A lot of things go into a customer’s decision to make a purchase. 

The first thing most people do when making a decision to purchase something is to ask a friend or look for recommendations online.

With the ever-growing reliance on e-commerce, most customers don’t even need to speak to a sales representative.

Your best salespeople on the internet are your existing customers and one star can make the difference between making a sale or missing out.

With how easy it is to look good on the internet, many customer are becoming less trusting and more scrupulous when it comes to choosing a business to use. 

Many customers consider an online review as trustworthy as personal recommendations because they are left by customers just like them.

In order for businesses to grow in the competitive online space, they need to have a good number of positive reviews from customers sharing their experiences with a company.

Luckily, satisfied customers are more than happy to provide feedback. In most cases, all you have to do is ask.

1. Create different places to leave reviews

Before customers make it to your website, make sure that they can discover and learn about your business in the places they are researching a purchase. Some essential places to list your business include:

• Google My Business
• Facebook
• TrueLocal
• TrustPilot
• Yellow Pages
• Other industry-relevant platforms

2. Create Incentives

Everyone’s time is valuable so make sure that you give your customers a reason to leave a review.

Offering incentives such as discounts, coupon codes, contest entries, etc. will make your customers want to write a review and make them more likely to become a returning customer.

3. Ask at the Right Time

People don’t like to be bothered at the wrong time. A key part of successful review strategies is to ask at the right time to get optimal results.

The key is to ask for customer reviews after positive moments along the customer journey, such as:

• After they experience success with your product or service
• When they re-purchase or re-order your products
• When they tag your brand in a post on social media
• If they are spending time on your website browsing other products or services
• If they refer another customer to you

These are just a few examples of signs that your customer is satisfied enough that they would leave a positive review of your business.

4. Ask For Reviews Where You Want Them

Don’t LEAD a horse to water, bring the water to the horse!

Make sure that you make it as easy as possible for customers to leave a review. If you’re sending out an email requesting reviews, make sure you link to exactly where they can leave feedback instead of having to go looking for it.

If you’d like reviews on Facebook, send requests through Facebook Messenger.

If you have to ask for a review between platforms, make it as integrated as possible. Many review websites offer a range of integrations to collect reviews through your website or email marketing.

5. Ask Open Questions

Start a conversation with your customers. Using an open-ended question will prompt customers to give a more substantial testimonial about their experience.

Compare how you would respond differently to these questions:

“Did you like our service?” with “How are you liking our product?”

The first is easily a yes/no question, while the second encourages more explanation.

This can even act as a way to qualify whether or not a customer should be asked to leave a review.

6. Respond to Every Review

No business is perfect, and everyone is human. Mistakes happen and sometimes that could result in an unfavourable review.

It’s important that when you get an unfavourable review, you don’t dismiss it or respond emotionally. Though it may be sometimes hurtful or unfair, you should respond thoughtfully and come to a resolution. This is a reflection on your business and will help in the long run.

It has been found that businesses that respond to negative reviews actually result in better ratings overall, and can actually lead to more reviews because customers see that their feedback is heard.

7. Share Your Positive Reviews

While a 5-star rating is valuable when customers are browsing to make a quick decision, but quality testimonials that provide useful and insightful information is far more valuable to build trust in a business.

The next step is marketing these testimonials on social media and advertising and showcasing on your website to build trust with potential customers.

8. Compliment Your Customers First

While this may not always be possible, leaving a review for your customer is a great way to get the ball rolling and make someone leave a review.

Most of the time, they will reciprocate your kind words.

Another great option if you’re in an account management role, is recommending your customer on LinkedIn, especially if you work with customers over a long period of time. This not only increases their own personal brand but may also compel them to leave one of their own.

9. Ask In Person

If you work in a customer-facing role or communicate with customers regularly as a point of contact, don’t hesitate to ask for a review to share their positive experiences with your company.

If your customers tell you they’re seeing success, tell them that you’d appreciate their testimonial to assist you in helping other customers achieve the same success.

There are a plethora of ways to gain loyal consumers that will continue to be returning customers to your business.

Englander Davis specialises in developing bulletproof marketing strategies including strategies to not only boost your online sales, but also retain those loyal customers you’ve worked so hard to obtain.
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