Retail seeks to convert lookers into bookers and make them come back for more. What will help you accomplish this mission? Of course, we are talking about authentic and honest real customer reviews on loyalty programs and user generated content.
If there are none or few, this may be a signal that something is not right, I’ll look at something else. How to convince buyers to leave reviews every time they make a purchase? And why should you consider an opportunity to embed Google reviews or any other reviews widget to your website?
Let’s discuss getting customer reviews in the article below.
Why is it important to ask customers to leave a review?
Surely you can confirm the power of customer reviews from your personal experience. Remember how many times you hesitated about any purchase, and decided only because the enthusiastic responses of other consumers gave you the lack of confidence. Or maybe you never hesitated at all because you knew exactly what you needed, since you’ve already heard a lot of good things about this thing from someone you trust.
In fact, what other people say about your business, even if they are total strangers, carries more weight than what you say about your business. At least 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations.
If that’s not enough to get you out of your comfort zone and start collecting testimonials for your business, here’s some more information that can give you the boost you need:
- Consumers are ready to cooperate. A study conducted by BrightLocal in December 2019 found that 76% of those asked to leave reviews continue to leave them, up 70% from the previous year.
- Consumers find reviews helpful. According to Podium, 93% of consumers believe that reviews posted on local business websites are as useful as product reviews on sites like Amazon.
- Consumers are looking for reviews. According to statistics provided by Google, the number of searches made from mobile devices for the keyword “reviews” increased by 35%, and for the word “best” – by 80%.
How to request a review
There are as many ways to do this as there are communication tools in your business and marketing activities. These include:
- Personal appeal
- By phone (or text message)
- Through the website (ideally there should be a dedicated page)
- By email (mailing list, letter to personal or corporate email, in the message signature)
- Via social networks (in a private message or post)
- Through Thank You Pages
- On payment documents
Remember that you should not stick to only one method. You should have several strategies working at the same time to ensure a constant stream of feedback about your business. Numerous and up-to-date reviews will help you gain more trust from your customers and help your company rank higher in the search results.
How to work with reviews
Respond to reviews. Replies to reviews encourage users to keep leaving comments. For example, a response to a negative review shows that the company is not indifferent to customers, trying to solve the customer’s problem and smooth out dissatisfaction.
Responses to positive reviews are no less important – the author wanted to share a positive experience, took the time and tried on the review, he will be pleased that the brand appreciated his work and opinion.
Prepare the structure of the client’s response. If you don’t want the humble “Thanks everyone, it’s all good” feedback, give the user hints. For example, divide the review field into separate fields and sign them – what did you like about the product, what did you not like, why did you buy it, will you buy it again, and so on.
It will be easier for the buyer to navigate, and you will receive a detailed review. In surveys, consider answer options so that each client can easily choose the right option.
Don’t be intrusive. No need to attack the client with calls and letters every week, contact the buyer only at key moments. For example, three days after the purchase, you can find out his first impression, after a month – the experience of use, and after three months of regular purchases – send a survey about the work of the company.
Use your collected reviews wisely. Once you have gathered reviews on Google or other review sites, don’t just let them sit there. Import the reviews to your own website and highlight them using a stylish widget. It might sound like a hassle, but it can be done in just a couple of minutes. Check out this free and super simple Google review widget by Trustmary.
Consider a bonus system. Bonuses well smooth out the negative and stimulate activity in contests, but you need to think over the incentive system so as not to go into the red. Decide what bonuses customers with negative reviews will receive as an apology, what bonuses will be given to winners and participants in contests, and what can be offered to users for completing surveys.
Use an individual approach. Don’t respond to every review with a pre-made template. Prepare a saved reply for different types of reviews, but supplement the comment with individual details based on the review itself. Clients will be pleased to receive a more individual response, rather than a template reply.
Do not ask all customers to leave a review. Before you offer to leave a review in the open, make sure that the customer did not have problems and dissatisfaction with the purchase – it is obvious that such customers will not leave a positive review.
If you are not sure about the level of customer loyalty, send them an email asking them to rate the company on an internal resource, for example, in a closed questionnaire that only you can see. Customers who have rated below “5/excellent” and “4/good” should not be recruited for reviews. Problems and dissatisfaction are best worked out and smoothed out individually, directly with the client.
Don’t ask for much. Customers are already giving a gift to the business by leaving reviews, so don’t ask for a lot – don’t ask for a multi-page report, don’t make buyers complete a hundred-question survey, don’t expect perfectly choreographed photos and professional videos.
Rigid requirements will only scare off customers. In addition, natural and lively feedback, amateur photography and video inspire more trust from other users.
LoyaltyXpert, the leading loyalty management platform, helps businesses to offer promising reward programs to their customers, enabling them to increase their brand value and motivate repeat purchases. The software provides businesses with features to maintain the current customer base and attract new and prospective customers. It guarantees an ideal mix of functionality and flexibility to handle and run loyalty programs smoothly and efficiently. Besides big brands, even SMBs can utilize various tools of LoyaltyXpert to improve customer engagement.