ByIn this technological era, where almost everything is accessible online, including clothes, jewelry, electronic devices, and foodstuff, people trust reviews. A Statista research showed that 85% of consumers consider online ratings crucial to understanding local businesses.
Positive online reviews are one of the most vital forces for attracting and retaining customers. However, how do you ensure that all your customers take the step to actually post a review about your business, and in a positive manner?
Tips to Increase Positive Reviews
Your potential customers are checking online reviews, and one negative comment can be a turnoff. Here are a few things to consider to make customers desire to share their personal experiences with your brand.
Engage in Positive Social Media Interactions
You will likely garner more customer feedback and reviews if your business maintains a positive social media presence. According to a Syncape survey, Facebook fans tend to spend more, engage more, and advocate more, creating a loyal fan base.
For this reason, your brand must invest time in social media engagement. Activities such as replying in the comment section or responding to all reviews show your customer base that you’re willing to communicate and interact with them–an essential aspect of excellent customer service.
Use Online Review Sites
Your brand can use online review sites to gather honest and unfiltered customer feedback. For example, accessiBe is an automated web accessibility solution platform that various online review websites have reviewed. accessiBe Glassdoor reviews give detailed information about the company, and visitors can have a clear view of what to expect from the company just by reading about the experiences of others.
Apart from glassdoor, other business review sites include;
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- Bing Places For Business
- Better Business Bureau
- Yellow Pages
- TrustRadius
Most of these websites require creating an account to make or access reviews. Fortunately, your business will reap the benefits when customers use the reviews to make purchase decisions.
Share the Reviews on Social Media
Social media platforms open doors for recognition, helping your business and other young entrepreneurs to enhance operations due to increased conversions. For example, you can use platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to promote your products or services and tag happy customers.
Putting a spotlight on a satisfied customer may encourage others to desire to be associated with your brand. Also, when potential customers see how other customers are treated through promotional video testimonials or a dedicated review section on the website can help generate more happy-tone reviews.
Respond to Reviews
A dedicated review section with zero company engagement may make your company appear ignorant of people’s reviews, queries, and comments–translating to poor customer service.
Responding to reviews will get you more reviews, and if your business deals with many customers, use a monitoring tool. Review monitoring is the process of tracking online reviews on major online review sites. A monitoring tool like SEMrush or Google Alerts can help you filter opinions and flag the negative ones on your behalf.
Provide Excellent Customer Service on Your Products or Services
The first and last impression of your brand will have a long-lasting effect on your customer. If you have a physical store or business location, how you or your staff welcome and treat customers will affect your reviews.
Train your staff to have exceptional customer practices like introducing themselves by name, answering politely to all questions, and providing a brief tour of the business premises (if need be). Praised as the definitive rule of customer service, Harry Gordo Selfridge said, “customer is always right.”
Be Professional When Answering Negative Comments
Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, not all customers will be pleased with your customer service practice. In this case, learning to handle negative criticism will save you stress and allow you to connect with unhappy customers.
When you professionally handle negative comments, potential customers will see that your business is willing to rectify a seemingly difficult situation. As a result, it can garner more positive reviews and comments about your brand.
Final Thought
Good reviews can help your brand grow, especially through social platforms and referrals. What people say about your business matters, which can spell the difference between a lost customer and a sale.
Therefore, the more positive reviews your business receives, the better for your business. Gathering customer reviews is not hard–do a keen follow-up, and you will get those fantastic reviews.
