Review Growth

Someone saying something good about your product, service, or solution is valuable.  We can spout our benefits and the features of our business all day long yet when someone else says how it helped or made a difference for them that third party online review carries great credibility and value.

Referrals and recommendations have always been the most powerful form of marketing.  Word of mouth has the strongest impact on your small business growth.

What’s the impact of having more stars on your online reviews?

People don’t even look at a business who doesn't have at least 10 5-star reviews.

If you’re a business branding yourself as an expert in your field or expertise, then you need at minimum 60 5-star reviews.

If you’re an ecommerce site, you need a minimum of 120 5-star reviews to be considered credible.

In addition to reviews about your business and customer service, if you have products potential customers expect to see reviews about your individual products.

How are you getting your reviews right now?

If you have your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business, GMB, or a Google Listing), then you have access to the most powerful tool that search engines use to present credible reviews.

There are reviews also in most all of the social platforms which are often visible and reviewed by potential customers.

Then, there are sites specific to each industry that focus on garnering and presenting reviews.

You may be monitoring it but what are you doing about it?

Asking for reviews is the first step along with monitoring when you do receive reviews.

Are you responding to your reviews? All of your reviews? Often we respond to the negative reviews and many times we even respond to “trolls” (those who leave reviews just to upset and antagonize a business - they are often never actual customers or potential customers of the business).

Review your reviews often

Consistently see what’s impacting and important to your customers. It also shows to everyone who is reviewing your reviews that you care and listen to your customers. It gives them insight into the kind of customer experience you provide before they ever disclose they have an interest.

Ask for reviews often

Ask for reviews but be cautious about how you ask.  You don’t want great reviews discounted or removed because it looks like you’re “rewarding for reviews”.  Rewarding reviews violates Google’s terms of service and several review guidelines that preserve the integrity of reviews.

• Learn how to respond to negative reviews as well as positive feedback

• Use the reviews that you get as marketing assets

• Learn the art of asking for reviews from customers

Turn customer reviews into powerful marketing assets

1 - Help Customers in Making a Decision

Customer decision journeys are what they need to hear and see to discern if you are the provider or solution of choice for them.

Knowing customer feedback helps you understand what information is important to them, how you perform on what they see as critical areas to you being who they choose, It’s a great resource to you and to potential customers when deciding.

2 - Negative reviews are often complaints in another format

Have you ever heard the phrase - a complaint is a gift?  This is true because it gives you a chance to address it.  When a customer is no longer interested in your product, service, or solution they will leave quietly.  Frankly, it’s not worth their time to share any feedback with you. They have moved on to another solution.

Use these crucial moments to be responsive and assist customers.  By doing so, you can turn an upset customer and potential enemy into a great advocate for you and your company.

3 - Grow your business and attract more customers

✔️ Build trust with those who discover your business or product online.

✔️ Drive traffic to your website or sales platforms.

✔️ Increase conversion rates from first-time visitors to your site or socials.

✔️ Increase traffic to your site

✔️ Offset the costs of advertising which are often determined by the seasons and your competitors.

90% trust the opinions of other customers.  Source:  Wyzeowl
95% of customers find that personal recommendations influence their decisions. Source: Wyzeowl

4 - Align with your potential customers in their on words

In reviews, customers tell you what matters most to them in their own words. There’s nothing more powerful in creating rapport, understanding, and getting potential customers to lean in more when you can match the exact words they specifically use.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q:  What is Review Management?

1.  It’s a strategy and service of consistently asking for reviews, managing review responses, and recognizing those customers who give reviews.  It’s a very effective way to showcase the best customer feedback and the forefront of your business.

Q:  What is Review Growth?

1. The more reviews you have the better you give people a well rounded sense of your business,  your products, your delivery, your services, and your customer care.  Review Growth is actively focusing when to ask for reviews and to consistently and constantly ask for reviews.  Many customers do not leave a review not because they were not happy but because they forgot and just got busy with life.

Q:  Why are Google Reviews so important?

1. Reputation management is important to your business credibility and the perceived value of your business services and products.  Online reviews play an influential role in the way consumers today discover and discern whether a brand, product or service, is worthy of your time and your resources (and money!)  For customers, it gives them the best and quickest opportunity to research and gain insight on a product or business.

Q:  Does it hurt our company to ask for Google Reviews?

1.  No, it actually helps and is something that not enough businesses do consistently.  (*Hint: If you want to stand out above your competitors ask for reviews)  Any company has the right to seek Google reviews from its customers. The only thing that would hurt your company on the review management side is paying for a review or compensating even with gifts for a good review or faking reviews. Don’t do anything like that! Remember, a reputation can take years to build and seconds to destroy.

Q:  Can I ask someone to change a review they left for us?

1.  Yes, you can. Asking someone to change their review is not against Google’s review policy. In fact, it's best practice to “ask” a customer to change their review especially after you've listened to their concern and addressed it.

Q:  How can you get rid of a review on Google?

1.  A Google review must violate the standards and terms and conditions set by Google to be flagged, reviewed by Google's team, and ultimately removed. To ask Google to remove or delete an inappropriate review from your Business Profile, report the review. Google can remove reviews that violate Google's policies.

Important: Before you ask to remove or delete a review, read our reviews policy. Here is how to ask for a review to be removed. It’s a long process that doesn’t necessarily get the review removed. Bookmark this page which covers in detail what you can and cannot do with and about reviews and which reviews are in violation of Google's terms and conditions.

Here’s your free access on how to manage your online reivews on Google Search and Maps and use the free Google Business Profile tool (formerly known as Google My Business, GMB, or Google listing).