Category: Reviews

In a new survey, researchers discovered that 74% of customers who left a review for a service were asked first. This means that local business owners who ask for customer feedback stand a better chance of getting them than owners who don’t.

Hence, if you are wondering how to get more reviews for your business, the solution is to just ask!

We get that asking may not always be a good idea. Most platforms like Yelp, Google, and even Facebook have strict policies about asking for reviews. If it isn’t them, it’s those clients who may misunderstand or completely ignore your request. It’s tough but as a business owner, you must put in the work to get what you want.

Ask at the right time
Timing is everything in this game of business reviews. From our experience at The Review Generator, we know that the best time to ask for a review is right away. Ask immediately the service is completed because the longer you wait, the lesser the likelihood of getting that feedback.

Ask the right way.
This is the part where most business owners and employees get it wrong. There is a right way to ask for reviews online, which includes asking professionally and politely. Don’t come across as pushy or make it mandatory for the client to oblige your request. Try to be creative, fun/funny, and clear. Encourage positive reviews fiercely but obey the rules that speak against using incentives to get reviews.

Ask questions first.
Showing genuine concern for the customer’s satisfaction can go a long way to ensure you get more reviews. Start by asking them how they feel about the product or service. It’s a good way to start a conversation and gain insight into if the customer would leave a negative or positive review. After your brief conversation, throw your perfectly organized request in there.

Ask in person
If you can add a personal touch to your business relationship with the client, then do so. You can ask for feedback in person if this works for your business. It gets better if the client is a loyal customer you can easily talk to.

Ask with the right tools
Send an email, a handwritten note, a text, a Facebook message, and much more. Use all the tools at your disposal to ask for reviews. Avoid generic methods that your competitors use often. Use a tool like The Review Generator to help automated the process.

Remember the stats above? Most customers will leave you a business review, all you have to do is ask!

Customer feedback does several things for your business and here’s a few of them

• It shows what customers are thinking about your business- are they happy or not?
• It gives you a clear view of what you need to do more or improve on.
• It reels in or discourages new clients.

In a nutshell, customer reviews can make or break your good business. Some clients will leave a review without you asking. Others need you to ask them first and another group will make you work extra hard for their feedback.

When you are a business owner in a saturated marketplace with competitors doing what you do, you know you need to up your game to rustle up about 90% of good reviews. This means you can’t sit back and depend on your generic feedback form, you have to get creative without raising any flags on your business.

From us to you, here are fun ways to ask for reviews. Get started now and thank us later!

1. Come a little closer than business
   If you are a book lover and you purchased a book from a specific store where the attendant there made you feel right at home, you won’t think twice when the same attendant politely asks you to say some nice words about their store.

   It’s the same with every customer. Adding a personal touch to your relationship lightens things up and makes it easier for you to ask for a review. If your business is one that allows you to get really close to your customers, then you are in luck. An example of this can be an event decorator or photographer. However, if you are not this lucky, then you must maximize other methods like giving your clients’ attention and showing genuine interest in their satisfaction.

2. Do a good deed
   When someone goes out of their way to do something nice, it’s almost human nature to feel you owe them. Hence, when they need something you can provide, most kind-hearted individuals are happy to oblige.

   As a business owner looking to garner up to 90% of positive customer reviews, do some good and free deed for your clients. Be strategic about this and do it long before the request for a review comes up.

3. Be on the lookout for a show of satisfaction
   It’s not every day a customer compliments your service, but when they do, grab this opportunity to ask for a review or public feedback of their satisfaction. It makes asking less awkward and you are confident the client will leave only positive feedback.
4. Put it in a gift
   We are not saying bribe your way into a business review. We are saying make this a part of your operations. Attach a gift to your service delivery and include a note that asks politely and lightly for a review. It is important not to make it seem as though the gift is in exchange for their feedback.
5. Be funny
   Start by getting a read on the customer’s feelings. Do they seem pleased or dissatisfied? If the former is the case, then add some humor when asking for the review. Make it clear you are asking for a positive review, but place focus on the fun part.

It’s common knowledge that reviews can seriously impact your business success. The statistics are everywhere and the numbers of prospects who depend on what existing customers have to say about your product or service is devastatingly high.

However, it is equally surprising to know that less than half of businesses ask their customers for a review.

Leaving the most important parts of your business to chance is one of the biggest mistakes any business owner can make. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you would see why it’s dangerous to be a part of this number of companies who ignore review management strategies.

Online Reputation Management – Best Practices

Recent surveys have shown that only 40% of small businesses encourage their clients to leave positive reviews. This means a staggering 60% ignore this reputation management practice. It could be because they expect happy customers to leave positive reviews or they believe that ignoring this strategy will keep them safe with no reviews on the web.

The thing is, regardless of if you allow reviews on your site or not, there are reviews out there that speak of your service. People are creating a reputation for your business on their own terms and you need to take control of the situation.

While you need reviews to speak for your services or products, you must focus on getting more positives and fewer negatives.

The fact that you are confident your clients are happy doesn’t mean they will leave a great review. The reason for this is that people are more likely to complain than compliment a service. It’s almost human nature, and this puts your business in a difficult position.

Successful businesses maintain a great advantage over their competitors because they know the relevance of giving clients a nudge when it comes to reviews. They also recognize that making extra efforts to encourage the positives can go a long way.

Monitor and Respond

Asking and receiving online reviews is only one part of your online reputation management strategy. Next, you must monitor these reviews and respond to both positives and negatives alike. A negative review can make your heart skip a beat but there is no harm in having a few of them. They help to prove the authenticity of your brand. Respond interactively and use the opportunity to show prospects watching that you care about their experience.

Get proactive and promote your company on several platforms, especially social media. When clients leave comments there, monitor and respond appropriately.

Avoid selling yourself too much as this puts prospects off. Try to come across as helping people make the best purchase decisions. Build a solid strategy to maintain your online reputation and achieve great progress with your company.

You can get professional assistance on this from a review company. Here at The Review Generator, we make your business goals possible.

Negative reviews are something that comes with the business. No matter how hard you try, you can’t be completely rid of them. Some clients leave negative reviews because they have a bad experience; others may just be biased or chronic complainers. The problem is, your prospects won’t care why a customer leaves a negative review. They are only concerned with how it affects the credibility of your business.

It might come as a surprise to learn that negative reviews are a necessary evil.

A few negative reviews among positive ones convince your prospects of your authenticity. It is suspicious and strange to have all positive reviews with almost no negative ones.

Negative reviews help to provide insights into areas of your business in need of improvement.

Why responding to negative reviews is vital?

• It helps you take back control and minimize the damage of the negative review.
• Responding shows prospects that you are committed and professional.

How do you respond to negative reviews?

• The truth is, nobody likes to see their business degraded, especially when you are not at fault. Some negative feedback can be downright annoying, infuriating, and hurtful. The first thing you need to do when it shows up on your business page is take a deep breath. Calm down and do more tactical thinking. Some business owners have thrown caution out the window with their raging response. In the end, your unprofessional response will affect your business more than the negative review itself.
• Respond quickly and follow up with the customer. Start by contacting the customer and trying to resolve the problem or make corrections. If this is possible, and the customer is happy, politely ask them to edit the review after. If they are reluctant, let it go and proceed with a timely public response to the reviews.
• Work towards the positives. Positive reviews can easily outweigh negative ones. An important way to minimize the impact of negative feedback is by getting more positive ones. Take your review game seriously. Apply compelling practices such as a satisfactory service, reminders through email to review the service, and much more. These can spur more clients towards leaving positive feedback.

The Response

Do not use an automatic response. Your clients or prospects want to know they are interacting with a human being and not automated systems. Keep your responses real, honest, and conversational.

• Offer an Apology or Solution
  A good response can always begin with an apology. This makes it clear that you care about your clients’ demands and satisfaction. You can also assure them of exceptional services or a solution to the problem.
• Keep Prospects in Mind
  The entire reason you must respond professionally to all reviews is that prospects read them. Always remember that you are not only addressing a former client’s dissatisfaction, but you are also convincing new ones they won’t have similar problems.

You can avoid the bulk of negative reviews with proper business practices, such as

• Quick and efficient communication
• Exceptional customer service
• Sticking to business principles and promises
• Create a platform for customer complaint or overall feedback.

As a business owner who aims to be successful, there are several factors to put in place to achieve this goal. Trust is a big part of your success story, and it is the only reason anyone would invest time and money in your service or product.

Now, how do you get trust? It starts with having customer reviews or feedback. If you have been in the online market long enough, then you know that ‘reviews’ is a buzzword. There are two major reasons you need to take your review game seriously:

1. Seeing your business reviews helps to reduce the perceived risk a prospect might have about working with you or your company. Reviews show that others have already taken the risk.
2. Reviews favor the ‘crowd’ mentality of most prospects. More people want to buy from someone with a large number of reviews.

Google and Facebook are the most review-friendly platforms, as they allow you to ask and receive reviews from clients easily. Hence, every business owner should take advantage of them. To do this, you need to apply the right tips and in a few seconds, you will learn about them.

The first thing to note is that Google and Facebook are two different platforms. Google sits at the heart of online marketing and offers you the widest customer base. In fact, it is aptly described as the king of online search and business reviews!

Facebook is the world’s biggest social network. It has evolved from just a platform for connecting with friends to a platform where businesses are discovered. The rating and review system on Facebook is not the same as Google but serves its unique purpose.

Here are the practices to use:

• Claim all listings and pages
  Google has a Google My Business Profile, where businesses can control their online reputation. If you are yet to claim this listing on Google, do it soon or create a new account.

  The same thing should be done with your Facebook business page. Claim both listings and work on improving visibility and credibility. Remember to always ensure consistency with the information provided on both platforms.

• Learn to solicit for reviews
  More is always best with reviews. However, do you know that clients who had a bad experience are motivated to leave reviews more than those who were satisfied? Yes, so asking for reviews helps you strike a balance and prevent the negative from overruling the positive.
• Use proper timing
  Asking a customer to leave a review is tough, but with proper timing, it can become beneficial. The ideal time to ask is right after a job/purchase is completed. During this time the purchase is still on their minds, and they probably haven’t left your page yet.
• Make it easy
  The easier it is for customers to leave a review, the higher the chance they will do so. Create a link or system to make reviewing your business smooth, quick, and easy. You can send direct links through emails or leave a prompt on your business page.
• Be honest about it.
  Avoid asking only specific clients for a review because you are certain it will be positive. Google and Facebook are meant to provide an accurate picture of your business. If they discover that your reviews are biased, you could lose credibility and your business reputation online.

Reviews are unavoidable in business. You need them to grow and show potential clients you are trustworthy. Reviews are how clients speak to each other and they contribute to a new customer’s decision on whether or not to use your services.

There are several resources that speak on how to handle negative reviews in a business, but you can’t find many on how to respond to the positive ones. For most business owners responding to the negative reviews is vital because of the bad effects they can have on your business. This is fine. However, it is equally important to pay attention to your responses to positive reviews.

Avoiding generic responses to positive reviews on your business is important because it shows engagement and concern on your part. Here are some creative responses to help you be more impactful.

Mention the name of the employee.
If your business is one that allows individual services, you can spice up your response by mentioning the name of the employee who worked directly with the client. For example, you can respond with

“Thank you for your feedback. We are glad James provided a satisfactory service.”

Talk about the specific service provided to the client
Not only is this relevant for a creative response, but it is also a great way to advertise your services more. If you can mention what you did for the customer, others with similar needs may feel more comfortable coming to you. So, you can have a response like this:

“It was wonderful organizing your anniversary party. Thank you!”

Respond to the negatives within the positive review
Experience will show you that a five-star review doesn’t always guarantee positive comments. Some customers will say only a few kind words and finish with some opinions that seem negative.

“The service was wonderful but slow and this seemed a little unprofessional.”

This customer has left a five-star rating with some mildly damaging words about your service. The good news is that you can salvage the situation by addressing the con in the review rather than just saying “Thanks” or some other generic response.

“We are glad you enjoyed our services. We are also working on employing more staff and purchasing sophisticated equipment to make our service one of the fastest in the industry. We hope to see you again soon and do recommend us to your friends and family.”

Review them too!
Perception has a lot to do with how most business owners take reviews. Your response doesn’t always have to be directly aimed at further advertising. You can review the client too. Talk about their manners and ability to communicate clearly. For example:

“It was great working with Susan. She was communicative and clear about what she needed. She also provided the details required to offer her a thorough service.”

Mention an ongoing or future promotion
A response to a positive review is a good opportunity to bring up a future promotion or an ongoing one. You can thank the customer and remind them to come back for the special discount or sale.

The team at The Review Generator can help with advice on how to respond to your reviews. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!