Customer video reviews work because real people carry more weight than brand claims. But strong testimonials don’t happen by accident—they’re the result of precise, open-ended questions, disciplined on-set coaching, and a plan to repurpose the footage across channels. Use this guide to design interviews that capture credible, on-brand stories you can cut into 6-, 15-, 30-, and 60-second assets for web, social, paid, and sales enablement.
How to use this guide
Pick 6–10 questions from 4–6 sections below. Keep each answer to 20–30 seconds. Record one concise summary line after every response.
1) Warm-up (build comfort, get natural delivery)
- What’s your name, title, and company—how do you describe what you do to a new hire?
- Where do you serve customers, and what makes your workday unique?
- What brought you to us initially—one sentence.
2) Context & fit (qualify the use case)
- What problem were you trying to solve when you found us?
- Who was involved in the decision, and what did they care about most?
- What alternatives did you consider?
- What made our approach feel like the right fit for your environment/team/timeline?
3) The pain, stakes, and “before” picture
- Before working with us, what wasn’t working—and what did that cost you (time, errors, risk, dollars)?
- Can you share a moment when the old way clearly failed?
- What was at risk if you didn’t change?
4) Why you chose us (the decisive moment)
- Which factors tipped the decision: expertise, speed, compliance, price, support, or something else?
- What did you notice in our first meeting, proposal, or demo that competitors didn’t provide?
- If you had one sentence to explain why you chose us, what is it?
5) Implementation & experience (credibility + process)
- How smooth was onboarding or project setup? Where did we exceed expectations?
- What did our team do that built trust quickly (communication, checklists, prototypes, contingency planning)?
- Did we adapt to constraints—locations, facilities, regulations, stakeholders?
6) Outcomes & ROI (make results measurable)
- What results can you quantify (throughput, conversion, time saved, error reduction, revenue impact)?
- What leading indicators moved first (inquiries, meeting acceptance, internal adoption)?
- What surprised you about the impact on your team or customers?
- If you had to justify the expense to finance, what would you show them?
7) Objections handled (overcome buyer friction)
- What hesitation did you or your team have—and how did we address it?
- What do you wish you had known sooner that would have sped up your decision?
- If a peer has the same concern today, what would you tell them?
8) Differentiators in action (prove the claims)
- Which features or services mattered most in real use (turnaround time, crew quality, AI cleanup, file delivery)?
- Tell a short story where a specific capability saved the day.
- What about our safety/compliance process made operations comfortable?
9) Relationship & support (post-sale trust)
- After delivery, what did support look like (revisions, formats, training, re-cuts)?
- How does the relationship feel today—transactional or strategic? Why?
10) Advice to peers (snackable sound bites)
- For someone in your role considering us, what one piece of advice would you give?
- Complete this sentence: “If you need ______, choose this team because ______.”
- In five words or less, describe the outcome.
11) Closing line (CTA without sounding scripted)
- Would you work with us again? Why?
- How should someone evaluate vendors for this kind of project?
Optional industry-specific add-ons
Manufacturing/Industrial
- What safety or access constraints did we navigate on the plant floor?
- How did we capture processes without disrupting throughput?
Healthcare
- How did we protect patient privacy and comply with facility policies?
- What approvals or trainings were required before cameras rolled?
Software/SaaS
- What metrics moved post-launch (demo requests, win rate, time to value)?
- How did customer success or sales use the finished assets?
Professional Services
- Which parts of your engagement became easier to explain with the video?
- What client objections does the video now preempt?
On-camera coaching tips for non-actors
- Speak to one person, not “the audience.” Imagine a colleague across the table.
- Use first-person, concrete nouns, and short sentences. Avoid jargon.
- Answer, then land a crisp summary line. We’ll capture it as a stand-alone sound bite.
- Pause before and after you speak—clean in, clean out helps the edit.
- Look at the interviewer (not the lens) unless we cue you otherwise.
Run-of-show template (30–45 minutes per interview)
- Mic, frame, and warm-up (5 min): casual questions to normalize voice and cadence.
- Core questions (15–20 min): sections 2–7 above.
- Sound bites (5–10 min): crisp one-liners and objection handlers.
- Cutaway prompts (5–10 min): capture nods, smiles, natural gestures for edit glue.
- Room tone & plates (2 min): clean audio and empty frames for transitions.
B-roll shotlist to elevate testimonials
- The customer in their real environment: entrances, signage, working shots, team interactions.
- Process specifics: hands, tools, screens, product in use, whiteboards.
- Relationship moments: our crew collaborating, reviewing takes, setting lights.
- Dynamic establishing shots: smooth gimbal passes; where appropriate, indoor drone reveals for spatial context (with safety pilot, spotter, and facility approval).
- Cutaways for edits: over-the-shoulders, detail inserts, reaction shots.
Compliance, releases, and claims discipline
- Secure appearance/location releases and facility approvals ahead of time.
- Keep outcomes truthful and reproducible; avoid absolute claims unless substantiated.
- Confirm any confidentiality boundaries (no screens with sensitive data, badge blurring, PHI redaction where applicable).
- Log titles and spellings for lower-thirds accuracy.
Editing & repurposing plan (turn one interview into many assets)
- Master cut (60–120 seconds): the full story arc.
- Paid/social cutdowns: 6s hook, 15s benefits, 30s “problem → outcome.”
- Sales enablement: 45–60s objection-buster, feature demo + quote overlays.
- Formats: 16:9, 1:1, 9:16 with open captions and burned-in branding.
- AI-accelerated post: precise masking/cleanup, noise reduction, background extensions, colorways, and smart reframes to multiply outputs while preserving skin tones and materials.
Quality checklist for decision makers
- Goals, audience, and primary CTA are documented.
- Interviewee prepped with 6–10 custom questions and a one-line summary prompt.
- Location scouted for sound, power, access, and brand fit; backup plan set.
- Lighting plan approved (studio look vs. environmental).
- Deliverables list locked (durations, ratios, captions, thumbnails, file specs).
- Legal and brand approvals mapped with deadlines.
Example interview packs (copy/paste)
Starter 8-pack (general B2B)
- What problem were you trying to solve?
- What made us the right fit?
- How smooth was the rollout?
- One result you can quantify.
- One result your team felt.
- What hesitation did you have—and how was it resolved?
- What would you tell a peer considering us?
- Would you work with us again—why?
30-second cut template
- Hook (the pain): “We were losing X because…”
- Decision (the why): “We chose ____ for…”
- Outcome (the proof): “In 60 days we saw…”
- CTA-ish close: “If you need ____, talk to ____.”
Why this works
These questions map to how buyers make decisions: pain → fit → proof → risk removal → next step. You’ll capture authentic language, quantify outcomes, and arm marketing and sales with modular content that stays credible across channels.
About St Louis Camera Crew
St Louis Camera Crew is a full-service professional commercial photography and video production company with the right equipment and creative crew experience for successful image acquisition. We offer full-service studio and location video and photography, as well as editing, post-production, and licensed drone pilots. St Louis Camera Crew can customize your productions for diverse types of media requirements. Repurposing your photography and video branding to gain more traction is another specialty. We are well-versed in all file types, media styles, and accompanying software, and we use the latest in Artificial Intelligence across our media services. Our private studio lighting and visual setup is perfect for small productions and interview scenes, and our studio is large enough to incorporate props to round out your set. We support every aspect of your production—from setting up a private, custom interview studio to supplying professional sound and camera operators, as well as providing the right equipment—ensuring your next video production is seamless and successful. We can fly our specialized drones indoors. As a full-service video and photography production corporation since 1982, St Louis Camera Crew has worked with many businesses, marketing firms, and creative agencies in the St. Louis area for their marketing photography and video.
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