I get it, you’re busy worrying about your marketing plan, shipping orders out on time for the holidays, and maybe even handcrafting your products yourself. Do you really have to worry about getting reviews too?
Yes. Yes, you absolutely do.
In fact, you should make it a company-wide initiative!
Businesses with the most positive reviews are getting the most sales. And according to the Local Consumer Study for 2022, most people are checking reviews before making a purchase.
If you’re dealing with your customers one on one, whether online or in person, broach the topic as the transaction is made.
“I really hope you enjoy this product/service. If so, we would be so grateful for a positive review! It really helps our small business grow.”
Asking beforehand makes the customer feel obligated to leave a review if they are satisfied with their purchase. This also sets the idea in motion, which you can follow up on later.
Pretty obvious, you’d hope.
Follow-up is a great way to garner feedback and address any issues.
If the client does have a complaint, apologize and fix it.
A bad situation can turn into an amazing review if you handle it correctly.
Once you know your client is happy, then ask for a review (or an edit to a negative one they may have already left you).
Make sure you add a link to where you want your review. Make this as easy as possible for your client.
Whether it's just you, or a team of a thousand, get everyone striving for review excellence.
You'll never get 100% customer compliance, but you can try to create fun challenges for you and your team to get as many reviews as possible.
Have an extra special prize if a staff member gets called out by name in a positive review.
This is especially important when it comes to negative feedback. Responding to a complaint made on Google three months after the fact is likely only going to make your customer angrier.
Having someone dedicated to following up on reviews and handling them professionally is a huge asset.
Add a review request CTA in your emails.
“You liked us enough to share your email, consider leaving us a review if you’ve been happy with our product or service.”
“A few clicks can help a small business more than you know, click here to leave us a review.”
This can be done via text message. However, while texts are more likely to be opened, they have a lower occurrence of follow-through than emails.
The social proof principle states that people are more likely to take action if other people have reported having a good experience (usually friends and family).
In lieu of friends and family, people will take the word of online strangers (84% trust online reviews as much as friends).
Reputation = Revenue, so blow their socks off!
