Are SaaS teams just pretending testimonials work?

Honestly, it feels like most SaaS teams are just going through the motions with testimonials.

We all collect them, paste a few on the homepage, add some stars… and expect conversions to magically happen. But in reality? Nothing really changes.

Most testimonials are vague, generic, and honestly forgettable.
“Great product.” “Loved it.” “Highly recommend.”

These don’t build trust, don’t answer objections, and definitely don’t push someone to sign up.

Even worse, a lot of good customer feedback just sits unused — not turned into case studies, not used in sales, not placed where decisions actually happen (like pricing or onboarding).

So it makes me question:

• Are testimonials actually working for most SaaS companies?

• Or are we just copying what everyone else does without real impact?

• Is the problem bad testimonials… or how we use them?

Would love to hear honest takes — what’s actually working (or not working) for you?