Customer reviews are extremely influential, and they can help to increase your sales much more than using paid advertisements. While this is true, they can also be hard to get. According to a recent report, 88% of customers have been (in some way) influenced by an online customer review when trying to make a buying decision.
Even though this is true, there are many service providers and retailers who are too afraid of something negative or bad being said that they never bother to follow up with customers or ask for these reviews. What’s even worse is that they figure the only people who are going to write a review for their products or business will be those who want to share about a bad experience they had. Don’t make this mistake. Reviews are too powerful for you not to use to your advantage. Now that you know how important they are, learn how to get them here.
Conduct Research First
Be sure that your store has a presence on all the social sites where your shoppers may go to read reviews or to create reviews about your business. Start with the biggest first – Google. Google my business reviews will help business enhancement. Visit the site, search for your business’s name, and if you see “is this your business,” it means you have not claimed it. Fix it fast by following the instructions given. After getting Google straightened out, think about creating business presences on other sites, such as Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, or Facebook.
Make Leaving a Review Easy
How easy is it for your customers to review your company? Do they have to jump through a lot of hoops? If so, the chances are you aren’t going to have too many people trying to do this. It’s up to you to make the review process as easy as possible. This is true for a service, such as housekeeping or a product, such as Bio Complete 3 reviews.
Offer a Reward
Companies such as Zappos give customers a $10 credit for anyone who leaves a review. You can follow this same model. All you have to do is give your customers some type of incentive to leave a review about their experience. This is especially beneficial when you are just starting out. This doesn’t mean you are paying for a review. You want to ensure the reviews you receive are authentic and from people who actually purchased something or used your service. This is why offering points toward your customer loyalty program is a great incentive.
Send a Follow-Up Email
Did you know that Etsy sends an email or text message automatically to ask buyers to create a review? They have since reported to the Wall Street Journal that up to 25% of these requests result in a review.
Don’t Wait to Ask for the Review
While you don’t need to wait too long for the review, don’t ask too quickly after the purchase either. The online, post-checkout pop-ups are annoying. Think about if you were to leave the checkout counter at a store with what you purchased, and someone suddenly jumped out in front of you to request a review. Make sure you aren’t doing this on your website, but it is a good idea to send the emails to the same day.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Assistance
In your email newsletters, you should think about adding a “Help with a Question” section to encourage buyers to respond to some of the most popular questions from shoppers. It’s a good idea to highlight these answers on the homepage of your store, right next to the product.
Survey Your Customers
Asking three to five simple questions is simple. Marking a number of stars as an answer is also easy. If all you have is a blank box for text, it is going to seem like work. If you do this, you aren’t very likely to get any responses.
Tell Your Reviewers What You Want
If you want to get longer answers, rather than just stars, then provide customers with a two-point review to choose from. This is going to make it easier to get someone to leave a review. When it comes to getting more reviews, there is an art to it. However, when you get this right, you will find that you can effectively boost your brand and generate more interaction among your customer base. Being informed is the best way to ensure that you get the reviews that you want and need for your business.
