Online Reviews For Small Business

Tip 1: Hey Everyone, Will You Please...

Ask everyone to leave a review.  Okay before you roll your eyes and think "thanks a lot captain obvious", let me ask you this: ARE YOU CURRENTLY DOING THIS?  Yeah, just what I thought.  It's important that you ask everyone of your customers to leave a review.  Google frowns on businesses who selectively or inconsistently ask customers.  It's called "gating" and if those nasty old Google algorithms pick up on some kind and inconsistency in your reviews they will get flagged and big bad Google might take away all of your reviews.  And a company that has no reviews is viewed as a crappy unethical company that consumers won't hire. 

Tip 2: By The Way, Be On The Lookout For...

Let your customers know you are going to send them a satisfaction survey at the time of service or delivering your product.  Give them a heads up so they know one is coming.  From our experience just letting people know that a satisfaction survey is coming can increase them actually leaving a review by as much as 47%.   And in general the company that gets the most reviews typically is the one who wins the small business marketing wars in their market so you want to do anything you can to increase your odds of getting a review.

Tip 3: Not Once, Not Twice But...

Ask at least three times.  Just asking once probably won't cut it.  Most people don't mind leaving a review it's just getting them to take the two minutes to do it.  Two of the most common excuses people give for not leaving a review are: 1) "I don't have time right now" and 2) "I forgot."  That's why multiple touches are important.  Hopefully one of your touches hits them at the right time when they will take the time to leave a review.  The easiest way to do this is to set up a three email drip in an autoresponder  - then you just upload the contact information and it's on auto pilot.  From our experience three is optimum number of requests.

Tip 4: It Seemed Like Such A Small Request...

Get a micro-commitment to start.  A micro-commitment is some simple task/request that is super simple and takes about five seconds to do.  Research has shown that once people start a process they feel compelled to take it to completion.  Have you ever done one of those stupid quizzes on Facebook and just feel like you have to finish it?  If you can get people  to start the process, it greatly increases the odds they'll do the next step(s) and leave you a review.  What we like to do is to ask "how did we do?" then have "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" icons that they can click.  When they click on the icon they get a pop up asking for a review.

Tip 5: I'm Afraid You Seem To Be Brain Dead...

Make it brain dead simple.  In case you've haven't notice, most people tend to gravitate toward the lazy side.  If you ask them to think or take to much initiative they will just say "forget this" and stop the process.  When you get to the point in your process where you ask them to leave a review (typically the next step after the micro-commitment) provide them with links that take them right to the exact place where they need to leave the review.  For example on FB it would link them to leave a recommendation spot on your business page.  On Google it will take them to the review section of your Googgle My Business profile.  Make it easy and simple for them.

Do You Have To Be So Negative...

Bonus Tip #1:  Respond to negative reviews.  

A negative review is not the end of the world.  In fact about half of consumers read negative reviews when deciding who to contact.  The key is to respond in a professional and empathetic manner. People want the security of knowing if they have a problem that you're going to step up and take care of them.

It Looks Like Sunshine And Lollipops...

BONUS TIP #2: Respond to positive reviews.  

The more you respond the more you come off as an actual real person and not some cyber space, virtual cyborg.  People like doing business with people.  When you respond to reviews you start building rapport and relationship with your prospects before they ever contact you. 

But I Can't Find You On...

BONUS TIP #3: Have reviews on multiple sites.

Most people will look for reviews on two or more sites before contacting you.  They want to see that the reviews are consistent on multiple sites as confirmation you are "for real."  Google reviews should be your first focus because it is the one people have the most trust in.  But also get reviews on FB and industry specific review sites.

197, 198, 199...

BONUS TIP#4: Shoot to get over 200 reviews.  

Depending on the volume of business you do this could take a few months or over a year but regardless, it is a goal that you need to strive for. Small business SASS provider Wooply analyzed 200,000 small businesses.  What they found is the when you break the 200 review mark there seems to be an exponential growth in annual revenue.  Quite simply, MORE REVIEWS EQUAL MORE REVENUE. 

The Older The Slower...

BONUS TIP #5: Ask for reviews quickly.

New customers are much more likely to leave a review than older ones.  When you start your review initiative you should start by tapping into your existing database.  Just know that the longer it has been since they've worked with you the lower your review rate will be.  Our averages are about 10% of older customers will leave reviews where as more recent customers are as much as 300% more likely to leave a review.