Mike Blumenthal’s blog has a great article, Asking For Reviews – UMoveFree Finds The Groove, describing UMoveFree Nick Barber’s approach to building reviews online. The full article is recommended reading, but here are a couple main takeaways:
- “We have changed the culture so that everyone is aware this is a major goal for the company. When we encounter an extremely happy customer (which happens often if you’re running a good business) we simply take the time to point that customer in the right direction.”
- “Picking sites that are easy to post a review on is the best strategy. If it takes 10 steps and a double email confirmation the customer is likely to give up. We’ve had the best success with Google Local, Yahoo Local, Bing Local, JudysBook, CitySearch, MerchantCircle, and InsiderPages.
- “Every employee has to be aware of the project and empowered to get involved; not just the marketing and management departments who rarely interact with customers on the ground. For instance, if the receptionist has a chance phone call with an overly appreciative customer their immediate response should be “we really appreciate your positive comments…would you mind if I send you an email with a link to our XXXX business review profile…it would mean a lot to us if you take just a moment to share those thoughts with other potential customers”.
- Do you incent clients in any way to provide reviews? No. We decided this could potentially destroy our credibility. The last thing you want is a customer you thought was happy that turned out to be not so happy posting a comment like “don’t believe any of these positive reviews, this company offered me a bribe to post a positive comment on this site”.
Check out the full article for more…
Greg Sterling had an interesting blog post last week ‘Review & Win’ — or Not on whether small businesses should be out soliciting reviews. On the ‘No’ side is Yelp, whose terms clearly state:
“While we understand that there is a temptation to solicit reviews from your customers, it is not something we encourage. The most successful businesses on Yelp have had their reviews come organically.”
Yelp is pretty rigorous about this policy. In fact, they oftentimes screen out reviews if they deem them untrustworthy. Reviews, even legitimate ones, can suddenly disappear from Yelp because a reviewer does not have enough history on Yelp or for other reasons not made wholly clear by the company.
On the ‘Yes’ side are many other big publishers including YellowBook and Insiderpages, who have both run major promotions to solicit reviews on behalf of their customers.
I understand Yelp’s position, or at least their intent. Only having fictional or ‘friends and family’ type reviews is a disservice to consumers. This is part of what Yelp is trying to filter out.
However, I disagree with Yelp that a business should not be out encouraging reviews and that only reviewers approved by the Yelp algorithm are entitled to have their reviews read.
If you are a local business, among your greatest assets is the goodwill of your customer base. Why would you not try to tap into that and encourage it to spread online? Your negative reviews are going to be online (sooner or later), so don’t you want your positive reviews, or at least a more representative sampling, to be there too?
Start taking advantage of the goodwill you’ve created in your business and start inviting your customers to share their reviews online.
In a previous post, I asked the question “Where are your Raving Fans”? In other words, when you have customers that are excited about your work and your business, how do you encourage them to spread positive word of mouth online? One tip is to make it extremely easy for them.
Write up some very simple instructions and give them to your happy customers. Below I have included instructions for two review sites I highly recommend.
1. Insiderpages.com – reviews on this site get picked up by Google and are listed within your Google Local Business Center listing. It is often the first thing a customer sees upon searching for your business.
2. Yelp.com – while reviews on this site do not get listed within your Google Local Business Center listing, your business’ Yelp page often gets listed highly in the natual search engine results when someone searches on your business’ name. If you have a bad review on Yelp, you probably know exactly what I mean. If you don’t have a bad review, be proactive and get some positive reviews going.
Here are some sample instructions you can give your customers.
Posting a Review on Insiderpages.com
It is easy to post a review of our company on Insiderpages. Just follow the instructions below.
First though, keep in mind some tips for writing a thorough review:
- Answer what services you received
- Describe your experiences
- Discuss any specifics that made your visit special
1. Go to http://www.insiderpages.com and search on our company name.
2. Select our business
3. Select write a review
4. Write your review and click submit.
5. Follow any additional instructions on-screen to complete your review.
Posting a Review on Yelp.com
It is easy to post a review on Yelp.com. Just follow the instructions below.
First though, keep in mind some tips for writing a thorough review:
- Answer what services you received
- Describe your experiences
- Discuss any specifics that made your visit special
1. Register with Yelp
Before posting reviews with Yelp, you must register for a Yelp profile.
a. Go to http://www.yelp.com
b. Elect to ‘Sign Up’
c. Create your Yelp Profile
d. If prompted to invite friends, you can skip this step.
e. Check your email and click on the link to activate your profile.
2. Post your review
a. Go to http://www.yelp.com
b. Search for our company
c. Click on our business
d. Write a Review
e. Write your Review and select Post.
Further Reading
Customer Lobby Makes It Easy for Your Fans
Are Your Unhappy Customers Online…Yet?
Where are your Raving Fans?
In a previous article, I asked whether your unhappy customers are online…yet? Every business has some unhappy customers (reasonably or unreasonably) and it is just a matter of time before they make their displeasure known online. It is not a good thing when potential new customers find these negative reviews.
The question is what can you do to provide a massive overwhelming positive counterpoint to any negative reviews online. The answer is to get your fans to go online and rave about your business. After all, you have customers who are happy and excited to do business with you – don’t let them be a silent majority!
The best way to get reviews from your happy customers is to ask. And I find the best time to ask is when a customer is already saying something positive or complimentary.
Fan: “You guys really did a nice job today. I wish I had found you earlier”
Business: “That is very kind of you. We are really glad we could help. By the way, we are working hard to grow our business and positive word of mouth really helps. If you could jot down your experiences with us online, that would mean a great deal. ”
The exchange above is a start, but that alone is not going to get it done. MAKE IT EASY for your customers to post that review. For instance, provide some very easy instructions they can follow.
One final word, I discourage offering discounts or promotions in exchange for having customers post reviews online. It doesn’t feel right and it risks tainting the whole process. The best thing you can offer your fans is an opportunity to help out and be a part of the growth of your business. For a service they are excited about and for a company they believe in, what customer wouldn’t appreciate the opportunity to do this?
Further Reading
Make it Easy for Your Fans
Customer Lobby Makes It Easy for Your Fans
Are Your Unhappy Customers Online…Yet?
I met with an owner of a business recently who told me a story about an unhappy customer who had to be asked to leave the premises. This is probably not an unfamiliar experience to anyone in business, although hopefully a very rare one. The business tried to satisfy the customer, but they simply were not going to be satisfied and the situation escalated. I can’t comment on the incident, but I do know this is a very reputable business with many happy customers and a good standing in the area.
In the past, this story would have been limited to this one unpleasant experience. The unhappy customers may have complained to their circle, but by and large the business would have continued to receive positive word of mouth from its other hundreds happy customers. However, fast forward to today. It did not end there. The unhappy customer took their complaint online. Now anyone searching for the company on Google/Yahoo/etc gets to form an impression of this company based on a very negative review.
Where do the unhappy reviews show up? Look at this example from Google below. If I am new in town and looking for a groomer, Google aggregates customer reviews from around the web.
The reviews for the shop below certainly don’t look good.
Now maybe this business has 100 happy customers to each dissatisfied customer, but I wouldn’t know it. I don’t think I will be going here.
The lesson for business owners is that regardless of how hard you try to do a good job and offer great service, if you have any unhappy customers, expect them to go online. Think of your most unpleasant customers and your most unpleasant experience and now imagine those being shared with your entire prospective customer base. If this hasn’t happened already, it is just a matter of time.
Prepare and manage for this situation ahead of time. Here is one article from the better business bureau with some tips for responding to online complaints. However, there are other vital things to do as well. Stay tuned…
Further Reading
Make it Easy for Your Fans
Where are your Raving Fans?
Customer Lobby Makes It Easy for Your Fans
