Customer reviews matter more now than ever and can make or break a business. Recent surveys suggest that the vast majority of customers will look at reviews before they make a purchase.
So, how do you get good reviews that are going to help boost your business and aid you in making sales? These tips will show you how to get more customer reviews, along with other best practice techniques.
10 Easy Ways To Get Customer Reviews
Importance of customer reviews on Google
The following are 10 simple ways you can encourage your customers to start writing more product reviews for the things that you sell:
1. Research: Be sure that your current retail store has an actual presence on any social sites that consumers use to read and create reviews that pertain to your own business. Google is the big one that you need to start with. Go there and look up your business name. If you see the question ‘Is this your business?’, then it has not been claimed yet. Fix this quickly simply by following any instructions provided. After Google is taken care of, look into other obvious sites, such as Yelp, Facebook, Yahoo, and Bing.
2. Keep It Simple For Customers: If you ever fly through airport customs at Heathrow in London, you might notice a basic machine where you can input feedback about your own experiences there. You can make feedback just as easy for your own customers with a basic email. Keep things simple for them, and they’re more likely to respond.
3. Offer Rewards: Zappos gives reviewers about $10 worth of credit or 100 points. You, too, can provide incentives for reviews, particularly when you are just starting up. You don’t have to pay money for reviews, but you do want authentic reviews from those that actually bought and used something from you. Quarterly drawing entries and consumer loyalty points are great options to dangle in front of your customers.
4. Send Follow-Up Emails: Etsy likes sending emails or even text messages to ask buyers to put up reviews. This e-commerce outlet told the Wall Street Journal that a quarter of all their transactions wind up producing reviews this way.
5. Don’t Ask Instantly After A Purchase: People hate pop-ups, especially when they’re after checking out. Can you imagine trying to buy something in a store only to get asked for a review of the product you bought before you even got home? Before you even leave the store? Don’t be so hasty on your website. Follow up with an email within 24 hours of a transaction, but not right away.
6. Negative Reviews. These are a scourge whether they are legitimate or not. It is often possible to dispute and even remove them. However, for others, the simplest way around things is to bury them.
7. Conduct Regular Surveys: Three, four, or five questions makes things easy for people. Using stars for answers makes things even easier. Empty text boxes look like work to many consumers, which seriously reduces your response rate.
8. Guide Customer In Their Review: If you’d like longer answers instead of just stars, tell them to leave two points in their worded review answering the following questions: Why Did You Buy This? Did It Satisfy Your Needs Enough That You’ll Shop Here Again?
9. Prioritize Mobile Devices: Your surveys and text have to be responsive and flexible enough that they can adapt to various sizes of screens. Prioritizing mobile design makes every difference if you want responsive customers.
10. Respond To All Reviews (Both Good & Bad): It can seem tedious to monitor reviews weekly, and yet you should keep up with what’s being said all the time. Set a time each week, say Sunday mornings, to look over the review sites. It should only take a few minutes to get current and thank all those that reviewed you. If possible, write a few personal sentences that relate directly to what they specifically wrote. Just doing a thumbs up isn’t going to get you anywhere.
10 Easy Ways To Get Customer Reviews
Conclusion
By following these simple steps you will be able to increase your customer reviews online and grow your business. Get in touch with us to discover how we can help improve your customers’ reviews on Google.