Tips for landing more positive reviews for your business
Andrew Speight • 18 January 2021 |
Customer feedback is important. Customer reviews too. The way people feel about your brand determines your public image. And this impacts your online presence, and trends in sales.
Sometimes, customer reviews overpower advertising and marketing efforts. Since more people rely on public opinion, it’s important that your customers value your business.
What’s more, you cannot fake positive reviews or censor negative feedback. The internet is a free and untethered space. It’s hard to stop negative reviews spreading. And if they do, you should focus on your service and customer support to turn that frown upside down.
There are quite a few ways to make this possible. Here's what you can do to get more positive reviews from customers.
Give Customers Maximum Space for Expression
Even a business with a large client base can fail to extract positive and influential reviews. While their business might be doing well, and their clients sitting happy, it’s not always that simple. Or down to them.
Look. The internet can be a scary place. And not everyone is content with putting their opinions in front of a large audience. (Because, let’s face it, the internet is pretty huge.) But as a business, it’s your job to make potential customers aware of how happy your existing customers are. And for that to happen, you need to connect with your audience. This is why you need to make online review platforms accessible to your customers.
Sites Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Amazon receive tons of brand-related searches every day. Make sure your clients have barrier-free access to these areas.
Stay Connected with Your Customers
If you’ve ever been ghosted by a friend or family member, you’ll know it’s not nice. But imagine being ghosted once you’ve recently paid for a product or service. And so here lies customer support problem number two!
Ghosting a customer once they've brought from you is unforgivable. For them, it’s annoying, frustrating and infuriating. For your brand, it’s a major image drawback.
Each customer should get the attention they deserve — both pre and post-purchase. Heck, they’ve trusted you to meet their needs. The least they deserve is a little guidance until they get the hang of things!
Whether they’re in direct contact with your brand, or there’s a third party like Amazon involved, your representatives should always be available. But look. No two customers are the same. Neither are their problems. Which is why it’s a smart move to give an email address, as well as a 24/7 global landline number.
If you aren’t there when your customers need you, it’ll be tough to build a strong relationship with them. In turn, they’ll be reluctant to leave you a positive review. They may also feel misguided or exploited, which can result in negative feedback.
Conduct Regular Surveys
Consumer surveys are up next. Customers need to feel heard and valued if you want them to be positive about your business.
Customer support is all good and well, but not all customers will get in touch after buying from you. Even if they have a problem with the product, most of them won’t get in touch to ask you about it.
This leaves a big void. Which, by the way, is easy to fill. All you need to do is set a certain period after the purchase. This could be a few weeks, months, or perhaps a year, subject to the nature of your product.
Once enough time has passed, you can send an email, a text, or a phone call asking how they are finding your product or service.
This has three benefits:
- Customers feel valued. They get the impression that you weren't only after their money, but you care about their experience as well.
- They can give you raw feedback about the product. They'll share their concerns more when they know someone's actually listening. You can also guide them about any problems on the spot.
- Personal contact can encourage the client to leave an honest, positive review as well.
Conclusion
Getting more positive reviews is much easier than you think. Following some of the ideas given above, you can get encouraging reviews that help to boost your sales!
