The Importance of Reviews
The Importance of Reviews
There is no doubt that customer reviews and ratings are very valuable. Reminding customers to review is an effective way to increase your reputation on Google or TripAdvisor and create more exposure.
When we see a company with many stars and good reviews, our trust in that entity increases significantly. Having one star more or less, or one bad or good review, can make all the difference in whether someone chooses (or not) your company to buy from.
It has been proven that consumers place great importance on what others say about a company. The vast majority of consumers, when looking for products, services and/or companies, will consult online reviews first. If the company has good feedback from other consumers who have bought from it before, their trust in the brand will go up exponentially.
Studies show that 82% of your audience can be highly influenced by
comments written about your company.
Just think:
How many times have you searched online for restaurants in a particular city? Surely you went through the comments and the rating of each restaurant before making the final booking. If one of them had fewer good reviews. You’d probably loose your trust in that place would decrease. Therefore, the probability of “automatically discarding” that specific restaurant is very high.
On the other hand, if you saw that a certain restaurant had an excellent review list and a high Google score, the likelihood that you would feel safe and tempted to visit would then be much higher. You might even have never heard of that restaurant, but because it had excellent reviews, you’d take the chance and try it out. Really?
And how can I ask my customers for feedback?
Well, if we already do know that reviews are quite important and powerful for a company, they need to exist and hence comes to the next question you have in mind.
But do I have to ask customers for reviews?
There are already many consumers who after a good or bad experience decide to leave a review on the site they went through. But there are still many who need a little push to be able to take this initiative. Many of them do not even know about this possibility, And we, as a company, can and should ask them to leave a review about the food or services. Many will be willing to leave reviews, when asked and will even feel that their feedback is really important to us and the future of the restaurant/services running.
It is good to mention that, hence more reviews we have on your services/restaurant, the more usual it becomes and more customers will follow the steps of the previous ones and leave their review as well. This is a debitive sales known as the term called “I want to be part of that. However a reminder, asking for reviews directly never ceases to be a good opportunity.
There are several ways to request a customer evaluation.
The communication and marketing part of the company should work this part well. Some forms of contact:
- In person
- By phone call or message
- Through the website
- By email
- Through the company’s social network
- Virtual business card
Some examples:
In person:
This is a simple approach and perhaps the easiest. If you are a face-to-face with a consumer interaction and can talk to them directly. It would give you the opportunity to ask him/her if they were satisfied with the service and experience, if he/she needed anything else, and if the customer is satisfied with that service, you could ask if he/she would mind leaving a review for an inspiration. And the source of reviews could be left on Google, on the website, or even on social media, more likely Trustpilot would be suitable for services provided.
Attention: Never force. The request should be natural and only if you find the customer in linked with your conversation, hence you can mention the request.
An Investment Strategy Example: Restaurant Owner
As an owner, you find that you needed to grow your reviews, so more customers can join. Hence, the strategy you could implement is by serving compliment coffee after services, along the way leave a well-designed optional note along with the bill. – And a QR code that would be easier for them to gain access to the site and leave a review.
By phone call:
If you have the opportunity to speak with a customer after a purchase or service rendered, while talking with him show interest in knowing if the customer was really satisfied and end by asking if he would mind leaving feedback that might really be important.
These phone conversations, whenever possible, help to create connection with the customer and increase loyalty. In case of text message also make the customer feel appreciated and once the customer feels valued, they will mostly like respond to your request.
Through the website:
If your company has a chat area or a ratings page, this is a good way for customers to be asked to leave feedback and where they can do so in a space created for that purpose.You can also encourage a customer to leave feedback when you send him the purchase confirmation. Obviously it will be too soon when he receives it as he has not yet had time to evaluate the product, but when prompted and if he is satisfied he will remember to leave a positive comment about your company.
By Email:
This is an excellent way to solicit reviews from your customers. You can choose to send an email to several recipients simultaneously, thanking them, valuing the experience and asking for their feedback. Recipients who have done good business with you, who were satisfied, but have not yet written anything about your company. You can, on the other hand, send a personalized email to each recipient on the list. A personalized email is much more personal and the customer will feel that he is important and that the company really cares about what he thinks.
Through a company’s social network:
You can send a direct message through the company’s Instagram or Facebook or even through a general post. Nowadays anyone has a Facebook or Instagram account, and even LinkedIn. If there has been a previous contact through some of these platforms you can take the opportunity to evaluate with the customer if the service was well done, if there is anything they need, and take the opportunity to request a review.
With the Virtual Business Card:
If you create a business card and send it to your customers, all the contact information will be displayed on the card and the customer can leave their evaluation through those links.
The importance of evaluations
The ratings that customers give are extremely important because:
- They increase your site’s ranking
- They increase traffic to your site
- Provides other consumers with data about your brand
- Influence other consumers to also leave their review
If you have questions about this topic and need help, please contact us.
About Luís Horta
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