3 Ways Your Business Can Get More Customer Reviews Online

In the current e-commerce landscape, customer reviews serve as a vital tool to enhance sales. According to consumerist.com, over 70 percent of customers say they look at product reviews before making a purchase. Given the growing importance of reviews, businesses need to become proactive and encourage happy customers to share their experiences. The following are ways to increase your customer reviews and share positive feedback.

1. Start by Asking

Asking for feedback personally is the ideal way to get more reviews, but if you have an online-only presence, an effective tactic is to ask for a review as soon as a customer completes a transaction – either directly on your site or as part of a transactional email receipt. 70 percent of customers will leave a review for a business when asked. Regardless whether their feedback is positive or negative, this will help you gauge whether your online presence is producing a satisfactory user experience or is in need of adjustment. Another tactic is to ask for a review after you have resolved a customer’s issue. If you get a compliment through email, phone, your site, or on social media, you can ask the customer to leave an online review. You can personalize your message, and keep your tone warm and lighthearted to increase the response rate from customers.

2. Educate and Remind with Emails

Asking for feedback via email is a solid option to consider. It’s important to be candid and open when contacting your customers by email. It’s also a good idea to remind them how much their opinion matters to your business, how much you care, and why you’re asking for feedback.

Timing is another aspect to consider, i.e., when is the best time to ask a customer to leave a review? An effective method is to send an invitation once the customer has received their order. According to a Gartner study, feedback collected immediately after an event is on average 40 percent more accurate than feedback collected 24 hours later. You should also send the email from a real person’s email address to make it feel like a personal interaction. The more the email looks robotic, the less the customer will tend to pay attention or answer you.

Just as important as the initial email is a reminder in case they don’t leave a review. Don’t forget to include a quick, explanatory sentence and a clear call-to-action. If the customer doesn’t leave a review after your second email, leave them alone until their next purchase and then try again.

3. Promote Positive Reviews

Customers who take time to provide a review will generally appreciate you putting it to good use, i.e., promoting it on your site or third party review application. Not only does this help other customers make a purchasing decision, but it can improve brand loyalty among your prospective and existing customers. Reviews will also allow you to rank higher in Google searches, increasing traffic to your site.

It is important to respond to every review, even if the message is negative. This demonstrates accountability and a desire to provide a high quality of customer service. But there is nothing wrong with sharing your positive reviews so that others can begin to trust your product or service.

Using Reviews to Your Advantage

With the advent of online reviews as a major influence on customers’ purchasing decisions, it’s crucial that you get more customer reviews online. For more information on how PlainsCapital Bank can help your business grow and expand, call us at 866.762.8392 or visit your local bank branch today.