Did you know that a brand’s reputation and sales are massively influenced by online reviews? According to research, almost 90% of people will check your ratings before they make a purchase decision. If you haven’t been paying attention to or collecting reviews from your customers, it’s about time you started. Don’t let your excellent products and services go unnoticed! Start collecting more reviews and demonstrate the credibility and impact of your business to potential customers.
Why Are Ratings and Reviews Important?
They are important because, in 2021, shoppers and clients are leaving more reviews than ever before. In this day and age, people will rarely commit to a purchase without checking the ratings of a business on Google or social media. If you’re wondering if you should start collecting reviews and how reviews will impact your business, consider the following.
Reviews Help You Establish Trust and Credibility
Both positive and negative reviews are an extremely valuable mirror of your company that indicates customer satisfaction. When potential shoppers are inquiring about your business in 2021 online reviews are pretty much as good as word-of-mouth recommendations, if not better. They help inform the customer and make them confident about their purchasing choices. Nothing drives more sales than social proof, which is an excellent building block for the trust you are hoping to establish with your potential clients. Positive reviews will definitely help your credibility and while we all dread the negative reviews, remember that even those are valuable feedback from your customers that will help you improve your business. If handled correctly, an initial negative review can even turn into a positive experience for the customer.
Reviews Increase the Visibility of Your Business and Google Rankings
If you want to have a successful business or brand, you need to understand the importance of visibility and your Google rank. Customer reviews are fresh and highly valuable content that Google will appreciate which will be reflected in your rankings. Google’s algorithm will consider both the quantity and quality of your reviews. The better you rank on Google, the more exposure your company will get and you will enjoy more sales and authority in your selected industry. By taking a proactive step and motivating your customers to leave reviews on Google, you will start to expand your brand’s reach and get more eyes on your business.
Now that you know why customer ratings are so crucial for sales and businesses, we will share a few tips and tricks on how you can collect reviews and reap the benefits.
Follow Up With Your Customers
If you’re just getting started and have none or very few reviews, the first and obvious thing you have to do is ASK. Follow up with your customers after purchase and ask them about their experience. You can do this in person or via email. Inquire if they would be willing to write a short feedback and rate your business. Most people will be happy to share their thoughts when asked. Don’t forget to thank the people who take the time to rate your business and let them know their effort was greatly appreciated.
Put Your Reviews in a Prominent Spot on Your Website
Customers are more likely to leave a review if you place them on your homepage or other eye-catching spots on your site. Displaying your reviews will invite new customers to join in too! In case you don’t have a website, make sure you research which popular platforms are your shoppers visiting. This could include Yelp, Amazon, and different social media platforms. Most of these online spots have options that will allow for your business to be reviewed. Though having your own website is essential, you should consider creating a page for your business on different sites as well.
Offer a Discount or Reward in Exchange for Reviews
Small gestures can go a long way. If you would like your customers to leave more reviews, consider rewarding them with a coupon, discount, or a personalized thank you note. You can also share their reviews and testimonials on your website and social media and give them a shoutout. They will be thrilled. This is also an excellent way to further build on your customer service and relationships. By taking the time to appreciate your customer and their effort you will make them feel special and heard which will no doubt reflect in their loyalty and keep a pleasant conversation going around your brand.
Gathering Reviews for Your Kitchen Industry Business
If you’re running a kitchen business, when following our tips and steps to increase your reviews, you should remember that it’s essential to request reviews a few days after you’ve completed the installation of kitchen elements. It’s also very important to follow up with your customers and ask for photos of the finished kitchen or bath so that you can use them on your website and social media. While of course, you should take photos yourself, whenever possible, customer’s images will offer more social proof and win your business some extra credibility points. These photos are invaluable for your projects’ portfolio so it’s definitely not a step you should miss.
The Tricky Part About Reviews
Besides forgetting to encourage customers to leave feedback, another tricky part about reviews is the complicated process for both you and the customers. If you have to point your customers to different links in order for them to leave a review on Houzz, Google, Yelp, etc. they might get overwhelmed and ignore your review request. Also if the review form is too long or complex, the customers might give up halfway through. This process eats up a lot of your time, and it brings you nothing but frustration. But we have good news! There is a way to make the review process a breeze!
Automate Your Review Process
Automating your review process with reputation management software such as RateMB.us will save you valuable time and money. This convenient software will allow your customers to leave a review by just clicking on one customized link. All they need is a Google account. After they click on the RateMB.us link they will be guided with prompts through the review process, page by page. One especially amazing feature of this software is that when a customer wishes to leave a negative, 1-star review, the RateMB.us software will guide them to a window where they can address their concerns or voice their dissatisfaction with you directly, without sharing a public review. The easy steps of the RateMB.us review process will ensure that you increase the number and quality of your reviews. You will see significantly fewer customers drop off mid-review and many more completed reviews.
KitchenDEV and RateMB.us Integration
Kitchen-based businesses will be excited to hear that our KitchenDEV software is fully and successfully integrated with RateMB.us. Why is this good news? Well, KitchenDEV is software tailored to the kitchen industry. This incredible app allows you to perfectly streamline your pricing and ordering process, upload your 2020 kitchen designs, communicate effectively with manufacturers or retailers, integrate your existing inventory and accounting software, and now it also helps you automate your review process! As we’ve mentioned before, timing can be crucial when it comes to requesting reviews for your kitchen business. This is why you’ll love that KitchenDEV has the ability to track dates! Next time you finish a project and complete the installation of the kitchen cabinets, KitchenDEV will be able to send an automated email to your customers requesting reviews X days (configurable!) after the cabinet installation date. You won’t have to do anything at all, the tool will send the email which will include the RateMB.us review collect link! How incredible is that?
Start Using KitchenDEV and RateMB.us to Increase Reviews Now
We understand how busy and stressful running a business can get. This is why we encourage you to consider KitchenDEV and RateMB.us which will help ease the stress and automate the processes that drain your energy, time, and wallet. Increase your customer’s trust and your company’s visibility, while effectively cutting down on labor cost and frustration with these two simple tools. You can sign up for the FREE 30-day trial and test out all the features. We know you’ll love them.