When was the last time you trusted your phone or laptop and didn’t read up on the specifications, other users’ reviews and experiences, or even tech blogs before making a purchase decision?
Nearly 68 per cent of shoppers say they never purchase a product without reading customer reviews first. To build trust and attract new customers in a digitally-driven market, you need to focus on increasing customer reviews and converting those customers into brand advocates.
10 Tips To Increase Customer Reviews And Build Trust
It’s no secret that customer reviews can be a massive asset to your business. Reviews help potential customers make informed buying decisions, improve search engine rankings, and even boost leads and sales.
However, most businesses still need an active review strategy in place. Only one in five consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family.
Let’s face it — people are busy and don’t always have time to leave reviews for businesses they love or hate. But you can encourage your customers to leave you feedback in several ways. Here are ten tips for increasing customer reviews and building trust:
1. Determine The Goals
There’s no point in talking about how to increase customer reviews without deciding what those goals are. Is your goal to increase customer satisfaction, increase conversions, and rank higher in search engines? The answer is probably all of the above, but you may find it helpful to narrow down your goals right at the start.
Understanding your business goals and how customer reviews can help you achieve them will help you choose the right approach for your business. If your goal is to increase sales, then positive reviews are critical.
Negative reviews can be just as valuable if your goal is to improve customer service because they can help identify gaps in service and provide opportunities for improvement. For example, if you want to increase customer engagement for your dental clinic or look for more reviews on third-party sites, such as Google Local or Yelp.
2. Get Reviews On The Suitable Sites
First, you must have your customers leave reviews on suitable sites. The most popular review sites are Amazon, Google, Yelp and social media channels like Facebook. However, there are many more that can help you build your reputation. Before tackling this task, make sure you have a good plan for where you want people to leave feedback and why they should.
For example, if you are a spa, request customer reviews on Google Local, Yelp, and Facebook. Don’t just ask them on Amazon or another site where they don’t shop. The idea is to get your customers talking about you across all platforms because that will increase traffic to your store, boosting sales.
3. Request Customers To Review Your Local Business
The first step in getting more reviews is making sure that people know about them in the first place.
The easiest way to do this is by including a “leave review” link at the bottom of emails and follow-up emails after purchases or visits. You can also include a link on receipts, newsletters and direct mailers so that people who have had good experiences with your company can tell others about their experience without any extra effort.
Reviews are a great way of increasing trust and encouraging repeat business. They also allow you to interact with your customers and address any issues they may have.
4. Ask Customers To Review Your Products
Asking for reviews is one thing, but asking at the right time is another.
The ideal time to ask for a review is when a customer receives a product and completes payment on your site — when they’re still excited about what they received and before they forget about it altogether. This will also give them plenty of time to leave feedback before they entirely forget about their experience with your company.
5. Run A Contest To Increase Review Activity
Let potential customers know how many reviews your business needs and offer incentives for people who leave them. You could even give away a free prize for anyone who goes review, which will encourage people to take advantage of the opportunity.
Contests are a great way to get people talking about what you do and offer a chance to gain new customers. By running a contest, you can encourage your customers to leave reviews on your website, which will improve your SEO and help increase your local search rank.
6. Encourage Customers Who Have Had An Excellent Experience To Share It Online
Make sure that when someone buys something from your business that they know how important it is for them to leave feedback about their experience with you so that other potential customers can see what they thought about their experience with your company and make informed decisions before they buy anything from you in the future.
This will also help build trust with potential customers by showing them that their satisfaction is important to you.
If you want more people to share their experiences online, make sure they know how easy it is by providing clear instructions on how to do so through email or other communication channels like phone calls and live chat sessions.
7. Make The Reviews System Easy For Customers
After determining your goals, create an easy way for customers to leave reviews. This could be as simple as adding a “review us” button on your website or as complex as setting up a landing page specifically for this purpose. Whatever you choose, make it easy for customers to find where they should leave their comments so they won’t have any excuses not to do so.
Customers may not always want to leave a review on Yelp or Google+, but they might like to share their thoughts with friends or family on Facebook or Twitter. You can encourage this behavior by creating an easy way for them to do so from within your app or website — such as a “Share Your Experience” button that takes them directly.
8. Respond And Engage With Reviewers – Both Positive And Negative
Encourage your customers to leave positive feedback by emailing or calling them personally after purchasing your product or service. It’s no secret that people love getting discounts and coupons as much as they love being able to share their thoughts online — especially when it comes to making purchases online!
Create an incentive program for customers who leave reviews to get rewarded based on how many reviews they leave within a specific time frame (i.e., 10% off their next purchase). That way, when they return to make another purchase, they will be more likely to leave another review because they know more money is coming in the future!
9. Be Authentic, Respond Quickly And Be Polite, Even When Dealing With Negative Reviews
Reply quickly if a customer has left a negative review and respond with empathy, understanding and willingness to work together to resolve the issue. If possible, offer compensation for their inconvenience or dissatisfaction with your product/service.
Showing that you appreciate their feedback will encourage them to take time out of their day to leave another review for other potential customers so that they can learn from their experience with your company!
10. Ask For More Details In Your Response To Bad Reviews
When a customer leaves a negative review, you first want to thank them for the feedback and offer to help them resolve the issue. If you can’t, offer an apology and point them to a relevant resource like your support team, FAQ page or knowledge base article.
This helps show that you’re listening and care about what they have to say — but it also allows you to learn more about why they feel negative about your business and how you can improve it.
11. Make It Easy For People To Contact You
Responding to negative feedback shows that you care about your customers’ experience and want to resolve any issues as quickly as possible. This will make them more likely to give more positive reviews in the future.
Create an FAQ page where people can find answers to questions about your business, such as how long it takes for an order to ship, what size pants fit best or how quickly you’ll respond to an email inquiry from them. This helps eliminate customer questions that may confuse or frustrate them because they don’t know what’s happening. This will prevent them from leaving a negative review about your company online because they can’t find an answer elsewhere either!
Wrapping Up
Customer reviews are an essential part of any business and are critical as they are a significant driver of customer trust and loyalty. Here we have listed some high-impact ways to help you build a robust review program and transform your business from customers’ perspectives.
These simple strategies will help you build customer trust and increase your reviews.