonials:

• Consent on record (scope explicit)
• Customer name + role + logo (or rationale for less)
• Segment tag applied
• Theme tag applied
• Light edit only (their voice preserved)
• Placement matches segment fit (in-beachhead testimonials for pragmatist surfaces)
• BR-POS-* constraints honored (no contradiction with positioning)
• Refresh cadence committed (quarterly minimum)

Downstream Connections

Consumer	What it uses	Example
Launch Channels (ORB)	Testimonials are Owned-channel content + Borrowed-channel ad creative	Pricing-page testimonials = Owned; testimonial-style ads = Paid-Borrowed
Alternatives Pages	"Pick us if..." sections feature segment-relevant testimonials	Migration-from-X testimonial anchors the alt page
Case Study Builder	Strong testimonials surface case-study candidates	Repeat testimonialer with strong outcome → case study
Cold Outreach (Tiered)	Testimonials cited in Touch 2/3 of sequences	Tier 2 email includes in-segment testimonial
Feedback Loop Setup	Testimonial sources tie back to feedback channels	NPS promoters feed both feedback and testimonial flow
Investor / Sales decks	Logo wall + theme-curated testimonials	"Customers in segment X say..."

Detailed References

• BrianRWagner's testimonial-collector skill (ai-marketing-claude-code-skills)
• Sean D'Souza, The Brain Audit (using testimonials to overcome buying objections)
• Joanna Wiebe, Copy Hackers — testimonial-driven landing pages
• (No bundled references/ — testimonials are the artifact)