Start Asking Your Customers For Reviews

You ask a lot from your customers. You want their time, their money and for them to return minutes, days, weeks, months and years later with more. Asking for even more may seem risky but the truth is you need their help. Reviews are becoming so important that companies are offering discounts, free products and other perks just to get them.

Why Are Reviews So Important?

There are two reasons why reviews or comments are so important. The first is because of an established presence. It’s not just about having a great rating, if your business doesn’t have many reviews out there then people wonder how long you’ve been around, if you are established and can be trusted. If you compare two companies, one has 5 comments that are all highly rated and another that has 40 comments, that are only good, not great, then believe it or not most people are going to go with the company with the 40 comments, even though it’s not as good of an overall rating. The reason is because the 40 comments show that you are established in your industry and can be trusted.

The other reason these comments are so important is because they act like personal recommendations. For example, someone goes on Facebook or Yelp and writes a review for your business and/or checks in at your location or that they are using your products and services. Their friends and followers see that, they see your brand, they see what you offer, and they also see what was said about you. This is a free and important way to introduce your company to thousands of people and immediately build a relationship based on trust.

How Do I Get More Reviews?

This is where a lot of the frustration occurs. Consumers are far more likely to write a negative comment than a positive one. If someone has a bad experience, regardless of the reason, they are almost motivated to go on every site you are found on and write about their experience. The frustration is that they may be wrong, had unrealistic expectations or they might even be a competitor or former employee. Another frustrating fact is that you can have hundreds of happy customers who are coming back again and again. However, they are not writing reviews and you have no other way of proving that your customers are happy.

The good news is that there are things you can do that encourage positive response. Start with simply asking, either by sending an email or asking them when they come in or call you. Run a campaign on social media asking people to recommend or review you in hopes that they will respond. Whether you have a contest, giveaway, discount or something else, you need to motivate and engage your customers, encouraging them to write reviews on different sites.