In today's tech age, online reviews have become a vital part of running a business. A business with 5-star reviews is likely to attract more clientele than one with 2-star or 3-star reviews. Businesses today can't escape the fact that customers trust online reviews and make decisions based on the same. Review sites such as Yelp.Com also ensure that the reviews are properly vetted and thus filter out the fake ones. These sites have put mechanisms in place wherein they display only authentic reviews written by legitimate customer who have actually visited the place of business. However, not every customer who visits a business writes a review. So, in this post, we have made suggestions as to how businesses can encourage their customers to write reviews for them online.
When asking a customer for a review, remember timing is crucial If you have just resolved an issue for a customer who is obviously pleased with your service, ask for a review. If you have been spending some comfortable time chatting with a customer and helping him make his decision, asking for a review can easily be worked in to that discussion. Even a point of sale query is a good time to ask, especially if there is an initial interaction asking about the customer's experience that day. If a friendly point of sale employee asks, "How was your visit with us today?" and then listens actively to the customer's response, that employee can let the customer know his opinion would carry more weight in an online review. Timing and realizing a person loves to give his opinion, but hates being asked for a review, can drive traffic to your reviews.
Utilize incentives without turning them into bribes Offering all customers willing to post a review a coupon or freebie is a good way to increase the volume of reviews. You can present an incentive for a good review by remembering timing as well. An employee in a sales position can spend time with a customer helping him make his choice, and ask him to post a review mentioning the salesperson's name, explaining the salesperson will get a small bonus for the review. If the customer feels he can reward this salesperson with a 'tip' paid for by the business, he will be more likely to post a review, and a positive one at that. Prominently posting reviews, excerpts, or blogs giving good feedback for your business shows you are willing to promote the bloggers and people who have shown you support. This is a great way to influence others who might want traffic to their blogs as well. When a small business shows support for a larger community, it can certainly inspire customer loyalty as well.
Keep customer satisfaction as part of your mission statement Everyone involved in the business can influence good customer reviews by providing great service and asking for reviews as part of their job profile. If each employee knows how important the reviews are, and therefore keeps the conversation flowing about them with each other as much as with the customers, good reviews will abound. This will keep customer satisfaction on an employee's mind while interacting with those customers. If an employee knows a bad review linked to him can put him in the hot seat during an employee strategy session, he will try harder to get those vital good reviews. Of course incentives like local business coupons or discounts will also get employees who have less interaction with customers a reason to speak up about the reviews at any given opportunities with customers.
Make your review process simple and wide-reaching Put a link on your website for writing a review or taking a short survey. Have links to your business on social media where customers might give you a 'like' a tweet, or even write a short review for others to see. Getting people already using it, to write things on social media gives you the golden opportunity to respond. Responding gives you the chance to thank your customers for good reviews, and even a little advertising plug opportunity with it. Perhaps even more crucial would be responding to poor reviews by explaining what steps you have taken to improve, and invite that individual back for a chance to prove your commitment.
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