Remember the good old days when you could easily get in front of your target customer with a single ad in the Yellow Pages?
Those days are gone now. Yes phone books do still exist, just like newspapers, but they are no longer the dominate lead generating method for local businesses.
Today, most consumers will only search online to find a company that provides the products and services they need.
This is actually really good news for small businesses. No longer does the biggest (most expensive) ad in the phone book win. Small businesses can compete on a much fairer playing field.
Today your online profile that is the biggest factor for attracting new customers.
When customers search and find your business listing, how do they choose your business over your competition?
What is the first thing they check? Your rating and reviews – your online reputation!
Consumers go through a process when deciding who to trust with their business. Their though process goes like this…
- How many stars do they have?
- How many reviews do they have?
- What are recent customers saying about them?
Your online reviews are the social proof consumers are looking for to decide if they can trust your company or not.
Thanks to the smart folks at Brightlocal, we now have important into consumer behavior when evaluating companies online.
What they have found about reviews is astonishing!
The statistics referenced in this article are based on this Brightlocal consumer survey.
According to their most recent survey, Brightlocal discovered that “91% of consumers say that positive reviews make them more likely to use a business.”
And conversely they found that “82% of consumers less likely to use a business after seeing negative reviews.”
Fairly or not, it is evident that consumers place very high value in online reviews. It is their best way to compare companies against each other.
In the same survey, they also confirmed that “76% trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends.”
While word of mouth advertising is still king, online reviews are evidently now a close second.
How do your online reviews shape up?
Using what we learned from the Brightlocal survey results, lets check the health of your online reputation.
What is your rating score?
Is it 4 stars or better?
Businesses without a 5 star rating could lose 12% of business right off the bat.
Only 53% of people would consider using a business with less than 4 stars.
At minimum you should strive to maintain 4 stars or better.
How recent are your reviews?
Recency is one of the top factors customers consider when looking at reviews.
It is equally as important as the number of stars.
48% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the past 2 weeks.
84% believe that reviews older than 3 months aren’t relevant.
How many total reviews do you have?
The number of reviews is the third most important factor when customers are considering your reviews.
Sure 5 stars is great, but it loses it’s credibility when there is only a small number of reviews.
We don’t have any hard data on this yet, but we know more reviews is better.
It is easy to understand that a higher quantity of reviews can beat out a higher star rating, so long as the ratings are close.
For example, a 4 star rating with 500+ total reviews can convey more trust than a 5 star rating with only 50 reviews.
Could a 3 star rating with 500+ reviews beat out that same 5 star rating for trust?
We know from the survey that this is likely true for many consumers – so long as the recent reviews are getting 4 stars or better.
Build a system to generate reviews
It should now be clear the key to building a great online reputation is to get great reviews more often. But this is often easier said than done.
Motivating happy customers to leave good reviews is much harder than getting them to leave a bad review if they were disappointed.
Happy customers take a little more work to get them to leave good reviews.
But Be Careful!
Do NOT fall for the temptation to offer a discount or other incentive in exchange for a review. Absolutely no bribes allowed!
Incentivized reviews are not credible and can unfairly skew the ratings. This is strictly against the policy of most online review sites and can get you banned in a hurry.
Well then how do you get your happy customers to leave a review? Just ask for it – multiple times.
Ask for reviews at the right time
Build into your business processes a step to ask for reviews – especially when you know you have a satisfied customer.
In fact, build in several steps to ask. People are busy and often need a couple of reminders.
Start with asking in person immediately when the service is provided.
Directly ask your customer if they would consider leaving you a review, try to get a yes or no answer.
People are more likely to leave you a review when they told you they would face to face.
Give them specific instructions
Every time you ask for a review, give your customer detailed instructions.For in-person transactions, you can create a postcard with review instructions to give along with the receipt.
Email or text them the instructions also.
Be specific where you want them to go to leave the review – Google, Facebook, Yelp, Home Advisor, etc. Focus on the place where your reviews need the most improvement.
You can rotate this focus around periodically as needed.
Follow up
A few days after the original transaction, follow up with them with a thank you note. Let them know you appreciate their business and ask for the review again.
Follow up again
Find a reason to follow up again. Maybe run a special promotion just for loyal customers that they can share with their friends and family (word of mouth referrals!)
Again ask again for a review, this time mix it up and ask for a review on a different site. If you asked for a Google review the first time, ask for a Facebook or Yelp review this time.