Bring in More Positive Reviews for Your Business
Online reviews are a powerful marketing tool for your business. Think about how often you look online for reviews of the products and services you’d liked to purchase. Your potential customers are doing the same thing when they hop online and research your business, so make sure you’re checking all the right boxes on your quest to get more positive online reviews.
The benefits include:
- Improving your online reputation.
- Boosting your local SEO efforts with a stronger presence on Google My Business.
- Swaying potential customers’ opinions of your business in the right direction.
- Providing proof of the quality of your services.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? But getting more positive reviews for your business can be tough because asking for reviews can be tough. We all have a fear of rejection, and we definitely don’t want a client to get annoyed and leave a negative review. But negative reviews happen. Unhappy customers are far more likely to get online and share their thoughts than a happy customer is. That’s just how the world works.
Follow These Steps to More Reviews
Bringing in more positive reviews is a process you’ll need to keep up for the life of your business, but it isn’t difficult once you’ve gotten started. We’ve coached several clients through these steps, and they’ve seen large increases in the number of reviews for their businesses. Here’s how they did it:
Be Memorable
This might seem like a no brainer—it’s already something you should be striving for as a business—but make sure your services are review-worthy. That means making sure you’re delivering a memorable product to your clients that differs from what they’d get from your competitors. Whatever that difference is, it’s all right to boast about it. Point out that it’s different and let your clients know what makes it unique or special.
If you don’t have a product or service that stands out, that’s fine—just make sure your clients’ experiences are incredible. Focus on making them feel good and cultivating positive associations. They’ll remember how you made them feel.
For instance, whenever we launch a website, the team gets together and takes a celebratory shot of tequila. We always take a snapshot and send a personalized email to our client as a little way of saying, “Cheers!”
We also have a client who has “Fudge” in their business name. Every time they on-board a new client, they send them a box of fudge as a welcome gift.
Start a fun tradition and include your clients! They won’t forget that personal touch.
Review Other Businesses on Popular Review Platforms
This part of the process is a bit more of a challenge, but it’s worth it! Make sure you’re staying active on the most popular review sites. Hopefully, you’re already responding to the reviews your business receives, but you should also strive to leave your own reviews when you can.
If you worked with another business, go to their page and write a detailed review. You’ll increase your visibility, and that business might reciprocate and leave you a positive review, as well. Important to note: don’t trade reviews. This should be an organic process that evolves naturally.
For example, we had a great experience working as a vendor with a consulting firm, so we left them a review. In it, we talked about the great experience we had with them, and noted that if they treat contractors this well, imagine how they treat their clients. When they saw our review, they sent us an email thanking us for the kind words and, in turn, left us a review on our Google My Business page.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
We know: asking anyone for anything is hard. We go through it all the time. But the best thing any of us can do is just be direct and ask. The key is knowing how and when to do it to get the best results.
We’ve had success asking for reviews after delivering great news to a client. When they respond with excitement, just turn around and ask them to share their experience. For example:
Hey, Mr. Client! I just checked in on your account, and it looks like we just reached this incredible metric in your campaign. This is truly fantastic! We are always looking to hear from our partners and consider you one of our best. It’d mean a lot if you could take a couple minutes and leave us a quick review on Google to share your experience. They really help us out. You can leave one here: .
Another good time to ask for a review is after a client tells you they’re happy with your service or shares another piece of positive news. You could respond with something like this:
That’s great to hear! It sounds like our partnership is working out really well. We’d appreciate it if you could take three minutes and leave us a quick Google review to let everyone know how awesome we’re doing! You can leave a review here: .
Finally, ask for a review any time you want! If you know you have a happy customer, you don’t necessarily need to wait for an inciting event to ask for a review. Simply prepare a review request template and send it. Here’s an example:
We really enjoy having you as a partner and hope you are pleased with what we’ve accomplished together. One thing that really helps us out is online reviews. We’d love it if you could take a couple minutes and leave us a quick Google review to share your experience. You can leave a review here: .
Now that you know when to ask for reviews, let’s go over a few strategies on how to ask. The above templates are a great starting point, but remember to put your own spin on them. You don’t want to sound like a robot! The main points to include are:
- An introduction
- Validation (if necessary)
- How easy it is to leave a review (include a link!)
- Appreciation and gratitude
Don’t worry about writing a novel, either. Short and sweet messages are usually best!
Other Things to Keep in Mind
We touched on the most important parts of the process for bringing in more positive reviews, but there are a couple other things you should keep in mind.
The first is that you should always respond to the reviews you receive, especially the negative ones. Just remember that everyone will be able to read your response, so don’t come out of the gate swinging. Be tactful and respectful and show the public that you’re willing to address any grievances your customers might have.
Finally, listen to your reviews. Take note of the things you can do better, and see which parts of the experience your customers really enjoyed so you can play up your strengths. Use that feedback to your advantage!
Start Generating More Reviews
Your business’s online reviews have a huge impact on your marketing efforts, so make sure you’re keeping up with them and doing everything you can to bring in more positive feedback. Implement this process in your current marketing strategy, and you’ll start seeing the results you want.
