How to Get More Online Reviews

reviewDid you know that 88% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations?

And with nearly 9 out of 10 consumers reading online reviews, it’s obvious that they are highly important in the purchasing decisions made by customers.

For some businesses –like security companies, restaurants, auto shops, doctors, service providers and many others – a growing number of quality reviews are absolutely critical for sales success.

So how do you get these reviews from customers? Here are some of our favorite tips:

  • Make it a priority. Make getting more reviews a focal point of your business efforts. Ask for reviews at multiple customer touchpoints. Measure the number of reviews you get by review channel each month.
  • Offer incentives. Pay a bonus to any employee mentioned in a positive customer review. This incentivizes employees to do good work. It also provides them motivation to ask for online reviews when interacting with happy customers. You might even consider running a contest to see who can generate the most reviews.
  • Send a post-purchase email to a customer. Thank them for their business and ask them to leave a review about your product or service. Include the URL of an important review site (Yelp, Google, Facebook, etc.), along with short instructions on how to leave a review.
  • Use the smart phone. Upon completion of a service call, teach technicians how to get happy customers to use their smart phones to get them started on a review. Make this one of the last tasks a technician performs before they leave a customer.
  • Use an iPad or tablet. Retailers and shop owners can simply hand an iPad to happy customers and have them create a review – right there, on the spot.
  • Promote reviews on your marketing collateral. Include a link for reviews on pages of your website that current or past customers are likely to visit (customer support, contact, address, menu, etc.). Include a link to one review site in your email signature line. Ask customers to leave reviews when you send them an invoice.
  • Use signage. Check-out counters and store windows should have signage encouraging reviews. Many review sites offer brand assets you can use to create your signs.
  • Facebook Reviews. Use your local business Facebook page to encourage your fans to leave you reviews on Facebook. Use the reviews tab on Facebook and make it one of the four visible tabs that show on your page.

Online reviews can help you generate sales leads and make more sales. If you have some tips to share to get more reviews, please post them in the comments section below.





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