Word of mouth has always been important – someone who gets a recommendation from their friends is more likely to buy a product. With the internet, potential buyers have access to millions of reviews, and around 90% read them before committing to a purchase. More significantly, 88% of them trust online opinions as much as personal recommendations. So, the latest review can make or break your next sale. That’s why you should encourage customers to leave helpful reviews for others to see. Additionally, you need to address negative opinions as soon as possible since 86% of people will hesitate after reading a bad review.
How To Get More Reviews
It’s easy to get more reviews – you just need to ask. Customers are usually open about sharing their opinion but often forget to post reviews. However, the process of encouraging reviews depends on what you sell. While an app can have a pop-up notification reminding people to share their opinion on the app store, an ecommerce website like Amazon may send an email asking for feedback after the product is delivered. What you need to keep in mind is that the process needs to be smooth and quick. No one is going to spend 15 minutes trying to figure out how to leave a review.
If you want to increase the number of reviews even further, we recommend rewarding customers who share their experiences with special benefits and discounts. You can even ask them to share their opinion on social media. Finally, it helps to have your customers talking about your full range of products. If some aren’t getting as much attention as others, come up with new strategies to boost their reviews.
Most Used Review Platforms
There are various third-party platforms that customers use to leave their reviews. These are quite popular, as they’re seen as unbiased and honest. A company can easily delete posts on its website, but it can’t do that on an independent platform unless the review goes against the terms of use.
That’s why it’s important to create a business account on popular review websites. Trustpilot and Facebook are two examples of websites that are useful for any kind of business. For American companies, it’s a good idea to get accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) as well. From there, it really depends on what you sell. For example, restaurant owners should focus on Yelp and TripAdvisor, whereas hotels will find Airbnb and Expedia more useful. But regardless of your industry, registering your company on Google My Business and enabling Google reviews is essential, as it also boosts your Google ranking.
Handling Negative Reviews
A negative review is a blessing in disguise. It means that the person is still open to discussion and might change their opinion if you do the right thing. For this reason, you should never delete negative reviews. Instead, make sure to answer them promptly and in a helpful way. Try to solve the customer’s problem and consider offering compensation – such as a discount code, product replacement, or refund – for unpleasant experiences.
If you handle the problem correctly, you’ll increase the customer’s loyalty while showing that you care about your clients. Still, people occasionally cross the line. They might be disrespectful or trolls who leave fake reviews. In this case, it’s best to report the comment for misconduct or delete it if it’s on your website.
The Value of Expert Reviews
Customer reviews are important, but they’re often subjective. For example, someone who isn’t happy with customer support might complain about everything else too. Meanwhile, satisfied customers sometimes leave reviews that seem too good to be true, which may sound disingenuous. Finally, there’s also the issue that most customer reviews only focus on a specific feature, overlooking some other key parts of your product or service.
That’s the main reason why potential buyers also check reviews written by objective experts before making a purchase. Expert reviews (like the ones we produce at Best Reviews) typically follow a strict policy to ensure all reviews are backed by a thorough research and testing process. Plus, by asking the experts to assess your product or service, you’ll be getting a review by someone who knows the ins and outs of your industry, allowing potential customers to better understand where your company stands compared to the competition. For example, at Best Reviews, our readers always find thorough written and video reviews covering everything a product or service has to offer. The result is an article full of useful and objective information (excellent for your SEO and brand awareness) that shows users whether the product is the right one for them. So, get in touch with review websites and provide them with the necessary means to try your product.