EPISODE 117 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: LET ME TESTIFY: THE POWER OF POSITIVE REVIEWS
Sonya:
In marketing, we often talk about the ‘know - like - trust’ factor.
To put it simply, people won’t buy from you if they don’t
KNOW about your business,
LIKE who you are, what you do, and how you do it, AND
TRUST that your product or service will not only meet their needs, but that you and your team are trustworthy humans.
The KNOW factor is easy. That’s a matter of exposure.
You can achieve this organically and through paid advertising.
The LIKE factor is a little more challenging, but still fairly straightforward.
Your content needs to accurately portray who you are, and show a little personality.
The TRUST factor, though?
That’s a complicated kettle of fish.
SO many things go into building trust with clients and customers, so if they’re encountering your business for the very first time?
There’s one simple thing you can do to build trust: get plenty of 5 star reviews.
In this episode, I’ll take you through
Why reviews carry so much weight,
Why you want customers to share their experience and not just leave a star rating, and
How you can make it SUPER simple for customers and clients to leave you a glowing review.
We’ve even put together a handy template for you to customise for your business, or to use as-is. Stay tuned for how to download that freebie.
Let’s get into it!
In every town and suburb around the country, there are businesses that have a reputation for being dodgy.
Whether those reputations are earned or not? Who knows.
What I DO know is that, once your business has a bad reputation, it’s an uphill battle to claw your way back into the community’s good graces.
With so many keyboard warriors and trolls out there, your reputation can be damaged IRREPARABLY - in an instant.
A great example of this happened around the time of the marriage equality vote a few years back.
A CCTV video went viral that showed a man vandalising a pride flag out the front of someone’s home… Not once or twice, but EVERY time he walked past this house after work.
In his easily-recognisable work shirt.
With the company logo clearly visible.
He didn’t own that business. But his actions made THAT business a target.
Within days of the video going viral, that business - a mechanic in Brunswick - had HUNDREDS of one star reviews on Google.
And the comments weren’t just about this team member’s homophobia and vandalism, but LOADS of disgruntled former customers came out of the woodwork, sharing their negative experience with that business.
To be honest, it felt like a bit of a pile-on, but once those floodgates opened?
There was no stemming the tide of negativity.
I’d be interested to see if that business survived the backlash… if you live in the area and you know the mechanic I’m talking about, let me know!
On the flip side, if a business has loads of POSITIVE reviews, you’re not only more likely to choose that business from all the options available, you’re ALSO predisposed to having a POSITIVE experience.
PLUS, when you’ve been influenced by the number of reviews, and you then have a great experience of your own, you’re more likely to leave a positive review, yourself!
And while you may have your own opinions about people who leave negative reviews…
(I know that, as a business owner, I certainly do!)
…there’s no denying that they DO hold weight when it comes to the decision making of your potential clients.
The small difference of just one star, or even half a star, can be the deciding factor for potential customers to choose a competitor over your business.
If you’re in a highly competitive industry, or one where checking reviews is considered standard consumer behaviour, building up your bank of positive reviews is essential. (hospitality businesses, I’m looking at you here)
It's worth noting that reviews are also the MOST significant factor in local SEO rankings.
I was surprised when I learned this, too - but because reviews are generally not bought, and require reviewers to have an account on the platform they’re leaving the review on, they’re given more weight than that blog post you wrote, with strategically selected search terms, then posted on your OWN website.
Reviews are considered organic, and therefore, more authentic.
In fact, just a few sentences written by a client or customer can have a greater impact on potential buyers than an entire website.
You can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if you have bad reviews, it can be an uphill battle to repair your reputation.
But how do you GET positive reviews from your happy clients?
…You ASK for them.
Now if you just thought, “Well DUH Sonya”, I get it. I do.
But you would be shocked if you knew how many business owners are resistant to asking for reviews. Maybe you’re one of those business owners, yourself.
Here’s the thing: people WANT to be told what to do next. They WANT to support you and your business. They want to be told HOW and WHERE to leave a review. And they want to know what you WANT them to write.
As with every part of the customer journey, it’s good business practice to guide your client to the next logical step.
You don’t hide the ‘buy now’ button on your website because you don’t want to bother someone or feel pushy, so why would leaving a review be any different?
It may feel a bit awkward or self-serving for YOU, but the truth is that people love feeling like their opinion matters; they often just need a little encouragement.
And once asking for a review becomes part of your post-service follow up, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is.
First, identify WHEN you’re going to ask for a review.
There are a few options:
At the end of a project, service, meal or treatment while the client is in the room (or receiving their wrap-up email, for project work).
A week later, when you’re checking in that they’re happy with the result. This works for most professional and service-based businesses, however, if you’re in an industry like hospitality, you’re better off going with the there-and-then option;
When you’re booking them in for their next service or treatment.
Additionally, you can include call-outs for reviews in your email newsletters or even in your email signature.
Once you’ve decided on the timing of your review request, then decide on your tone: professional or casual. You’ll know which one is appropriate for your industry, and for the individual client.
Finally, give the client some prompts to make things easy for them. If a client has never written a review before, they may be unsure about what to write.
Your prompts can be tailored to the types of comments you’re MISSING in your reviews, or you can double down on the things people comment on most often, like your value for money or fantastic customer service.
Think about what’s important to people visiting your profile or business listing for the FIRST time. What’s important to them? You’ll want to steer your reviews in that direction.
And because I KNOW you all love examples, here’s how we do it for our project clients.
These will be in your downloadable freebie, so you don’t need to take notes!
Firstly, the professional review ask:
Hi [CLIENT NAME],
I wanted to reach out to let you know that working with you on your project has been a pleasure. We appreciate you choosing us to bring your vision to life.
When we complete projects with terrific clients, we like to finish up with a testimonial to feature on our website or socials. I was wondering if you'd be willing to share your thoughts on your experience with us and the end result? There are examples of previous reviews on our Instagram and Facebook pages that you’re welcome to use as a guide.
By sharing your experience, you help our business in significant ways. Your review not only helps us understand what we're doing well - but also contributes to our reputation and credibility, and allows others to feel secure in choosing YOUR BUSINESS NAME.
You can share your thoughts about the experience HERE.
(this is where you link directly to the page where they can leave a review)
Thank you once again for your support, it's been a pleasure working with you and we hope to do it again.
–
See? It’s not so scary to make the ask!
Here’s the more casual project version:
Hi [CLIENT],
It was a pleasure talking with you earlier today, and we're so glad that you're happy with how your project came together. As I mentioned earlier, you can share your thoughts about the experience here. (Review link)
We understand that leaving reviews can be difficult, so if you need to beat writer's block, here is some inspiration to help you tell your story:
What were you struggling with before our work together? How were these struggles impacting your business?
What made you choose us? How did you find working with our team?
What has surprised you most about the experience? What would you tell someone looking to work with us?
Your feedback means a lot to us and we appreciate you taking a few minutes of your time to share it!
—
Note that these requests are both friendly, explain exactly how to leave a review and they’re not TOO over the top, so the request doesn’t come across as desperate.
It’s important to note here that people don’t HAVE to leave a review if they don’t want to.
It’s lovely if they do, but you’re not entitled to one.
People have a number of reasons for not leaving reviews, and it’s not always about you or your service.
At the end of the day, though, reviews ARE a fantastic way to position your business, and they should be considered as part of your overall marketing strategy.
It’s easy to get caught up in organic socials or advertising, and to overlook the seemingly less important elements, but believe me: negative reviews - or having NO reviews - can really impact your business. And not in a good way.
–
I’d love to hear your experience with reviews. Do you leave reviews when you get good service? BAD service? Never leave reviews? Never LOOK at reviews?
Let’s keep the conversation going over on the Boom Your Biz Facebook page. Just search “Boom Your Biz” and hit the “request to join” button. And to keep up to date with new podcast episodes and my upcoming workshops, head to the show notes for this episode to sign up for my newsletter.
And I didn’t forget about your freebie! Just click through from the show notes or visit the Resources page over at kissmarketing.com.au