How to Get Customers to Share Positive Reviews About Your Company
In many ways, online reviews are the lifeblood of your small business. Prospects want to see proof that your products or services will work for them, and there’s no better way to vet something than through reviews. If you don’t have any reviews, people aren’t going to feel confident making a purchase.
But, how can your company acquire more positive online reviews?
There are plenty of ways to convince happy customers to rave about their experience, and here are 4 easy tips you can start using today. Before you know it, these positive reviews will be the first time someone sees when searching for your company online.
1. Ask customers for reviews (the right way)
The best way to get more online reviews is relatively simple: Ask people to leave them.
There’s a right and a wrong way to ask for feedback, however. Never ask customers to share a positive review in exchange for a discount or freebie — many companies do this, but it’s a fairly disingenuous practice (it’s also a banned practice for most third-party review sites).
Instead, ask a customer to leave a review after they’ve completed an in-person purchase or send an email follow-up. Brick-and-mortar businesses can also print off eye-catching signage to display around their store.
No matter what methods you choose, explain that honest feedback will help others decide if the company can meet their needs.
2. Claim all of your business listings
You might think that a website is enough to get noticed online, but your business also needs to be visible on common third-party online review sites. Claim your business listings and/or pages on sites like:
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- Bing
- Yahoo
You can also register your business on industry-specific sites, like TripAdvisor for travel and hospitality-related companies and Zomato for restaurants. If you aren’t sure what options exist for your industry, a quick online search will point you in the right direction.
Plus, when your business has listings on each of the popular review sites, the next tip will take care of itself.
3. Make it easy to leave reviews
When the process of leaving a review is complicated or time consuming, customers won’t share their thoughts. That’s why you want to make the process of leaving a review as easy as possible.
Claiming your business’s listing on online review sites is the first step you can take. Once you’ve done that, add these tactics to your review gathering plan:
- Include logos and links to your company’s third-party review site listings right on your website.
- When you send a thank you email to customers, include a link to your review site of choice right in the email.
- Invite customers to share reviews directly with you via email, just be sure to get permission to publish them.
4. Respond to reviews
Engaged business owners respond to every single review that a customer leaves. This includes positive and negative reviews.
When a review is positive, sincerely thank the customer for sharing feedback and let them know you appreciate their business. Negative reviews also deserve a response, but make sure you reply tactfully. To learn more about the best ways to respond to negative reviews, don’t miss this helpful article: Keeping it Positive – Responding to Negative Online Reviews.
