Gaining a customer’s trust should be one of the main missions of any company that hopes to succeed in a competitive marketplace. Who are you and why should a consumer pass their hard-earned money over to you?
Providing an adequate answer to this question can be difficult, especially when the consumer has a reason to scrutinize or doubt a word that comes directly from your business. After all, you are trying to make money.
That’s why positive reviews from customers can make all the difference when it comes to establishing trust with future customers. Positive feedback from other customers just like them can help a consumer feel more confident in their purchasing decisions.
How can you ensure your customers leave you a positive review for others to see? It can be tricky. Read on and we’ll walk you through all the steps you should be familiar with.
1. Establish an Online Presence
Ensuring your business is getting the kind of reviews you want will take some work. You’ll need to get on your computer and do some searching. Where online do consumers like yours leave reviews?
No matter what kind of business you have, Google is a likely place you’ll find customer reviews, but there may be others depending on what line of work you’re in.
As you find these different online review outlets, you’ll want to make sure that a page for your business exists. This way, when a customer hoping to leave you a positive review looks for your business online, they’ll have no trouble finding it.
You want to create as few obstacles as possible between a customer considering giving you a good review and them actually doing it. Ensuring that pages are set up for reviews to be left in all the appropriate spaces will make this a reality.
2. Make It Simple
The more work it takes for your customers to leave you a review, the less likely they will be to do so. After all, Americans all feel quite busy. Why should they take the time out of their day to help you out if it’s going to be a hassle?
There are numerous ways to keep the review process simple, although the best method for you will depend on the way your business is set up. If you take in your customer’s e-mail or phone number, you can send them a link that will lead them directly to where they can leave a review.
If you operate an online store, you can include a prompt for review right on the website after customers make an order. You can also prompt them by email for a review when their product arrives.
Some businesses even keep a computer open in the store to allow customers to easily leave a review before they leave the business.
Whatever you can do to make it easy on the customer, do it! Simplicity is only likely to make your customers more willing to take this extra step for you.
3. Incentivize Your Customers
Sometimes it takes a little extra push to get the results you want. That’s certainly the case in chasing positive reviews.
If you’re having trouble getting the ball rolling with your online reviews, consider putting a little money on the table to get things started. Offer a discount code to those that leave a review online. It could something as simple as 10% off that customer’s next visit, or whatever deal would make sense for your enterprise. You can use an email to SMS platform to send your offers effortlessly.
Yes, you’ll lose a small amount of money doing this. But with a wealth of positive reviews online, you’re more likely to bring in more and more new customers. That’s positive growth, and positive cash flow, if you’re thinking in the long-term.
Which, of course, you should be!
4. Involve Your Employees
The person who will have the most control over whether or not a customer will leave a review later on? The employee who has direct contact with them. It can be easy to boost reviews this way.
If you want to ensure you’ll have positive word circulating about your business online, you’ll need to involve your employees. Yes, first and foremost they’ll need to provide great service to your customers. That goes without saying.
However, they can also help to politely nudge your clientele in the direction of leaving a review. Teach them how to ask a customer to leave a review in a way that is non-invasive but gets results.
Keep them up to date on the ways in which you’re making it easy for customers to leave reviews, and allow them to pass this information onto customers. If your employee is already having a solid and positive interaction with a client, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be for them to nudge that person in the direction you need.
If you need help getting customers on your side, you might want to consider the help of professional business reputation management.
If you need a little extra push, you could even sweeten the pot. Provide a prize or incentive for the employee that successfully garners the most reviews at the end of each week.
Conversely, you could set a goal for how many reviews you want to get online and throw a party for your team once you reach that total. Whatever you can do to get your employees excited and involved will be a huge help.
Ways to Encourage Positive Reviews From Customers
You need positive reviews to get your business up and running. If you want to increase your customer base, you should strongly consider the above methods.
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