Reviews – why they are good for your business and how to get them

Reviews are an incredibly important part of the online world. We all the know the value of word of mouth, for example. But what about the times when you need to find a service or item via the internet? You – like your potential customers – will turn to reviews. A great review is fantastic. Lots of great reviews is a game-changer in terms of getting new business.

We call it ‘social proof’ – it’s proof that people recognise what you’re doing is good.

Setting up a review facility

There are a whole host of review sites, from Trustpilot to Feefo and the best one can depend on your business type. Here at Aubergine we’ve used Google Reviews because they were easy to set up from our Google My Business (GMB) account. Once you have GMB, it is incredibly easy for people to leave a review at their convenience.

If setting up the review facility is fairly straightforward, actually getting the review is not so easy. Now we have managed to get 100 five-star Google Reviews, we wanted to share some of the things we’ve learned over the years.

1. Go above and beyond

Reviews = time. We’re all busy and have busy lives, and however much you’d like your customers to leave reviews, the truth is they are unlikely to do so unless they feel strongly about something (good or bad!) Clearly, you want them to come away from your business feeling like they want to tell everyone about it because you are amazing, and this means offering them something above and beyond what they would expect from an average business.

2. Don’t chase

It seems like common sense that contacting people to ask for a review would be a useful process. It isn’t (we know, we’ve tried it). This is all down to Learnt Item #1 above. If they are too busy to write a review voluntarily, it’s unlikely that you calling them will make any difference. It might even have the opposite effect.

3. Get involved in the community

A quarter of our reviews stem from a community project we initiated during lockdown. People like people – and they like companies with people that show their humanity. This is also linked to Learnt Item #1, Going Above and Beyond. It doesn’t matter if the thing you do isn’t strictly business related, what it does is show that you care – and caring companies are more likely to be likeable and trustworthy.

4. Make it easy

Make sure there are no obstacles for people who do want to leave a review. You could have a link at the bottom of your email footer, or send a questionnaire with your invoice, or leave cards for people to fill in when they visit you. It’s whatever works for your business – they key thing is that it’s easy to do.

We often find a good way to get reviews is a direct email from someone in your organisation to the customer explaining that reviews are an important way for you to ensure both quality and how to improve. Add that it means a lot to have personal feedback in this way, so that you can go on to better support them and other customers. This heartfelt approach is usually rewarded with a review.

5. Get the reviews on your website

Once you have your fabulous feedback, make sure potential customers can see it. At the very least, include some quotes on your home page. A bit more advanced are the various widgets that will show a Google Review feed on your business website – if you are not sure how to do this, ask your web developer to do it for you.