Wondering How To Get More Online Reviews?

Introduction.

If any of the following relates to you, then you're in the right place:

1. You want more reviews for your business.
2. You want to improve your overall rating and brand trust.
3. You want to stand out from your competition and get chosen.
4. You want to show up higher in searches.
5. And finally, you want to simplify and automate this process.

When it comes to online reviews, there really is no one size fits all solution.

Getting the most out of online reviews usually requires a tailored approach depending on how your business interacts with customers.

Why reviews are important.

You already know you want more reviews or you wouldn't be reading this, but have you ever thought about how much impact reviews really have on your businesses success?

1. Show up first in search results.
   By having a better online rating your business is more likely to show up higher in search results.
2. Stand out from the competition.
   Customers always chose the businesses with the best reviews, reviews are the new word of mouth and power customer buying decisions now more than ever.
3. Be the first choice.
   By showing up higher in search results and standing out from your competition with reviews you will always be the customers first choice when choosing who to go with.
4. Earn customer trust.
   Reviews are the primary factor that determines whether they should trust that your business will deliver the best results for their needs. Reviews gain customer trust in your brand and improves your reputation.
5. Exponential growth by turning customers into promoters.
   Happy customers turn into positive reviews, which leads to more customers picking your business after reading their reviews, which leads to more customers and so on, scaling continuously.
6. Increased revenue.
   By having a better online reputation through more reviews you'll get chosen more by customers. Improving your revenue and increasing your profit.

Your options to get more reviews.

There are really only 2 ways to get reviews from your customers.

1. By hoping your customers do it of their own free will (and you take no action).
2. By pro-actively asking your customers to leave a review.

As you are reading this, I imagine that option 1 isn't really working well for you and you might be thinking:

• OMG, I don't have time to ask all my customers for a review.
• I do ask my customers for a review, but they never leave one.
• I have lots of staff members, and I can never get them to remember to ask for one.
• We are following up with customers, but it is so much work.
• I have to ask them so many times before they leave a review and it's hard to keep track of.

There are many different ways to ask your customers for reviews, some more efficient than others, but nothing beats a bit of automation.

Best ways to ask for a review.

When asking for a review there are plenty of options. But, what should you be looking for when choosing the best way to ask for a review?

1. The method of delivery (voice, text message, email, QR code).
2. The difficulty for the customer (steps involved, remembering to do it).
3. The difficulty for you or your staff members (remembering to ask for reviews, tracking who has left a review).
4. The time consumed by asking.

Asking via email or text message.

1. Make it personal
   1. Include your customer's name.
   2. Include your businesses name and logo.
   3. Customise the layout (for emails) to match your brand's image.
2. Keep it simple
   1. Do not include other marketing material.
   2. Include a direct link to leave a review.
   3. Make the call to action clear.
3. Show your gratitude
   1. Be polite and show appreciation.
   2. Thank them for taking the time to leave a review.
4. Timing is everything
   1. Give the customer time to experience the product or service.
   2. Send an email or text message during business hours.

Pros and cons of manually asking customers for reviews.

Pros

• Very simple to implement.
• No 3rd party tools required.
• Personalised approach.
• Free – if you don't value your time.
• Selective – only follow up customer you think are happy.

Cons

• Time-consuming and labour-intensive.
• Hard to track (no reporting, not sure who you've asked before).
• Not scalable (only suitable for low volumes of customers).
• Expensive (if paying staff to do it).
• Inconsistent (no guarantee everyone will be followed up).

Using an automated review platform.

Managing and asking for reviews yourself is fine and a lot of businesses do it that way, but if any of the following apply to you then using an automated program might be of benefit:

1. You want to handle negative reviews.
2. You are time-constrained.
3. You want to automate the process.
4. You want to monitor the effectiveness of your reviews.
5. You want to ask multiple customers at once or a previous customer database.
6. You want to easily track everything.

Handling negative reviews.
People who leave negative reviews want to vent frustration. With a review program they are given the ability to vent discretely to your business offline, preventing a potential negative review that could have been easily resolved, using an automated screening system.

Get reviews wherever your customers are.
Why limit your online reviews to just Google? With a review platform you can easily get reviews on all the sites that matter to your business such as Facebook, TripAdvisor and many more.

Thoughtful reminders.
Automate sending non-invasive email or text message reminders that are proven to increase positive reviews.

Measuring your performance.

Do you know your Customer to Review Conversion Rate (CRC)?

Most probably not, but that's okay. We've got you covered.

In short, it is a metric used to measure the number of reviews received in relation to the number of customers you've followed up.

For example, you have 100 customers and 10 leave you a review, your CRC would be 10%. Simple right!

This metric can vary wildly depending on:

• Your industry.
• Time to first request (when asking customers for a review).
• Your customers' age, gender and so on.

The majority of business owners say, "I want more reviews for my business". But, what do more reviews really mean when you have nothing to benchmark against?

Having a 25% CRC might be very good if your industry average is 15% or can be very bad if your industry average is 35%.

Conclusion.

Online reviews are a critical part of your digital strategy. They help increase your visibility, build trust and get chosen by customers. If you take proactive steps to secure more reviews you will see an increase in customer enquiries and conversions.