Bulletproof Ways to Collect Stellar Customer Reviews
If you think about yourself as another company’s potential customer, you’ll realize that the number one confirmation you can get about a company is customers’ reviews. You and I, all of us indeed, check them almost obsessively before all major (and even minor) purchases.
Whether it be a restaurant’s Yelp page, a hotel’s Trip Advisor page, the Amazon reviews on that robot vacuum cleaner you’ve been eyeing for months, or even the G2 review of that SaaS accounting solution your bookkeeper is considering.
The point is — checking other customers’ reviews is so wired into our system that we hardly think about it anymore. It’s just something that’s done.
Double your positive customer reviews by tapping into your brand advocates
According to research, around 97%1 of consumers use online reviews sites to learn more about products and services in their local area, and 67%2 of B2B buyers rank online reviews from their peers as the #1 influence during the buying process.
And these online reviews can have a big influence on your bottom line, regardless of your industry:
Luckily, customers are mostly more than happy to help out and most of them will leave a review when prompted about it.
But, if you want to really stack the odds in your favor and double the number of reviews you get in the process, reach out to your brand advocates.
Brand advocates are already invested in your brand, and they’re 50% more likely to create online content and share it with their social networks. Add to that the fact that you can quickly incentivize small asks through your employee advocacy platform, and you’ll soon be raking in those glowing customer reviews!
Whether you’re dealing with your advocates or regular customers (the ones who have not signed up for your advocacy program), using any one of these five ways to grow your online customer reviews will get you the results you’re looking for.
Before you barge into someone’s inbox or phone with a request, make sure that they either know and like you or that you delivered an out-of-this-world purchasing experience and post-purchase service.
Reach out after a qualified action
To maximize your number of positive online reviews, make sure that you ask for them at the right moment in time.
For example, a support person asking a customer to leave a Google review after spending three days on the phone with them solving a minor issue is not the right time. An angry customer is likely to leave a scathing review already — reminding them about it will just make it happen faster.
So what’s the right time to ask for a customer review?
The right time to ask for reviews is right after a customer has completed action or a milestone that is likely to leave them feeling good:
✔ After a repeat purchase (good odds that it’s a satisfied customer),
✔ After reaching a usage milestone (excellent for SaaS solutions and apps),
✔ When they refer someone to you,
✔ After tagging your brand on social media,
✔ After attending a brand event or conference.
Think about how customers use your products/services and figure out the best time to reach out to them based on their journey and experiences. If you know that most of your customers are delighted right after delivery, send an email that hits their inbox on the delivery date.
Leave a positive review first
In some cases, fishing for a customer review via email or in person might not be possible — maybe it’s a big sale where a review ‘ask’ can seem inappropriate, or you’re just not comfortable enough to drop the question outright.
When that happens, get the ball rolling by being the first one to say something nice about a person or an organization.
This tactic isn’t applicable in every industry, but it usually works like a charm in two separate cases: a) you’re in B2B, and b) you’re in B2C, where it takes time to close a deal (real estate, car dealerships, and similar).
LinkedIn is the perfect platform for this. After working with someone for a while, connect with them on LinkedIn and leave a recommendation or an endorsement. They will appreciate you trying to help them build up their profile and brand and will likely reach out to thank you. When they do, casually mention that you would appreciate it if they could take the time to leave a review on an online review site of your choosing.
Share your existing reviews
A glowing customer review is a compliment to your business, and you should feel good about it. You should feel so good that you unabashedly share it with the world.
After collecting a few reviews that you like, find a way to work them into your email sequence, newsletter, social channels, and website. Give people a taste of what others are saying about your business to inspire them to open about their own customer experience.
Review curation and sharing will:
✔ present the case to your audience (be that on the website, email, or social), and let them know that you appreciate reviews;
✔and give them a couple of ideas about what to include in their own reviews (when sharing reviews, pick the ones that you want others to emulate for whatever reason).
Social proof is a powerful beast — when your customers can self-identify with reviewers, they’re more likely to leave a similar review. Sharing and promoting positive customer reviews on your social channels will ensure they keep on trickling in.
Host a customer-centered event
Hosting a user/customer conference gives you a perfect excuse to rub elbows with your best customers, work on relationships, and create repeat business opportunities.
But these events are also a good way to build up your portfolio of positive online customer reviews. You can, for example:
✔ ask for a review in the invite — once you reach out with an invitation, include a link to a review site and people to tell the world why they love working with you. Since you’re sending this to a curated list (and you’re leading with value), you’ll grab a few stellar reviews.
✔ ask for reviews during the event — arm a few interns or junior levels with tablets, and get them to work! They can mingle with your customers during event breaks (or the cocktail hour), collecting reviews on the spot. Guests who express a desire to leave a longer review (for example, on G2 or Capterra) can be contacted later and guided through the process.
✔ ask after the event — as you’re sending out those ‘thank you for attending’ emails, slip in a bit of copy that invites people to share their event experiences and photos on review sites. If you’ve delivered on the event promise, your customers will be happy to reciprocate (so make sure you do deliver).
Don’t forget that your marketing team could (and should) make the most out of any event you organize. Use it to demonstrate new products and services, collect voice-of-customer data, get some surveying done, or collect customer testimonials (in addition to reviews).
Make your website and content work for you
While asking for customer reviews is the surest way of getting them with any consistency, there’s something to be said about letting them come to you.
If you’re 100% confident in your product/service and your post-purchase support, meet your customers where they are — on your website, on your social media pages, in your email newsletter, or anywhere else. To do that, simply optimize your content and UX so that the review options are available and noticeable:
- Add review site badges to your website — use review widgets (G2, Google, Yelp, and others) to direct your website visitors to those websites.
- Mention your reviews in a callout box in your blog posts — whenever it makes sense (and doesn’t interrupt the flow), feature a small callout box in your posts so that visitors can quickly get to review sites directly from your most popular content.
- Highlight review site links in your email PS — you can add a small post-scriptum message to your email signature to prompt subscribers to leave a customer review.
- Feature customer reviews in your social media cover image — occasionally, pluck a great review and create a graphic that you can use as your Facebook cover or add to your Instagram and Pinterest accounts.
Focus on your prime review sites
The last piece of advice we want to leave you with is this:
Don’t overwhelm your advocates with requests.
Winnow down and focus only on your most important review sites. Take into account the websites that your prospects trust and check, and build a strong profile on those first — Yelp if you’re a restaurant, Trivago if you’re renting accommodation, or G2 or Capterra if you’re in the B2B industry. Also, don’t forget Google My Business if you’re a local business or Better Business Bureau if you’re located in North America.
And of course, if you’re an e-commerce business, double down on reviews collection on your own platform. Remember, a fraction of your customer advocates will be willing to jump through hoops for your brand… but not all of them.
Pssst: For more great content, like us on LinkedIn. And, if you’re a happy Ambassify customer, share your experiences on Capterra to help us grow and serve more satisfied customers.