When you’ve got an amazing product or spectacular service, you’d naturally expect glowing reviews to follow. However, being the best in your field sometimes isn’t enough. Customers are more likely to take the time to leave a bad review than a good one, which means that even great companies will have a disproportionately high number of bad reviews. That means if you want more good reviews than bad, odds are you’re going to have to ask for them. Here are some of the best methods for how to get reviews for your company.
Customer reviews can be a great source of feedback for companies, but that’s not all they’re good for. Customers rely heavily on the reviews of others when deciding what companies to buy from. This is especially true for things that customers can’t examine themselves before buying, such as any type of service, food, or products purchased online. Because so many consumers search online before making major (or even minor) purchases, figuring out how to get customers to leave reviews is an important part of marketing your business.
Even if not all of your reviews are 5-star, simply having a greater number of reviews adds legitimacy to your company. For example, on shopping platforms like Amazon, products with only five to ten reviews are not going to get the same consideration as products with a thousand or more, even if all of those reviews are 5-stars. So, if you don’t have a lot of reviews online for your business, now is the time to start asking!
If you’ve ever read through reviews of other companies, you may notice that a lot of customers leave good reviews when they’ve had a good customer service experience. Having stellar customer service not only saves you from bad reviews, but good reviews about your customer service can also encourage customers to take a risk on your company. This is especially useful for companies selling supplements and other medical products, as these types of products generally won’t work the same for every customer.
You don’t have to wait for customers to try your products, either. You can dazzle them with your amazing customer service from the moment they first interact with your company. Whether that means keeping allergen information handy at your restaurant, offering a CSR chat feature on your website, or even just having a responsive email where customers can send questions all make for a great customer service experience that any customer can rave about in their reviews.
You’re likely to have already seen these sorts of promotions on social media: “Like and comment for a chance to win!” But this tactic can get you more than just likes. Include instructions in your packaging for how to leave a review in exchange for a chance to win a prize, or add the instructions to your customers’ receipts. Prizes can vary from free or discounted products and services, promotional merchandise, or really just about anything your budget can fit. If you’re not interested in running a raffle, a simple discount code can also be a great reward.
Tip: If you need ideas for some creative prizes, check out our blog on Social Media Giveaway Ideas!
One way to guarantee a review is to reach out to potential customers with a deal that’s too good to refuse. Give them a free product or service in exchange for an honest review. This is a great way to not only get more reviews from customers, but it also will typically result in much more detailed reviews as well. Even if the customer in question doesn’t give you five stars, hearing about your product from another customer gives potential customers more confidence when trying your goods or services themselves.
If you want the best quality in these reviews, reach out to customers through a product testing service. Customers that sign up for product testing are already prepared to try all sorts of goods and services for thorough reviews (often with pictures included!) While this won’t make up the bulk of your reviews, in-depth reviews like these are the key to turning shrewd and skeptical consumers into future customers.
While special prizes and incentives can go a long way in building up your online reviews, just asking should be a major part of your approach as well. Start by putting your requests close to where you want your reviews. For example, if you want more company reviews on your Facebook page, post about it! Customers are more likely to post Facebook reviews if they’re reminded to do so while already on Facebook. It doesn’t have to be awkward or forceful, either. Just like Youtubers will ask their fans to like, comment, and subscribe at the end of their videos, you can casually ask your followers to leave reviews when you post on your social media.
However, if you’re trying to figure out how to get more Google reviews, or reviews on your own site, the best way to ask for reviews is to follow up with customers directly. Email your customers after your products ship to their home or after they’ve had services done. Home repair companies can leave flyers at the homes of customers, and restaurants can put up QR codes like great, functional pieces of abstract art near the exit and in the bathrooms. After you get a great review, don’t forget to say thanks!
Of course, asking too often or the wrong way can be just as likely to get you bad reviews as good, so it’s important to be tactful in how you approach your customers. For example, if a customer doesn’t leave a review after you have called or emailed them with a follow up once, don’t go spamming their inbox with more requests. One request per purchase should be plenty, unless you’re following up to offer an incentive for an honest review.
Speaking of honest reviews, make sure that you aren’t offering incentives or free product testing for only good reviews. If customers find out any of your reviews are biased, you’ll lose their trust entirely. It’s better to have a variety of honestly good and bad reviews than to have false reviews.
Finally, don’t let bad reviews bring out the worst in you. Even if someone is just posting a bad review to troll your company, roasting them back will only make you look bad. Instead, focus on building up enough good reviews through excellent business practices so that the bad reviews will look like outliers to your customers.
Customer reviews are a major part of doing business in today’s market, but even the most amazing companies aren’t going to get the most reviews by good business alone. Take the time to reach out to your customers, whether with prizes or just sneakily placed QR codes. Do research into the methods other companies in your industry are using as well so you can better understand how to get reviews for your business.
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