There are a number of factors that affect a customer’s decision to specifically purchase your business’s products or services. More often than not, the reviews associated with your brand is one of the deciding components of the purchasing process. Many of us nowadays spend a substantial amount of time researching online to make sure the product or service we are investing in only receives the best-rated reviews.
As a company, your best sales reps are often not the people you employ, but your existing customers. In order to successfully build up customer trust in your business, you need reliable, positive reviews. Luckily, most customers who’ve had a good experience with your company will be more than happy to leave a review that puts you in a good light. However, there are other ways to promote positive customer reviews. Here are some strategies you can implement.
Ways to Promote Positive Customer Reviews
From offering incentives to making it easy for customers to leave feedback, there are a number of effective ways you can increase the number of positive reviews your company receives. Nowadays, the presence of positive online reviews is a great way of attracting new customers to your site. In order for businesses to grow in the current online-first marketplace, it needs visible, positives responses from existing customers to increase the number of first-time visitors on their site. It can be daunting asking your customers for feedback, but more often than not, if the customer is impressed with your service, they’ll likely be happy to help you out.
1. Make it Easy for Your Customers To Leave Reviews
Places like Yell, TrustPilot, Facebook and Google Business, all provide the opportunity for customers to both positive and negative reviews. Before potential customers even make it to your site, the chances that they have performed meticulous research prior is plausible. The more places there are for customers to leave reviews about your business, the more reliable you look. Facebook, along with a number of other online sites, rewards businesses with high levels of responsiveness. Make sure that you are monitoring and responding to the Facebook messages you’re receiving.
Google Business is an easy method for customers to leave a review so make sure you have claimed your business on this specific search engine. These reviews will appear in the search engine results for your business. It is also essential that you ensure all contact information is correct and available on the above sites that your business is listed on.
To make it easy for your customers to leave reviews it is worth sending out encouraging emails, providing review cards with every service and including links on your website to external review sites. When it comes to emails, it is a good idea to send these to your customers following a recent purchase. If your work requires you to interact with your customers on a face to face basis rather through your website, then make the most of this opportunity and hand out review cards. Moreover, creating adding a page on your website dedicated to taking your clients to external review websites, such as Yell and TrustPilot, is a worthwhile addition. These are all valuable methods of making it simple for your existing customers to leave you a review.
2. Create Incentives
If a customer is thoroughly impressed with the service your company has delivered them with, then there is a high chance they’ll leave you a positive review on their own accord. However, even when customers are delighted with your service, they may not always see the importance of leaving good feedback for you. Nevertheless, this is where the method of offering incentives comes in. You need to give your customers a reason to leave a review. Nevertheless, you need to make sure that this is not a form of bribery, but a gift of thanks for their positive feedback. Here are some ways that you can say thank you to your customers for providing you with a positive review.
- Discount codes for your services
- Gift vouchers
- Event tickets (days out, cinema tickets)
- Luxury hampers
However, it is important to also ask for these reviews at an appropriate time. When a customer reorders or repurchases one of your services or products, this presents the ideal opportunity for you to ask for a review. Make sure to also look out for any recent tags of your brand on social media or if customers refer additional customers to you. This behaviour from your customers should not only be rewarded but offers the perfect opportunity for you to kindly ask for positive feedback.
3. Respond to All of Your Reviews (Even The Negative Ones)
It is imperative that any reviews you do receive, you respond to. It is polite to thank anyone who has left you good feedback and shows, that as a business, customer satisfaction is important to you. However, it is crucially important that you respond to any negative comments from unsatisfied customers.
Make sure that you reply publically without coming across angry or defensive. It is also important that you come to a resolution with the customer; this may be in the form of remuneration. This strategy is the best thing you can do if you have any negative reviews left online and may even help your brand out, in the long run. Here are some examples of how you should and shouldn’t respond to positive, negative and fake reviews online.
Positive Reviews
Responding to the positive reviews you receive is imperative if you wish to receive further ones. Thanking customers who have left positive feedback about your services takes minimal time and will be appreciated.
Here is an example of the best way you can respond to a negative review.
Thank you for your great feedback. We always appreciate the positive reviews. We hope to be of service to you again! Why not refer a friend to us and you’ll both receive 10% off your next order?
Here is an example of how not to reply to a positive review.
Simply failing to respond.
Negative Reviews
If you receive negative reviews, as mentioned before, it is essential that you respond to it. However, it is only worth responding to the review if you reply in the correct way.
Here is an example of the best way you can respond to a negative review.
Apologies for the lack of service that you experienced from us. Please send us an email with your issue and we will make sure to get back to you to resolve this problem.
Here is an example of how not to reply to a negative review.
Why did you leave us this review as we always provide the best service? We don’t need moaning customers like you.
Fake Reviews
The most likely culprit to be leaving fake reviews is a competitor of yours. So, if you believe that you have been left a review that is fake it is best to request for it to be removed. In the meantime, it is worth replying to the review anyway.
Here is an example of the best way you can respond to a fake review.
Thank you for your feedback, but we believe this to be a fake review as we have not, in the past, provided you with any of our services.
Here is an example of what not to reply to a fake review.
Please remove this review. Who are you?? Why have you left us a bad review? If this is a competitor then leave us alone!!
Alternatively, you could turn to professional online reputation management services in Milton Keynes. Leave the management of your negative reviews to experts you have experience and extensive knowledge on how to resolve any bad publicity.
4. Share the Positive Customer Reviews You’ve Already Received
Once you have started to receive some good reviews, it is important to keep the momentum going by sharing what other customers have said. This will help inspire other satisfied customers to do the same. It is nice to publically thank customers who have left great feedback and for their support.
On sites such as Trip Advisor and Google, business owners have the ability to mark certain reviews as helpful. This then moves the comments further up the page, ensuring more people can read them. You can also share positive reviews on your business’s social media channels. On Facebook and Twitter, you can easily reshare reviews on to your page, or alternatively, post formatted quotes onto Instagram. If customers notice that other people are sharing their positive experiences, then they’ll be far more likely to do the same. Therefore, it is important, that in addition to asking for new reviews, you make sure to promote the existing ones. This is a powerful marketing tactic.
5. Ask the Customer in Person
If you have a close relationship with your customers or interact with them face to face regularly, then don’t hesitate to ask for a review from your customers in person. It is important to ensure your customers are aware that you value their feedback, opinions and loyalty.
If you implement all of the strategies we have suggested in this article, then you can effectively promote the presence of customer reviews associated with your business. If you have found the information included in this article to be beneficial, then please feel free to share it on your social media.