When we are looking to purchase a product or a service, we often check out the reviews of a company to give us the confidence to get in contact with the business, or indeed make a purchase.
It is often theorised in marketing that word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing is the most fruitful of the marketing activities. As WOM is the recommendation of a business from one person to another, online reviews are referred to as Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM). This will often present in the form of one person recommending a business to many people in a wider audience, such as on social media.
This motivation for others to recommend your business to a friend or their network is in control of your previous customers and network of connections. It’s up to you to influence them to leave you a review, testimonial or some feedback!
So, what can you do to influence your customers to consider recommending your business? The first one…. you guessed it!
- Do a good job – This seems obvious, but it is important to remember the power of the happy customer, and more importantly the destructive power of a negative review. According to a recent study, acustomer will share a positive experience with 6 or more people. On the other hand, if a customer is not happy, they will share their experience with 15 people or even more.
- Make following up part of your process – After you have completed a job or order to the satisfaction of the customer, request that they leave you a review!
- Make it easy for people to leave a review – Most people are happy to leave a review if the process is easy and does not take up too much time. Give them a link that takes them directly to the review page. Hey, even put this link in your email signature and on your website.
- Give an incentive for leaving a review: How about adding those who leave you a review into a prize draw?
There are many places where you can collect customer reviews, the main ones include Google, Yell, Trust Pilot and Facebook, but there are many more.
Having reviews naturally boosts your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), especially in the case of Google reviews. Having a Google My Business listing with lots of reviews will increase your search ranking, making your site easier to find – meaning more potential customers to interact with your business.
To conclude, reviews, reviews and more reviews – This is what will set you apart from your competitors!
Practice what you preach: Leave Sizzle a review here.
