Online Customer Reviews May Serve as a Free and Efficient
There are a lot of factors that get into a customer'southward decision to make a purchase from your company. When I'm deciding whether or not to buy something, for example, I typically ask my friends for recommendations so practice a lot of online research of my options. And since it's so fast and easy to make purchases online without always connecting with a sales rep, the internet usually does the selling for y'all -- and that can accept a huge touch on on if a client purchases from you or not. The fact of the matter is, your company's best marketers and sales reps aren't your employees -- they're your existing customers. Customer trust in businesses is fading. HubSpot Inquiry institute that customers trust recommendations from friends and family over any type of online marketing and advertising your make can create. And in the absence of trusted recommendations, according to BrightLocal, 85% of consumers trust online reviews every bit much as personal recommendations -- the single most trustworthy and credible source of "ad" out at that place. HubSpot Research also found that sixty% of consumers believed customer reviews were either trustworthy or very trustworthy -- meaning that businesses that can accumulate positive reviews had a skillful chance of them helping a customer make a purchase decision. The same BrightLocal survey institute that positive customer reviews brand 73% of customers trust a business more than, and 57% of customers visit a visitor's website afterwards reading positive reviews. That as well means that, in order for businesses to grow in today's competitive, online-first marketplace, they need happy customers sharing positive reviews of their experiences in club to fifty-fifty go visitors coming to their site for the starting time fourth dimension. The adept news is, your customers are usually more than happy to help you out with this: The aforementioned survey plant that, of the 74% of customers who were asked to provide feedback, 68% were willing to do it. So don't be intimidated by the prospect of asking your customers for a favor -- because all y'all have to do is enquire, and they'll likely be happy to aid you out. A great client review will be one that is detailed and specific. In this example, a HubSpot employee left a review on Glassdoor. They noted how long they'd been working at HubSpot, what they liked almost it, and what they're most proud of in terms of company growth. Additionally, a cracking way to continuously encourage positive customer reviews is to respond to your reviews. In the screenshot beneath, you lot'll see HubSpot'south Master People Officeholder responded to the review with gratitude and agreement. Positive customer reviews frequently call out amazing customer service. This is a not bad example because the customer discussed who they had been seeing at the Lash Studio, and why her customer service was so first-class. Additionally, the customer proclaims that she is a client for life, and her review indicates that she has gone from a customer to an abet because of the great customer experience. If you get a detailed review that calls out your customer service, then you're doing something right. This is one of my favorite positive customer reviews considering the customer felt so compelled past her feel that she updated a previous review. The photographer provided an fantabulous customer experience in 2020, and so the client left a review. And so, she used her services again a year subsequently and left an even more detailed review citing why the feel was and so positive. Additionally, the all-time customer reviews will have photos. This user included several photos she got from her photoshoot, which helps potential customers make up one's mind whether they want to hire this photographer. Then, how exercise you go your customers to write glowing reviews that assistance close deals? How do yous ensure a client is satisfied and happy plenty to enquire for the kind of positive reviews yous need? Read on to adopt strategies that volition make generating positive customer reviews a cinch. Brand sure you're soliciting customer reviews at the right moment in their journeying with your concern to get optimal results. Business relationships accept natural ebbs and flows, from times of sticker stupor or buyer's remorse before a successful outcome to times of euphoria subsequently their hurting/problem is successfully resolved. Think most it: If you enquire for a review at the incorrect moment, it could result in a customer leaving a negative review that hundreds of more people read when considering whether or not they desire to purchase from your concern. Ask for customer reviews at strategic moments along the customer journey, similar: These are only a few examples of signs that your customer is satisfied enough that they would get out a positive review of your business. For example, Etsy asked me to review a recent purchase approximately one calendar month afterward I received it. I ordered a party favor for a friend'south conjugal shower, and so one month later was the right time frame to make certain I had fourth dimension to savor and use my product. On the other hand, some products and services will piece of work within different time frames. For the ride-sharing app Lyft, I unremarkably receive a prompt to review my experience with my ride and driver immediately later on the ride ends. For the linguistic communication-learning app Duolingo, I receive a prompt to review the app in the App Shop after completing a lesson or achieving a milestone in the language I'chiliad learning. According to BigCommerce, 50 or more reviews per product can mean a iv.6% increase in conversion rates. The large takeaway hither is that more than reviews mean more proof and, therefore, more trust in your make. In improver, dated reviews inspire less confidence than recent ones. To truly fuel your flywheel and do good from testimonials equally social proof, getting them should become a regular part of your process. Here are some common avenues to aid y'all ask for reviews at scale: Any y'all choose, it should exist consequent and frequently. If you lot work in a client success manager or account executive role and you take shut relationships with the portfolio of customers y'all piece of work with, don't hesitate to add a personal touch and ask your customers to review their experiences in person. If you're taking your customers out to java or lunch, or if yous invite them to one of your visitor events, keep things conversational, and ask them how they're doing with your product or service. (Ideally, you'll know if they're achieving success or not based on your regular communications, then you'll ask customers that you know are achieving goals already.) If your customers tell you they're seeing success, let them know that you value their opinion and their loyalty and that you'd appreciate them helping you get the word out to potential new customers. Remember the data from the beginning of this postal service? Well-nigh customers will get out you a review -- all you have to do is ask. If you've just fabricated a major breakthrough for a client, or if you've received praise or positive feedback from them, you've just come up to a indicate of customer happiness. At these moments, they may non only be more inclined to give you lot a review as a mode of providing reciprocity for good work, but they are as well more than likely to requite you a good review. Don't beginning by coming out and asking straight for a customer review. Instead, start a conversation -- and use an open up-ended question to kick off the process. By asking customers "How are you liking the product?" or "Are you fix to renew/purchase again?" or "How was your contempo interaction with customer back up?" you can starting time a conversation and gauge their level of satisfaction before really request for the review. This is helpful in two ways: Use the open-ended question to genuinely collect customer feedback -- and to sneakily make certain the client is happy before offer them a reason to submit a review. In that location'southward nothing you tin can practise about negative reviews coming onto various sites, but if in that location'southward a customer who needs a resolution, focus on that before yous enquire them to rate your concern. An open-concluded question in an email subject line -- as BioClarity did here -- prompted me to get ready to give an answer every bit a reply or in the grade of a review: If leaving a review becomes a hassle, your customer will be less likely to do it. That ways you should brand information technology as easy as possible, especially when asking for a testimonial over email. Hither are some ideas: I of the biggest points of friction that should be chosen out is time. If the customer perceives that they don't have fourth dimension to fit in a review, they won't. Yet, if you address this objection beforehand during your inquire, you can modify their thinking while yous have the momentum. For example, you might say or write "Information technology volition only take two minutes" as a side-annotation or post-script to the request. Before potential customers even make it to your website to learn almost your business, make sure they can learn virtually you no matter where they're conducting online research about making a purchase. There are a few typical third-party review sites people consult to acquire more about a concern or a product: BrightLocal found that Yelp and Facebook were consumers' most trusted sources of customer reviews in the U.South., so brand certain your business organisation is registered and upward-to-date. You can larn how to claim your business (or add it, if your business organisation is brand-new) using Yelp for Business organisation Owners. Make sure you're regularly monitoring communications coming from this profile -- responsive business organization owners are highlighted with an average response time and response rate that could encourage readers to move forrad in the process towards becoming a new customer. You should also claim your business' Facebook Page so potential customers can discover yous to larn more than virtually you lot without having to leave their social network. This is another site that rewards high levels of responsiveness, so make sure you assign someone to monitor incoming messages beyond the channels you're trying to optimize for new customer acquisition. Next, utilise Google My Business to claim your business organisation on the world's biggest search engine, where potential customers might observe you lot if they're searching for data on Google, or searching for directions in Google Maps. (This is of particular importance to brick-and-mortar businesses trying to attract foot traffic -- learn more than nigh local SEO in this blog post.) People also get out reviews using Google, which appears in the search results for your business, as shown below if you Google "HubSpot." If you're an Amazon seller, make sure to claim and customize your Amazon page. Amazon serves up a lot of different results for different searches, and so make sure your Amazon page tells your business concern' story the same style your website does. If a shopper finds your brand over the course of an Amazon search, brand sure your Folio highlights production details, testimonials, and reviews. Image Source For businesses in the U.Due south., Mexico, and Canada, you can register with the Better Concern Bureau -- another highly trusted source of customer reviews. By claiming your business organisation on the BBB, you tin can access more candid customer reviews and become accredited on the site -- which lends greater brownie and trustworthiness to yous if customers are deciding between options using these reviews and ratings. There are too industry-specific review sites y'all should merits if they're popular within your business'south vertical -- such as TripAdvisor and Oyster in the travel and hospitality industries, G2Crowd, and Finances Online in the software industries, and OpenTable and HappyCow in the restaurant industries. Brand sure your contact information, website, hours, and key offerings are available on these more niche sites, as well. Your customer reviews might be coming in unsolicited from happy -- or unhappy -- customers on third-political party sites. But one time people are already on your site, make sure it's easy for them to leave reviews there, as well. Optimize your website, blog posts, social profiles, and emails to provide quick and easy avenues through which to write reviews by: Here's a review request I received from a tour company in Charleston. It wisely included a link to various means to review the visitor on the actual receipt of my purchase presently later taking the tour. (For those curious, I highly recommend the haunted graveyard tour if you're ever in Charleston, SC.) Your time is valuable, and and so is your customers', so make certain you're giving customers a reason to leave a review. Offering incentives to make your customers desire to write a review -- such as discount or coupon codes, entrance into a contest for an even bigger prize, or souvenir cards for coffee, online shopping, or cold hard cash. A review request (with a caffeinated incentive) from G2 Crowd Don't electronic mail your customers to ask them to get out you a positive review on Yelp. Instead, make sure your requests match up with the avenue where yous want your customer to write a review. If you're sending out an email asking for a customer review, make certain the electronic mail links to exactly where they can leave their feedback. If you want reviews on your Facebook Page, send the request via Messenger. And if you have to ask for a customer review cross-platform, make the request as integrated equally possible -- for case, by linking to your Yelp folio in your email signature, or asking customers to review their purchase from your Amazon store in a follow-up email post-purchase. Hither's a review asking I received from a tertiary-political party Amazon seller -- forth with some helpful tips for how best to use the production I had recently purchased: Nobody'due south perfect, and mistakes sometimes happen that upshot in a client leaving a scathing i-star review on your website, on Facebook, or on Yelp. When y'all get a one-star review, though, make certain to take the time to respond thoughtfully, without beingness defensive, to come to a resolution. It's the right thing to practice if you piece of work in client service, and information technology could really aid your business in the long run. Harvard Business organisation Review found that businesses responding to negative reviews online actually resulted in meliorate ratings overall. Your customers are human beings as well, and the value of empathetic and compassionate customer service strikes a chord and actually leads to an uptick in total reviews, particularly positive ones. Hither's an example of how HubSpot responds to reviews on our Glassdoor page. Although not technically "customers," showing prospective employees that HubSpot responds to feedback and takes it seriously helps our employment brand, too. When you starting time receiving positive reviews from your customers, go on the momentum going by highlighting and sharing them and so other customers are inspired to exercise the same. On Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Glassdoor, and many other reviews sites, business owners (and site visitors) can mark certain reviews as helpful, which is similar upvoting and moves reviews further up on the site so more people can read them. Make sure to periodically exercise this to positive reviews so your visitor's page highlights the cream of the crop. You could also share positive reviews on your brand'southward social media channels to open up upwards the pick to your audience there. You could reshare positive Facebook reviews in a postal service on your page, or you could format positive reviews as quotes for Instagram to post for your followers. Social proof is a powerful marketing tactic -- information technology means that, if customers meet other people like them sharing reviews, they're more likely to do the same by following the crowd. And then brand certain that, in improver to asking for new customer reviews, you're promoting the positive ones yous receive across your brand's channels for promotion. If yous want customers to exit you a review, you could leave them ane first to become the ball rolling. This may non always be possible (depending on your manufacture or product), but in a lot of cases, you can get customers to reciprocate your positive words. If your product or service allows customer profiles to be reviewed -- Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, VRBO, and TurnKey are examples -- so go out them a positive review if you'd like them to review you in render. Of course, if they were bad customers, you lot don't have to do that, just if y'all want to garner more than reviews, taking the first step could prompt them to leave you ane in render. Another proficient option is recommending your customer on LinkedIn. If you're in an account management role and you lot work with individuals over a long flow of fourth dimension, you could leave them a recommendation or endorsement on LinkedIn. Those go a long manner for their own personal branding and might compel them to reciprocate on their own by leaving your business organisation a positive review. And if they thank you for the endorsement, yous could politely inquire them for a specific review on a different platform during that exchange. Client: Thanks for endorsing me on LinkedIn! I appreciate it. Business Representative: You lot're welcome! I've enjoyed working with you over the terminal few months and wanted to make sure other people know how skilled yous are at web design. If yous've enjoyed working with me as well, I'd appreciate a review of our product on G2 Crowd if you're up for it. I simply recommend this strategy if you've built a relationship with the individual over the grade of working together. If an unknown person starts endorsing the customer for random skills on LinkedIn, that might seem creepy, and likely won't result in them reciprocating. To create opportunities to ask for reviews in-person as details in the previous strategy, and to create the conditions where customers are more likely to leave positive reviews, host a remarkable user conference or manufacture event to create more than value for your customers beyond just the products or services you lot sell. By creating an engaging and useful feel for customers, where they can network with a customs of people like them, go access to new product releases and discounts early on, and meet their points of contact at your company, you lot'll increase their positive sentiment toward your business and engender the likelihood that they'll get out more than reviews. You could fifty-fifty make client reviews a part of your post-effect feedback process -- after customers complete a survey asking how they'd charge per unit their experience, you lot could ask them to share highlights of their feel at the event on a public review site. While using social media to assemble reviews isn't exactly clever, the place you ask for them tin can be unique. For case, if you have a Facebook group or LinkedIn group, you could ask those members to leave a review. Chances are, that if they're in your social media grouping, and then they similar your company and will provide a positive review if you lot ask. Additionally, yous can use social media to promote your reviews. For instance, one visitor I follow on Instagram, Bowmar Diet, responds and reposts reviews to their Stories every single 24-hour interval. As a follower, I know that if I leave a review on Instagram, it'll be shared by the company. This provides an incentive because it helps develop a relationship with your customers. It might seem a trivial sometime school, but if you're running a visitor, a handwritten note to your customers volition go a long way. Your sales reps tin can write these if you're at a mid-size or larger visitor, or if y'all run a small business, you tin can write them yourself. Y'all might consider sending a gift menu to your loyal and happy customers, just thanking them for existence a customer. While you can't and shouldn't ever purchase reviews, information technology's okay to send your customers a nice cheers souvenir, whether they exit a review or not. Your note could say something like, "We wanted to thank you for beingness a customer with this gift card! If you e'er feel inclined, we'd love to go your honest feedback in the form of a review." When times are tough, be there to help your customers. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, HubSpot offered reduced prices for prospects and customers, increased limits for customers, and offered a six-month advance on commissions from HubSpot to all Platinum, Diamond, and Elite Solutions Partners. Again, we weren't doing these things only and then customers would leave good reviews, simply so we could actually help customers during an unprecedented fourth dimension. Many customers, new and erstwhile, were so positively impacted, that they felt compelled to leave a positive review. Helping your customers and putting them start will give you goodwill and then inspire positive reviews. A month ago, I went to an escape room with my family. After we escaped the room (with 5 minutes to spare, I might add), we were talking to our guide and asking him questions. After our discussion, he told us his proper noun again and said that he'd really capeesh it if we left a review because they get extra tips if a review calls them out specifically. Offering your employees a reward for positive reviews gives them a reason to enquire happy customers for a review. It also incentivizes customers. I wanted to help our guide considering we had such a great experience, so my family and I all left split up reviews calling him out. To begin implementing customer review cultivation at scale, the best thing yous can do is contain it into your business every bit a procedure. This starts with an agile strategy for client service likewise as online reputation and testimonials. Beginning by building from templates and request your existing customers for reviews. Editor's note: This postal service was originally published in December 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. 
Why Customer Reviews are Important
Adept/Positive Client Review Examples
1. HubSpot
Image Source 2. Amazing Lash Studio
Image Source 3. Ashley Leavitt Photography
Epitome Source How to Enquire for a Review
one. Place the right moments to ask according to their buyer's journeying.
2. Choose a method that works for you at scale.
3. Ask the customer in person.
4. Leverage moments of customer happiness.
v. Begin with an open-concluded question.
6. Reduce the friction where you tin.
7. Let them know how long it will have.
How to Go Adept Reviews
1. Create different spaces to leave reviews.
Yelp
Facebook
Google
Amazon
Better Business Bureau
2. Optimize your content.
3. Create incentives.
iv. Meet customers where they are.
5. Answer to every review -- even negative ones.
vi. Share positive customer reviews you've already received.
7. Requite your customers a positive review first.
8. Host an event.
Clever or Unique Means to Ask for Reviews
1. Use social media.
ii. Send a handwritten note and gift carte.
iii. Help your customers when they need it.
four. Give employees rewards for positive customer reviews.
Originally published Aug 4, 2021 11:fifteen:00 AM, updated January 12 2022
Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/get-customer-reviews
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