Reviews are incredibly important for any and all business identities. With the major shift towards mobile, statistics are showing that 4 out of 5 consumers use search engines to find local information nearby1. Reviews is a major factor determining where these consumers go after researching online.

customerEngagement

  • Do NOT use a Rating Company to obtain reviews for you.

    Leaving a review is by nature a somewhat intimate process and as such should begin with a personal request from you or your team.

    Many rating companies use their own system, not Google +, Facebook, Yelp, etc. and since for the most part Google +, Facebook, yelp, etc. do not allow reviews to be transferred this is effectively wasted effort and money.

  • Make it easy for the customer

    Customers who do NOT have a Gmail account can NOT leave a Google review.

    Customers who do NOT regularly leave reviews on Yelp will most likely be discredited.

    Customer who do NOT have a Facebook account can NOT leave a Facebook review, it is true NOT everyone has a Facebook account.

    URL’s to the best platform should be offered in a way that the customer can easily get there with no/few typos.

  • Do NOT offer incentives, a good chunk of your customers will gladly provide a review for FREE. Furthermore, if you offer incentives for reviews there is a good chance you are violating a policy and risk losing ALL of the reviews on that network.

  • State your request as soon as possible, successfully obtaining a review is much easier if you ask within a timely manner. The longer you wait the less likely your customers will be to cooperate.

  • Follow up on your review request, ideally you should follow up on the request (if it has not been fulfilled) within 3 days. Hint: this is much easier if you have their email address.

Many customers love to provide feedback, good or bad, after a purchase. The difference between whether feedback is given or not usually comes down to convenience. By making timely review request in a convenient way you are guaranteed to be receiving reviews in no time. To make the best use of this effort be sure to diversify your review networks, do NOT just get Facebook reviews, Yelp Reviews, or Google + reviews you need all 3 for different reasons.

 

1. Google/Ipsos MediaCT/Purchased, Understanding Consumers’ Local Search Behavior, May 2014