You may know that gathering reviews is important for local businesses and that Google Reviews is king of online review platforms, but how do you start asking for Google Reviews? There’s actually a ‘right’ way of doing it!
Getting clients to take 5 minutes to leave a thoughtful review that intrigues potential customers can be a little daunting. Your company must make this process easy for them, starting from getting to your review page to what they should talk about.
Here are three steps to take to ensure quality Google Reviews from previous customers secure new ones:
1: Share Your Google Review Link
To make the process easy for potential reviewers, provide them with a link leading directly to where they can leave a review for your business. This way, you don’t have to worry about them leaving it on other, less useful platforms like Facebook or Yelp.
Follow these steps to get a link for your company’s Google Reviews page:
- Search for your business in Google
- Click “Write a Review”
- Copy the URL
- Shorten the URL in a program like bit.ly
With this short and simple URL, you will now be able to immediately guide customers to your ideal review platform, and your client won’t have to do any extra clicking!
2: Catch Clients at the Right Time
Asking for a review at just the right time is key in getting the glowing reviews you’re hoping for.
If you ask a client too early in the transaction or service, they will not feel obligated or inspired to take the time to leave a review. If you wait too long to ask for a review, their excitement might have already fizzled out.
For service-based companies, it’s best to send a follow-up email 2-3 days after the project or appointment is completed. Clients will still feel the happy buzz of your service and have had a few days to enjoy the results of what your company has to offer.
For example, if you are a massage company, it’s best to ask for a review when the client has had a day or two to enjoy their rejuvenated body and can speak to the extended result of your service. A week may be too long though if the therapeutic impact begins to wear off.
For product-based companies, it’s best to wait about a week after the customer has received it. If you ask a customer to leave a review right after purchase, they won’t have anything to say about it. Most likely, they have not even used it yet.
For example, imagine if you shipped a coffee maker to a customer. If you send them a review link upon delivery, the customer would not have even opened the package yet. If you ask for a review a week later, the customer can now better speak to its durability, quality, and usability.
3: Set Up An Email Template
While there are several ways to ask for a review, the easiest and most time-efficient way to bulk up your reviews is to build an email template. A follow up email will provide a personable communication to the customer, while saving your staff time on 1:1 conversations.
This template does not have to be fancy – it can just be a Word document that you copy and paste from. Having a quick reference for this email where you can quickly plug in relevant information is the best way to have a uniform style of communication.
Here are some tips for constructing your follow up email:
- Include a salutation with their name.
- Keep it short – About 2 paragraphs.
- Restate the specific service or product you provided.
- Explain how customer satisfaction and feedback play a role in your company.
- Include prompts that are important to your company
- Stay away from “yes” or “no” questions.
- Use prompts that spark insightful answers.
- Ex) How has our service made your life easier?
- Finish with a link to leave a review on Google.
Google My Business is a very valuable platform to small businesses marketing on a local level. By optimizing your Google My Business page and giving a little TLC to your reviews, new potential customers will see that you are a trustworthy business, deserving of their time and money.
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