Last week, we answered the question, “Are online reviews important?” With overwhelming statistics from numerous studies and, most important, proof of increased sales, we showed how online reviews from sources like Yelp, Google, Facebook and Angie’s List are influential and can have a significant impact on the success of your business.
Love them or loath them, online reviews are the new word-of-mouth, and consumers are taking them seriously. You should, too.
So the next question is, “How do we get reviews?” New Plains MediaMedia has evaluated several options and we recommend the platform available locally at OmahaReviewed.com. While we’ve had some tremendous success with this platform, here are five ways to get started on your own:
- Ask and you shall receive – Let your customers know that they have a voice in how you do your business, and that their voice matters. Let them know where they can post reviews of your business, whether it’s on your business’s website, a review site or on social media. People review people and the most powerful driver is a personal ask at the time the service is completed or the good purchased.
- Your No. 1 target is satisfied customers – Has a customer gone out his or her way to let you know how much they loved your business or product? Don’t miss the opportunity to ask for a review from that happy customer. Tell them, “Thank you! Would you mind posting a review online telling everyone else how you feel?”
- Email your customers – You collect your customers’ email addresses, right? Of course you do! So be sure to email your customers and ask them to review your business. It increases the odds that those happy customers will take the time to give you a virtual high-five online.
- Encourage people to read your reviews – Display a link on your website, Facebook page, Google+ page, etc., to your reviews. Directing people to your reviews is beneficial in not only gaining new customers, but also for current customers who will be more likely to add their feedback as well, if they haven’t already.
- Thank customers for reviews – Sending a thank you note, and perhaps even including a special coupon is a nice way to acknowledge customers who post positive reviews of your business. Just don’t offer incentives – and certainly NEVER offer to buy or offer cash rewards – for reviews. It’s unethical and most review sites will penalize your business because of it. Most review sites allow businesses to respond to reviews, so always try to reply to positive reviews with a thank you.
Get the most out of positive reviews
The first few reviews are always the hardest. In our experience, the more reviews a business has, the more reviews they start to get. In our humble city, not many like being the first person to leave a review.
Now that your business has collected a few positive reviews, keep that positive momentum going by using those reviews as testimonials on a special page of your website. Let potential customers see those satisfied customer comments.
And when that testimonial is credited with the review website from which it came, those potential customers can link to your profile page on those review sites and know where to go to post a review should they become a happy customer, too.
What happens if you get a bad review?
One or two bad reviews is nothing to be too concerned about – that is, if you have plenty of positive reviews to offset them. Which is all the more reason to encourage reviews.
The best way to handle a negative review is to catch it before your customer goes to one of the major review sites, a major feature of the OmahaReviewed.com platform.
There are good ways and bad ways to respond to a negative review. And there are pros and cons to bad reviews, too. Next week, we’ll cover how to deal with negative reviews in Part 3 of this three-part series on reviews.
Until then, if you want to get started today, give Dinah Gomez a call (402-341-7323 or dinah@thereader.com) and she’ll get your business on the fast-track to getting found online.
