Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya
Whether in B2B or B2C transactions, customers often reference online reviews. While many of us are old enough to know a time when there was only word of mouth, building a business today means creating a system in which customer reviews are consistently harvested, responded to, and displayed. This not only helps a business in the short and medium-term, to gain customers and grow, but it’s a fantastic asset when it comes time to sell, and those reviews can be seamlessly turned over to the new owner.
Overcoming Friction
Business owners realize that friction is often the biggest hold-up in a review. Even if you provide them with a link the customer still might consider it a burden to write a review and will put it on the “to do later” list, where it often languishes until it is forgotten about and buried forever. Here are some ways to fight that friction:
- Make it easy: instead of asking for a vague testimonial, be specific. “Could you write 3-4 sentences about why you chose us, what your experience was like, and if you’d use us in the future?” Notice that you’ve given a clear direction of travel and it’s worded in such a way (“3-4 sentences”) that anyone could feel capable of knocking it out in a few minutes. The truth is that if you’ve really made them happy they are going to write far more than that, but since you didn’t say you were expecting that, they accede to the easy 3-4 sentences request.
- Ask for photos: Review sites love and prioritize photos. An addendum to the previous ask for a testimonial: “If you could add a picture or two or even a video that would really mean a lot to us.”
- Allow for different formats: despite how easy you might make it by using the phrases we’ve used above, some people just prefer talking to writing. So, add an option underneath what we’ve suggested above: “If you prefer talking to writing, record a short video and upload that instead.”
Be Persistent
Most customers, even the happiest ones, are not going to write you an immediate review. They need your help to be reminded to do so, perhaps up to three times and in different ways:
- If you have captured SMS info, sending the sentences we suggested above along with a link to Google Reviews gives the customer a chance to accomplish the task right then and there.
- You should also ask for a review after the service is completed or the product is delivered, in a way that indicates how much this will mean to you: “A few minutes of your time would be invaluable to help us serve others like yourself.”
- Don’t rule out phone calls: as a last resort, consider using a staff member to call and prompt for a review if the SMS or email prompts haven’t worked. If customers are truly happy this might be the last push they need to get over the line.
Targeting
While it is true that as business owners we want feedback from all of our customers, it’s not true that we want all that feedback to be public, particularly if it’s the contentious kind. You should identify and target the customers who have expressed positive feedback throughout the process or who your team has identified is likely to express positive feedback. You should be careful not to chase reviews from customers who your team knows had a poor experience. Instead, your team should pursue (if you have a system in place for it) a way to make things right with those customers, if possible. Then, if everyone is happy, they might become the right kind of customer to ask for a review.
Don’t Only Look at Customers
While customer reviews matter for sales, the business has other functions too, and testimonials matter there. Think of some of your best employees. Do you have video testimonials from them as to why they enjoy the work and have stayed with you? What about vendors? What has kept you both working together all this time?
Leaders go first, so consider giving as a way to solicit. This often works on LinkedIn: when you write a recommendation for someone, he/she often feels compelled to reciprocate. So too, why not record a “testimonial” for an employee explaining why he/she is valued. You can do the same for a vendor. At the end of these testimonials (best done by video) you could say, “If you feel like doing so, would you consider doing a video testimonial for our company? It would be a great way for others to get to know us and consider working with us or becoming a vendor.”
If you’d like to learn more about the value of success stories, check out our podcast episode with John Stevenson of Client Kudos.