According to a 2020 BrightLocal survey, 87% of customers read customer reviews of local businesses online, and 73% of customers only pay attention to reviews from the last month. Customer reviews are the best way to track and share those great customer interactions for others to see how you do business. The right reviews can separate you from your competitors and give you the advantage you need to beat them out to the first appointment.
You work hard to give your customers the best experience possible. How do you take those experiences and leverage them for your business? Here are five things you can do to generate more reviews and make them work for you.
Time your ask just right
Timing is everything in business. Asking a customer to leave you a review at the right time can determine whether they actually take the time to leave one. The best time to ask for a review is right after the project is finished and payment is complete. All the happy feelings about their project and their interactions with you are fresh in their minds. Send your customer an email or text thanking them for their business and mention leaving your business a customer review on your preferred site. Link them to the right form to make it as easy as possible for them to write a glowing review.
Find the right site
There are many review sites to choose from, but the right one for you is determined by the site that is most frequently visited by your customers. You can find this out by checking your website’s analytics dashboard and checking what sites are driving traffic to your pages. If your data doesn’t give you a clear picture of where most of your traffic is coming from, then research which sites might give you the best results. If you have a significant amount of Facebook followers, it might be worth your time focusing on generating more reviews on that platform.
Ask your past customers
Asking your past customers who had great experiences with you is a simple way to generate customer reviews quickly. Send them a courteous and friendly email or text asking them to leave a review for your business. The more personalized the message is the more likely the customer will follow through on the review. If you have a CRM, you can automate these communications to save time. However, don’t over-communicate on the topic of reviews. You’ll run the risk of pestering your customers.
Leverage your social media followers
Tell your social media followers that you’re looking to build your customer reviews by creating a post. Use a link to the form you would like your followers to fill out, link to it in your post, and politely ask that your followers click on the link and leave a review. Include a picture of a great project you created or of your team in the post to remind your followers of the great work you do.
Put it on your website and email
Make it as easy as possible for your customers to leave you a review. On your website, create buttons and banners that connect your visitors to your review site. In your email signature, include a link or a banner that guides your customers to the customer review form you would like them to fill out. This simple addition can passively generate customer reviews for your business.
After your leads read your reviews and pick up the phone to call you, make sure you have all the right tools to close any deal with Hearth.
