The average consumer is going to Google your business and look for as many online reviews as he or she can find before they determine whether or not they are going to buy from you.
You can greatly increase your sales and conversion rates if you put effort into attracting as many online reviews as possible from all of your past customers. Not all of them are going to do it on their own, and not because they don’t want to. Sometimes you just have to remind them and a simple ask gets you exactly what you are after.
Here are a few solid tips that will help you build up online reviews on a consistent basis.
Setup Automated Email Marketing
As mentioned above, a lot of the times all you have to do is ask, and when you can automate that process it is even better. This is how you get reviews flowing in on a regular basis without any extra work from your end.
For example, if someone buys carry on luggage, they should receive an automated email a week later asking them how satisfied they were with the purchase. If they click a 5-star, then direct them to a page on your website that has links to all of your review profiles.
You can also set it up so if they click on anything 4 or below it takes them to a contact page where it asks them for feedback. You can then use this information to make them 100% satisfied and once that is accomplished ask them to leave a review.
Include a ‘Thank You Card’ in the Shipment
Sometimes a little extra effort goes a long way. If you are shipping products to customers, consider including a card in the box, thanking them for being a customer and inviting them to leave you a review. You can even use codes they can scan on their mobile device that brings them to your review pages.
“Personalizing the note with some handwriting, even if it’s just their first name, will help you convert more reviews,” offers Chris Dziak of Pure Nootropics. “I would also suggest you create a page on your website with a page like /reviews that you can easily direct customers to.”
The easier you make it, the greater number of customers that will take action and leave a review. The same applies to a local service company, like a HVAC repair company. When the service call is done, send out a thank you note and ask for a review. It’s that simple.
Setup an Outsourced Follow-Up Operation and Process
For businesses that sell high ticket items and have less customer volume, reviews can be harder to secure. A good example of this is a car dealer or jewelry store. For them, it makes sense to setup an outsourced follow-up team that will call, email and text customer in an effort to secure their review.
“The costs are much lower than one might think,” says Lisa Rush of phone support outsourcing company Staff Outsourcing. “The entire process can be streamlined and the human outreach is much more effective.”
This also contributes to good relationship building and can be what separates you from the competition and earns you repeat business.