Have you ever googled a company and you see they have one star and one review?
What does that trigger in your brain? Do you trust them? Are they any good? Are they working in the basement in their jammies? Today, we’re going to talk about how to get good customer reviews.
These days everyone has an opinion, and before maybe you had a chance to rectify it, but now you find out after the fact that maybe that person was less than happy. Sometimes they look perfectly happy and then they go home and flame about whatever it is that bothered them.
“There was a hair in my salad or the customer service was slow”
It just depends on what that person is feeling that day and that moment that the two of you collided. Unfortunately, these don’t always result in a positive review.
Now, here’s the problem as we never ask for positive reviews, right? Let’s face it consumers trust online reviews. What does that mean to you and your business, and why you should ask for personal recommendations.
Incognito mode
When you are trying to assess your business online, the most effective way is to go into incognito mode. This helps see what your customers are seeing when they type your website and gives you an unbiased view.
I often find it’s really hard to see the label when you’re inside the bottle. But it’s hard for us because we live in this bubble. And oftentimes, it’s hard to get out of our own way.
Also, with incognito mode, this is a great way to search for airline tickets and concert tickets. Here’s why. When you go and look for airline tickets or concert tickets, they cookie you. They know you were there before.
When you see a great seat for the right price or a great ticket in the front row while you use your regular browser, then you go back the next day and they’re not there or they’re twice expensive because they’ve seen you been there before.
Claim your local business account on Google Business
When you want to be more visible and findable to potential customers, you need to do this one thing. Go to Google.com/business and claim your local account. It is very important that you have it as this will help you easier to find by your local customers.
When you claim your local account be sure to add your tagline with your business name because it’s a perfect place where you can add one or two keywords for your business. It gives a little introduction to your business that gives an idea to your customers what your business does and the products and services you offer.
Update your photos
It is always nice to update photos that you upload online. You don’t want to use old photos or images that are no longer connected to your business. I highly recommend adding photos from time to time especially if you have a collection of photos from your recent activities.
For my business, I loaded it up with photos from my actual clients. The events, seminars, that I do, and of course photos of my clients and their testimonials embedded into it. I also have photos of them holding a diploma. It’s nice to create your own diploma.
I have a Findability Accelerate Graduate Diploma that everyone gets at the end of our training. We always get a picture with a diploma which is just great and I always get a team photo. You’ll see all of these are team shots. So, people can get a real sense of what it’s like to work with me before they ever pick up the phone.
Ask People for a Positive Review
“How do I get a customer review?” is the number one question I get from businesses. Here’s the deal: If you don’t ask for positive reviews, you won’t get them, it’s as simple as that.
We want to remember that we’ve got to ask people or incentivize people to leave positive reviews. Because that’s the expectation. Now, here’s the thing I want to caution you about is buying positive reviews: this is a huge no-no.
Don’t ever buy those services. Google has a very specific algorithm for Google business. Meaning if you get 25 reviews in one day, you went to your mom and your dad, your cousin, and your dog. You have everyone to post a review for you, Google sees that is a non-normal algorithmic activity, and will immediately discount those.
It’s very important when you’re thinking about asking for reviews, if you have a restaurant, you could do a little table tent that says post a review and tag it, and then you could have a free cup of coffee. Or right as they come in, you can say “Review us on Yelp.”
You make sure that those people are trained to say, “Hey, if you have a minute, we would love a positive review on Google or on Yelp.” Or wherever it is that you need the review. But the number-one problem is that we don’t ask.
When you try to find a good place to order your favorite food nearby your area, your first step is to look for it in Google. Then Google will show you the places offering this with and as you see this is where you have to decide based on the reviews that you see under each restaurant name.
This is how our head works. Whoever gets the most amount of reviews that show up on Google gets our business. This is a serious buying indicator. So, you can’t just let the negative Nellie’s rule your online review world. You’ve got to get out there. Ask for positive reviews, an online customer review can add to your credibility.
Don’t just wait for the negative reviews to show up, they’re a big deal. They will make a decision between negative reviews and positive reviews and that will directly impact your business. So, ask for reviews, especially the positive ones.
I understand that you have questions, frustrations; put them down there and I will go in and check those and make sure I give you an answer. Customer feedback is incredibly important to your business and instrumental in building customer trust.
Do you want to take your business to the next level? All you have to do is to start a conversation and Let’s get you started on your path to becoming Findable. Book A Call
Watch the full video here: How to Get Customer Reviews