Why to Get Reviewed and How
By Vanessa Salvia
As more and more users flock to the Internet to do their comparison shopping and buy products and services, reviews are becoming increasingly important. Consumers like to know how other people feel about a product - its usefulness, durability, etc., before committing to buy it. Though the Internet can provide personal experiences, it makes talking to other people about a product much more difficult than simply going into a store and chatting with the salesclerk or other customers. That's why getting reviews can help your customers feel confident about buying from you when they can't feel and use the product beforehand.
For many people who shop online, a review does influence their decision to buy or not to buy. Reviews by people who have actually purchased and used a product are often much more valuable than the typical product specs provided by manufacturers. Many people would trust the recommendations of a friend over that of a supposed expert. Though online users don't actually know the people who leave customer reviews, when the reviews are perceived as honest and candid, they are often as trusted as reviews from a friend. People can be skeptical of advertising, and a candid testimonial can help alleviate this skepticism better than any marketing copy or product spec sheet.
How to get reviews
On your own site
When every article about website usability tells you to remove any and all obstacles to a customer spending money on your site, asking them to submit a review seems like yet another hoop through which they may resent jumping. The benefit of providing an outlet for reviews however, outweighs not allowing for them. A simple way to create some review content on your site would be to enable a simple star rating system that could be emailed out. The star rating could correlate to poor, fair, good, very good, and exceptional. Rather than asking customers to take the time to compose a review, they can more quickly and easily select a star rating. This could be combined with simple yes/no questions such as "Would you recommend this product to a friend?" You might also provide the option for a customer to write a longer review if they wish, but they can quickly and easily provide you with feedback if they choose not to take the time.
Themost effective way to get customer reviews is to ask for them. This could be as simple a follow-up email a few days after they receive their product. A package insert can also help provide an opportunity for reviews for items sold in your brick-and-mortar store; in case you don't have permission to email a customer, or in the case of someone ordering a gift item. The package insert can then be filled out online, left at the store, or mailed in.
If a customer pays a compliment to you, your business or your products, after thanking them, ask them if they'd be willing to post that compliment on your blog, in a review on Google or some other review site, or on your official customer review page.
Your ecommerce shopping cart provider should be able to enable full review functionality on your e-commerce platform, or can help you integrate a third-party-hosted solution such as Power Reviews or Bazaarvoice.
Review sites
There are many sites that thrive on customer reviews, such as Yelp.com.
If you don't want to or cannot enable customer review functionality on your site, take a moment to let your customers know that you would appreciate a review on whatever site you pick to promote yourself. Many restaurants are reviewed on Yelp, but the site also has reviews of other services such as salons and spas, car care, and hotels.
Add your business and website to Google's Local Business Center. Your business will appear in listings when users do a search for your business name or industry. Google pulls reviews from other review sites, such as insiderpages.com and tripadviser.com, to display along the listing.
How to encourage reviews
There are two primary ways to encourage your customers to provide reviews: asking for, and making it easy for your customers to provide reviews to your site.
When you do get reviews, feature them on your site. It validates the customers who took the time to provide you with feedback and allows new or returning customers to benefit from the wisdom of your previous buyers.
If you can, provide some incentive to post a review or testimonial, such as a discounted service, coupon code for a discount on the purchase of a future order, or entry into a drawing for a chance to win a gift certificate. While some may view offering incentive as a sort of bribe, you'll often receive a higher rate of response using this method.
What to do about poor reviews
Yes, it can be scary to invite the public to say whatever they want about your business or products. It's not as bad as it seems though. If you did have a customer who felt the service or product they received was bad enough to warrant going out of their way to post about it, wouldn't you want to know? If they tell you they're unhappy through a poor review, that's your opportunity to engage in a conversation with them. If they left a negative comment on a blog or forum, reply to it on that blog or forum. They're actually doing you a favor by posting it in a public place so that you can respond to it.
Apologize, and ask them how you can make it up to them. Put your best effort into making them happy, and most likely you will be rewarded with a follow-up post or comment about how much they appreciated the way you resolved the issue.
What's important is not that you get a bad review, because everyone does, but that you did not ignore it and strived to right whatever the perceived wrong may have been. With this type of customer service on public display, many potential customers will likely not dwell on the initial poor review or comment.
Tracking your reviews
If you don't already know about it, Google Alerts is your friend for tracking your reputation online. With this free service, you can enter specific keywords, such as your name, your business name, or the name of your products or services, and choose how and how often you want to receive alerts about them. When Google notices those words appearing in blogs, news feeds, or web content, you'll be notified.
There are other tools available to track online discussions and mentions of products and brands. You can also search Twitter tweets for mentions of your keywords. Though the space limitations of a tweet won't give you much information, you will at least know if it is positive or negative.
Conclusion
The review has become nearly as important as a social media presence is to a website's success. First of all, it shows that you as an online provider of goods and services are willing to listen. Secondly, it allows you to uncover customer service issues or product limitations that you may not have known about. This in turn lets you provide even better service and higher quality products to your future customers. People who buy from you can come to trust the products you sell. Take advantage and use this review information to promote your customers' favorite products. All things considered, it's a good thing for your site and ultimately, your business.
As more and more users flock to the Internet to do their comparison shopping and buy products and services, reviews are becoming increasingly important. Consumers like to know how other people feel about a product - its usefulness, durability, etc., before committing to buy it. Though the Internet can provide personal experiences, it makes talking to other people about a product much more difficult than simply going into a store and chatting with the salesclerk or other customers. That's why getting reviews can help your customers feel confident about buying from you when they can't feel and use the product beforehand.
For many people who shop online, a review does influence their decision to buy or not to buy. Reviews by people who have actually purchased and used a product are often much more valuable than the typical product specs provided by manufacturers. Many people would trust the recommendations of a friend over that of a supposed expert. Though online users don't actually know the people who leave customer reviews, when the reviews are perceived as honest and candid, they are often as trusted as reviews from a friend. People can be skeptical of advertising, and a candid testimonial can help alleviate this skepticism better than any marketing copy or product spec sheet.
How to get reviews
On your own site
When every article about website usability tells you to remove any and all obstacles to a customer spending money on your site, asking them to submit a review seems like yet another hoop through which they may resent jumping. The benefit of providing an outlet for reviews however, outweighs not allowing for them. A simple way to create some review content on your site would be to enable a simple star rating system that could be emailed out. The star rating could correlate to poor, fair, good, very good, and exceptional. Rather than asking customers to take the time to compose a review, they can more quickly and easily select a star rating. This could be combined with simple yes/no questions such as "Would you recommend this product to a friend?" You might also provide the option for a customer to write a longer review if they wish, but they can quickly and easily provide you with feedback if they choose not to take the time.
Themost effective way to get customer reviews is to ask for them. This could be as simple a follow-up email a few days after they receive their product. A package insert can also help provide an opportunity for reviews for items sold in your brick-and-mortar store; in case you don't have permission to email a customer, or in the case of someone ordering a gift item. The package insert can then be filled out online, left at the store, or mailed in.
If a customer pays a compliment to you, your business or your products, after thanking them, ask them if they'd be willing to post that compliment on your blog, in a review on Google or some other review site, or on your official customer review page.
Your ecommerce shopping cart provider should be able to enable full review functionality on your e-commerce platform, or can help you integrate a third-party-hosted solution such as Power Reviews or Bazaarvoice.
Review sites
There are many sites that thrive on customer reviews, such as Yelp.com.
If you don't want to or cannot enable customer review functionality on your site, take a moment to let your customers know that you would appreciate a review on whatever site you pick to promote yourself. Many restaurants are reviewed on Yelp, but the site also has reviews of other services such as salons and spas, car care, and hotels.Add your business and website to Google's Local Business Center. Your business will appear in listings when users do a search for your business name or industry. Google pulls reviews from other review sites, such as insiderpages.com and tripadviser.com, to display along the listing.
How to encourage reviews
There are two primary ways to encourage your customers to provide reviews: asking for, and making it easy for your customers to provide reviews to your site.
When you do get reviews, feature them on your site. It validates the customers who took the time to provide you with feedback and allows new or returning customers to benefit from the wisdom of your previous buyers.
If you can, provide some incentive to post a review or testimonial, such as a discounted service, coupon code for a discount on the purchase of a future order, or entry into a drawing for a chance to win a gift certificate. While some may view offering incentive as a sort of bribe, you'll often receive a higher rate of response using this method.
What to do about poor reviews
Yes, it can be scary to invite the public to say whatever they want about your business or products. It's not as bad as it seems though. If you did have a customer who felt the service or product they received was bad enough to warrant going out of their way to post about it, wouldn't you want to know? If they tell you they're unhappy through a poor review, that's your opportunity to engage in a conversation with them. If they left a negative comment on a blog or forum, reply to it on that blog or forum. They're actually doing you a favor by posting it in a public place so that you can respond to it.
Apologize, and ask them how you can make it up to them. Put your best effort into making them happy, and most likely you will be rewarded with a follow-up post or comment about how much they appreciated the way you resolved the issue.
What's important is not that you get a bad review, because everyone does, but that you did not ignore it and strived to right whatever the perceived wrong may have been. With this type of customer service on public display, many potential customers will likely not dwell on the initial poor review or comment.
Tracking your reviews
If you don't already know about it, Google Alerts is your friend for tracking your reputation online. With this free service, you can enter specific keywords, such as your name, your business name, or the name of your products or services, and choose how and how often you want to receive alerts about them. When Google notices those words appearing in blogs, news feeds, or web content, you'll be notified.
There are other tools available to track online discussions and mentions of products and brands. You can also search Twitter tweets for mentions of your keywords. Though the space limitations of a tweet won't give you much information, you will at least know if it is positive or negative.
Conclusion
The review has become nearly as important as a social media presence is to a website's success. First of all, it shows that you as an online provider of goods and services are willing to listen. Secondly, it allows you to uncover customer service issues or product limitations that you may not have known about. This in turn lets you provide even better service and higher quality products to your future customers. People who buy from you can come to trust the products you sell. Take advantage and use this review information to promote your customers' favorite products. All things considered, it's a good thing for your site and ultimately, your business.
