6 Ideas for Getting Great Customer Reviews
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Collecting and sharing powerful, thorough customer reviews is one of the best ways to attract future customers to your business. Fortunately, with the right tactics, it’s not difficult to ask customers for reviews that will highlight the many benefits of doing business with you. Here are 6 easy ideas for getting great customer reviews.

 

Why getting great customer reviews matters

 

When a consumer is deciding whether or not to purchase a product or service, join a program, or attend an event, one of the first steps they take is to check the reviews. In fact, according to Qualtrics, “93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product”.

No matter how highly you speak of your own business, people want to know what other consumers think of the product or service that you offer. Providing great reviews for your potential customers creates trust, shows that you are knowledgeable in your business, and allows them to have accurate expectations for what they’ll receive when they purchase from you.

With a few simple strategies and processes in place, you can collect dozens of great reviews from your customers in no time!

 

Ideas for getting great customer reviews

 

1. Make it easy for them

 

Have you ever been asked to leave a review, but then just couldn’t figure out where to go or how to actually leave it? Perhaps the instructions weren’t clear or, worse yet, weren’t even included.

In most cases, your customers are doing you a favor by leaving you a review, so do them a favor and make it easy on them!

If you’re asking in person, hand them a card that shows exactly where they can go to submit their review.

If you’re asking online, include a link that takes them directly to the page they need.

Maybe you’re talking over the phone. Send them a link, whether by email, text, or another medium, so that they can submit their review with just a couple of clicks.

Many people won’t leave reviews without incentive. If they’re willing to help you out by writing one, they shouldn’t have to spend any more time than necessary simply figuring out how to do it. If it’s confusing, your customer will most likely give up and move on with their day.

 

2. Provide incentive

 

Because writing a review, no matter how simple, takes time, providing incentive is a great way to encourage customers to sit down and do so.

Offering a free product, a discount, or entrance into a drawing can often be the push someone needs to help you out by writing a review.

You can include this incentive on your receipt, in an email, or on your social media pages.

 

3. Ask at the right time

 

The best time to ask a customer for a review is after they’ve received your product or experienced your service, but not so long after that they’ve forgotten or lost interest.

If you sold them something that was satisfactory and made their life better, your customer will often be happy to help you out by writing a review. However, if you wait a month or three months to ask, they’ll likely be onto the next thing.

 

4. Respond to reviews

 

Whether positive or negative, show past and future customers that you care by responding to their reviews. This makes them feel heard and also shows future customers that their review actually makes a difference.

Your response doesn’t have to be long, but it is important that it’s thoughtful and responds accurately to the review provided. Avoid automated responses.

Even negative reviews can benefit your business when they’re responded to apologetically, personally, and helpfully.

 

5. Provide a template

 

As a business owner, have you ever read one of your reviews only to find that it was too vague or too short to really be helpful?

Unfortunately, not all reviews will really be usable or helpful enough to promote on your website. The good news is that you can influence the way that reviews are written so that they are more thorough and offer good information to future customers.

One way to do this is by providing a template to your customers when asking for a review. Ask them questions, such as:

  • “What were you looking for when you purchased [product or service]?”
  • “Did we meet your expectations?”
  • “Was there anything that you especially appreciated about [product or service]?”
  • “What would you tell someone who’s not sure if they should purchase [product or service]”?

 

6. Ask for permission to share

 

If someone leaves a review on a public platform, such as Facebook, it will automatically be visible to the public.

On the other hand, if a review is submitted on a private platform and you want to use it in the future, it’s important to ask for permission.

Make sure to not only ask the customer if it’s okay to share their testimonial on your website or in marketing materials, but also whether it’s okay to use their name and business name (if applicable) when sharing. If you can, collect a headshot and permission to share it with their review as well.

 

Don’t forget to share your reviews!

 

We hope these ideas for getting great customer reviews are helpful!

Once you’ve collected a few excellent customer reviews, don’t forget to start sharing them! Some of the best places to post and share your reviews include:

 

(Note that you may have to ask for reviews through some of these sites in order for them to post accordingly.)

 

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