You don’t need us to tell you about the importance of good reviews for your business. You know that a good review will stand you apart from your competition. You know that a positive rating from a real person will give new customers reason to trust you. And you know that your reputation will be secured, which is good news for the overall public perception of your business.
A negative online review, on the other hand? Well, the opposite can be true, as your reputation will suffer, and you might experience a lack of new customers. As we discussed in the following article, you can turn a negative online review around, but your priority should be in ensuring you get positive reviews for the betterment of your business before bad word of mouth spreads.
So, what can you do to get those positive comments and 5-star ratings? Here are some tips we hope you find useful.
- Ask your customers to write good reviews
If you know your customers are happy with your service, send them a message and ask them to leave you a review on Yelp, Amazon, TrustPilot, or on any other online review site that is relevant to your business. Most people will be only too happy to oblige, especially if they are genuinely satisfied with your business. You might also sweeten the deal, perhaps with an offer of a discount or a freebie if they do leave a glowing review. While this might sound like bribery – it probably is – you have no need to feel guilty if the reviews about your business are honest and genuine.
- Ask your employees to write good reviews
No, we aren’t suggesting you coax your employees to write fake customer reviews. Rather, we are suggesting that you encourage your employees to write positive reviews on employee review sites, such as Glassdoor and CareerBliss. Again, if they are happy working for you, then they should be ready and willing to support you in such a way. Those reviews might then be seen by any potential new hires you are thinking about taking on, and even your customers, clients, and investors if they are doing a little bit of background research into your company.
- Provide exceptional customer service
To ensure those positive reviews, you need to do something to earn them. One way to do this is to focus on your customer service. By making your customers feel like VIPs when calling or popping into your business, you will engender good feelings in them. So, be quick to answer calls and emails. Implement a call answering service for your out-of-office hours. Address any complaints your customers have quickly and make amends where you can. And go the extra mile for your customers, perhaps by suggesting products or services that might be useful to them, and by offering customer loyalty programmes to make them special.
- Make it easy for your customers to write reviews
To encourage your happy customers to write your business a review, provide links on your website to online review portals. You could surround these links with text that lets your customers know how important reviews and star-ratings are to your business, and this might give them the incentive to share something online if they are happy with your business. You might also drop them an email after their purchase, with the note ‘if you were happy with our service, please leave a review at (insert site here).’ Not everybody will, of course, but if you can simplify the process for them by providing one-click links to review sites, you might get a good response.
- Ask your customers to write testimonials for your website
Business review sites are very useful, of course, but never forget about your website. A quote from a happy customer can be placed on your site, perhaps on a dedicated testimonials page. So again, ask your customers to leave you a comment and ask for their permission for it be put on your website. This is another way to build trust in potential new customers, regardless of any good or bad reviews they have may have seen about your business elsewhere online.
- Sign up to business review sites
What are your customers saying about you? You might never know if you don’t sign up to the review sites that relate to your business, so register with those sites and check on any reviews. Hopefully, you will be bowled over by the positive things being said, and the 5-star ratings that will be littered throughout. However, if you come across any negative online reviews, you might want to consider why. Some people simply like to complain, and some of the reviews will be meaningless, but if you notice a common thread, you should address any issues immediately. This should prevent any further negative reviews being written about your business. You might also contact the people who have left those bad reviews if you can, tell them you are sorry, and make any amends necessary. They might then replace those bad reviews with positive ones, especially if they satisfied you are doing your best to care for their needs.
- Simply be a better business
We have already discussed customer service but think about those other aspects of your business that could affect the reviews you receive. Think about the quality of your product or service. Consider the fairness of your pricing. And compare your business to others, and if your business pales in comparison, do what you can to make improvements. You see, the better your business is, the greater the likelihood that you will get those positive reviews that can build on your reputation. It’s common sense! So, take a long hard look at your business and ask yourself: How can I do things better?
Online reviews can make or break your business, so take them seriously. Follow our suggestions and do what is necessary to ensure the reviews your potential customers read are positive and glowing and not negative and harmful to your business.
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