The customer is always right. At least in the eyes of potential customers. So while they may have loved the sales spiel on your company website, before making a purchase decision, whether checking out online or going to your brick-and-mortar store, more likely than not they will check out your online reviews. They want to know what your existing customers think. What do your product reviews say about its usefulness? What is the customer experience like? Overall, do you have a good online reputation?
Gathering a good number of positive reviews is pretty important. Let’s discuss why, the kind of reviews to collect to win over your target audience, and how to get more good reviews. Hint: There is software available to make review management easier. Podium’s review tool is perfect for small businesses that want to boost their number of reviews and star ratings.
What Are Customer Reviews?
Customer reviews refer to verified customers of a business sharing their experience of purchasing from the business and their opinion about the product or service such as the value for money. As we are in the digital age where e-commerce is the go-to purchasing format, customer feedback is often shared online. Online business reviews can either be left on the website the purchase was made on if it has a review functionality such as on Amazon or through dedicated review sites such as Yelp, Trustpilot, TripAdvisor, or most popularly Google Reviews.
So, it’s a good idea to create and manage your Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) and any other review platforms relevant to your industry and niche. That will allow you to have all the details about your business on your review page including pricing and new products. Give people looking for businesses like yours the information and inspiration they need to look further into your business.
Why Are Reviews Important?
Building up online reviews for your business is worth the hassle because it can change the trajectory of your growth. A good number of regular positive reviews increases the number of customers who find your business, decide to make a first purchase, and decide to make repeat purchases. Online reviews have such an impact on sales for various reasons.
1. Customer Trust and Credibility
Trust and credibility are essential to getting warm leads over the line of actually making a purchase. This can be particularly challenging for small and local businesses that don’t have brand name recognition. Luckily, trust and credibility can come from online reviews. It’s been found that 87% of consumers used Google to evaluate local businesses in 2022 and a high star rating would make 58% of people feel positive about choosing a local business. Positive reviews can position unknown and unfamiliar businesses as reliable.
2. Informed Decision-Making
Potential customers seek out positive reviews for a genuine reason. They want to make a good purchase decision. They don’t want to invest in a product or service if it’s not right for them. Who does? So looking at online reviews is an information-gathering exercise. Prospects can get the lowdown from reliable sources – other customers. It will help to minimize doubts and increase confidence and follow-through of their purchase decision.
3. Product/Service Improvement
A bonus of collecting customer feedback is that it helps you to see what is working and what needs improvement. You can learn from reported negative experiences to generate more positive experiences. All retailers can benefit from hearing the perspective of their end-users, and checking in with their needs, wants, and preferences to better serve them. Online reviews are a prime opportunity for social listening.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Online reviews have a positive impact on your search engine ranking, especially your Google ranking if you focus on Google reviews. There’s proof of this! One of our clients, Matt Sneed from Power Ford, reported a 19.3% increase in website traffic from Google after working on their online reviews using the Podium review tool. New reviews keep your profile updated. A large number of reviews provide multiple keywords the business can rank for as potential customers search for their products and services. The higher your star rating and the more frequently positive reviews are left, the more likely your profile will show up.
4 Customer Reviews Examples
While leaving a few sentences on a review site is the most known form of customer review, it’s not the only one. It can be helpful to collect different types of reviews so potential customers have a range of social proof to be convinced by.
1. Listing Reviews
As well as building a presence on globally known review platforms like Google Reviews and Yelp, do some research into more niche business listings. This could be business listings for your local area or your industry. The more relevant business sites you show up on, the stronger your online presence.
2. Video Reviews
If the product or service you are selling requires a higher investment of money, time, or effort, potential customers need a bit more convincing compared to a $10 impulse buy. Ask customers to record videos of themselves using the product to demonstrate its value or to record a video of themselves sharing their experience of working with you. Videos from customers create a greater sense of legitimacy.
3. Quotes and Testimonials
Written customer feedback isn’t limited to review sites. Share quotes of reviews on your company website and in other marketing material. You could also ask customers to answer specific questions about their experience and share their testimonials on your platforms. Your target audience shouldn’t have to go far to find social proof of the value of what you do.
4. Social Media Reviews
Social media platforms are another entry point where new leads can find your business and develop an interest in purchasing from you. So why not share reviews there? You could post quotes and links to the review site the feedback is from. Or you could use social media as a review collection tool. This works well when a specific question is posted to a business account, generating feedback about a specific aspect of what you do.
How to Improve Customer Reviews?
So you want a flow of frequent positive reviews that gets potential customers thinking “I’ve got to get my hands on this!” Here are our top tips for collecting more good reviews from your customers.
1. Provide exceptional customer service.
Getting positive feedback on customer experience starts with providing exceptional customer service worthy of a positive review. Use social listening, surveys, and questionnaires to maintain a good understanding of customer expectations so that you can meet and exceed them. Across the board, customers expect responsive customer service. Make it easier for your team to manage customer messages with an omnichannel inbox that collates all communication channels in one dashboard.
2. Engage and respond to reviews.
Online reviews are a two-way street. Thank new customers for their feedback if they leave a positive review and attempt to make amends with any customers that leave a negative review, showing potential customers how much you value customer feedback. It builds your integrity. We’ve made responding to reviews less time-consuming with our AI review response feature.
3. Simplify the review process.
The easier you make leaving a review for your customers, the more likely they will follow through with leaving a review. Minimize the steps involved by directly asking customers to leave a review with a link to your review profile so that with one click, they can start typing out their feedback. We have a Google Review link generator to help you do just that.
4. Show appreciation and acknowledge feedback.
Customers who leave you a review are doing your business a favor. Your business gets all the benefits of their feedback. What does the customer get? At least show your appreciation through a follow-up email or direct message to customers who leave feedback. That’s a task you could automate in the Podium platform. You could take it further by offering incentives to customers for leaving a review. Make sure it’s an incentive for leaving any type of review because rewarding positive reviews only is against the rules of review sites.
Make customer reviews easier for your business and your customers with the Podium Lead Conversion Platform.
Get and Easily Manage Customer Reviews
To secure the revenue boost from a high number of regular positive reviews, you need a system in place to request, monitor, and respond to online reviews. At Podium we provide all that and more. With us, where you find your review management tool is also where you’ll find your omnichannel inbox, customer contacts, and review link generator so that in the fewest number of clicks you can request, respond to, and show appreciation for reviews.
We’re always looking for new ways to streamline all the moving parts involved in running a business. Recently, we added the Lead Drive feature. Just like the omnichannel inbox collates messages from various communication channels onto one dashboard, Lead Drive collates all the places where leads can inquire such as Angie’s, Thumbtac, and your website so you never miss a thing.
