Asking customers for a testimonial, a case study or a post instead of money

A small SaaS can give a better price in exchange for a testimonial, a case study, a post to the customer’s audience, or an introduction to another potential customer, as long as the trade is clear, agreed in advance, and the customer is free to say what they think. For an early product these are often worth more than the money you give up. A real customer’s words on your homepage, or a post to a few thousand people in your niche, can bring in customers you wouldn’t reach otherwise.

What can a customer give you besides money?

More than most founders think. These come up most often:

• A testimonial. A few sentences with their name, role and photo for your website.
• A case study. A longer story about the problem, what they did with your product and what changed. Takes more of their time and is worth more.
• A post to their audience. On X, LinkedIn, a newsletter, a YouTube video, a blog. Valuable if their audience is close to your customers.
• A review on a platform. G2, Capterra, Product Hunt or an app marketplace, wherever your buyers look.
• A referral or introduction. To a colleague, a client, or another company that could use your product.
• A feedback call. Thirty minutes of their time to tell you what’s missing.
• Their logo on your customers page. Simple, but it helps new visitors trust you.
• An annual commitment or more seats. Not quite non-monetary, but it often comes in the same conversation.

Your list doesn’t have to stop there. If a customer offers something useful to you that isn’t on it, consider it.

What is each one worth?

There’s no fixed exchange rate, and you shouldn’t try to make one. A post from someone with 50,000 followers who are all your target customers is worth a lot. If those followers work in some unrelated field, it’s worth much less to you, maybe close to nothing.

A few questions help you judge it.

• Who will see it? The size of the audience matters less than how close it is to your customers.
• How long will it last? A testimonial on your homepage works for years. A post on X is mostly seen in the first day or two.
• How much effort is it for them? A case study can take hours of their time, while a logo takes about a minute. Price the trade so it feels fair to them too.
• Do you need it right now? If your homepage has no testimonials yet, the first three are worth much more than the twentieth.

How do you ask without it feeling like a bribe?

Be upfront that it’s a trade, and never ask for a positive review specifically.

“I’ll give you a better price if you write a testimonial after using it for a month, and you can say whatever you think” is a fair deal. Offering a discount for a five-star review isn’t, and many review platforms forbid it.

Some practical rules:

• Agree on it before, in writing. What they’ll do, roughly when, and what price they get.
• Let them say what they think. If they end up not liking the product, they shouldn’t feel forced to praise it.
• Disclose it where needed. For public posts, many platforms and advertising rules expect people to mention that they got something in exchange. Tell them.
• Make it easy. Offer to draft questions for the testimonial, or to do the case study as a short interview you write up.
• Don’t link the price to the result. Agree on the testimonial or the post itself, and leave out how many signups it brings.

When is it better to just take the money?

When the customer has no audience or credibility in your market, when you already have plenty of testimonials, or when the “post” they offer is something they’d never really do. In those cases a smaller discount for annual billing is simpler for both of you.

And don’t do this with everyone. If every customer gets a discount for a testimonial, you’ll end up with lots of testimonials and lower prices across the board. Keep it for customers whose words or audience actually help you.

How do you make these trades part of your sales process?

Most customers will never propose this on their own, because they don’t know it’s an option and asking feels strange.

You can tell them it’s possible when price comes up, for example in your reply to a startup discount request or to someone who says your SaaS is too expensive.

Or you can build it into the offer itself. On HAGGIN, the customer builds an offer against your normal price and can add the extras you allow, like a testimonial, a case study, a post (with the format and the size of their audience), a referral, a call, extras you name yourself, or something else. You see the money and the extras together in one offer and accept, counter or pass, while everyone else keeps seeing your normal price.

After the deal: getting what you agreed

Customers mean well and then get busy. Set a date when you agree the deal, send a reminder a few days before, and make it as easy as possible: a short form for the testimonial, three questions for the case study, a suggested time for the call. If it doesn’t happen after a couple of reminders, let it go and learn from it for the next deal.

FAQ

Can I offer a discount in exchange for a testimonial?

Yes, if the customer is free to say what they really think and the trade is disclosed where it needs to be. Don’t make the discount depend on the testimonial being positive.

Is it legal to pay for reviews with a discount?

Rules depend on the platform and the country. Many review sites forbid incentivized reviews or require them to be marked, and advertising rules in many places require disclosure. Check the platform’s rules before offering anything for a review there.

What is a social media post from a customer worth?

It depends on how close their audience is to your customers, more than on its size. A post to a small audience of your exact buyers can be worth more than one to a big unrelated audience.

How do I ask a customer for a case study?

Ask once they’ve had a good result with your product, offer something in return (a better price, a link to their company, or both), and do most of the work yourself: a short interview, then you write it and they approve it.