Who would you trust to remodel your house: Billy Bob’s with no customer reviews, or 5-star rated Justin Home Remodeling with 327? These are made up company names, but they demonstrate the essential value of client feedback when it comes to local search marketing. In this market environment, positive consumer reviews makes all the difference in transforming casual interest into actual customers. In our latest podcast, Nolen and Jason reveal how feedback heavily impacts your business and how the right review software can help.
If your business has struggled to achieve lasting brand growth and earn leads, be sure to listen in closely!
Key Points to Listen For
- Reviews are one of the truest forms of brand currency.
- Review management software works best when fully integrated with your website.
- Getting more reviews is easy when you make it simple for your clients to provide feedback.
- DIY reputation management doesn’t have to break the bank, if you use the right platform.
How Do I Get More Reviews?
That’s a question we hear time and time again from frustrated contractors and business owners. Most of them have tried the traditional means of accruing them. Some owners even go the extra mile and provide a business card that include a link to a review site. But most companies simply aren’t capturing as many client reviews as they desire.
This begs the obvious question: Why?
While some consumers would climb any mountain to praise the companies they love the most, the vast majority of consumers simply don’t show the willingness to research and commend their service providers. Sure, they’ll hunt down your business on Yelp (or Google Reviews) if they have a negative experience.
Surely all a business needs to get a review is ask, right? Perhaps. According to a 2016 study by Search Engine Land, “70% of consumers will leave a review for a business when asked”. I don’t know about you, but do 70% of your customers leave feedback for your business? Probably not. This naturally leads us to one logical conclusion: either businesses aren’t asking for reviews correctly, or they aren’t asking at all.
Reviews Convey Trustworthiness, So What Does Having No Reviews at All Convey?
The Change We Need to See
Reviews only happen when everybody gets on board. As a business owner or manager, you don’t have time to go around emailing every single client asking for retroactive reviews. Even if you have the aid of review management software, contacting people six months after a project (or sale) will mostly irritate people. Worse, even the most exuberant clients can find reasons to complain after that long a period.
By the way, if you’re asking “What is review management software?”, it’s a digital tool companies can utilize to capture positive client reviews, while keeping a close eye for negative feedback.
In most cases, feedback should be collected within 24 hours of completing a project or sale. Obviously, some industries may have a longer standard period, but you should generally strive to gain those reviews sooner rather than later. Whether your business takes advantage of review software or good old-fashioned phone calls, it takes the entire team to gather that feedback!
For roofers and other home services, this means partnering with your project managers and asking for a review at the end of every installation or repair. For storefront businesses, this means training your register operators to explain the review process. Here’s a hot tip when it comes to these post-sale reviews: make sure the review includes the employee’s name and a customer service rating! If your employees have a stake in the reviews (perhaps a well-earned bonus), they’ll be much more enthusiastic about promoting them. Your clients will also be more likely to participate if they have a specific face to support instead of your brand.
This Salon Owner Nails the Process of Following Up on Reviews and Address a Complaint.
How Much Does Reputation Management Cost?
That depends entirely on what sort of solution you land on. Some companies specialize in monitoring customer feedback, charging to $10,000 or more per month. If that figure makes you want to jump out of your seat, you’re not alone. At the same time, you don’t want to pay an untested professional a couple grand for shaky results. That would be just one more task to manage.
Many businesses opt for some form of review software or manual feedback. There are plenty of solutions available online with very reasonable pricing. For growing businesses, you may also find review software available as part of an online marketing package.
Our own solution, Righteous Reviews, comes integrated with each of custom-built websites. It provides geotagged check-in capability, in addition to automatic requests for reviews through text or email. Finally, it prompts an email alert for reviews of 3 stars or lower, so that you can quickly address client grievances.
Our Review Software Makes it Easy to Gather and Manage Feedback.
Team Up With Nolen Walker!
If you’ve been wondering how to protect your online reputation, our team at Nolen Walker would love to help. We partner with businesses all over the United States, providing premium rankings in local search, better traffic, and higher-quality leads. We’d be thrilled to find new growth opportunities for your business!
Call us today at (866) 356-8198 for a free consultation.
Additional Resources From Nolen Walker
Related Podcasts and Articles
– How Can I Improve My Conversion Rate? (Article)
– 7 SEO Tactics You Can’t Afford to Miss (Article)
– One Simple Trick to Get More Google Reviews (Podcast)
Related Services by Nolen Walker
– Online Reputation Management
– Local Business Listings
– Search Engine Optimization