Tips for asking your customers to write an online review
Article written in collaboration with Two Rivers Marketing
Websites like Yelp and Google are often the first places people go to learn more about a business. Reviews on these sites, good and bad, can have a large impact on a customer’s willingness to do business with a company. Research shows the opinions of others, even strangers, may be more important than ever to purchasing decisions.
We’ve always relied heavily on the recommendations of others when it comes to selecting goods and services. When making decisions, we call on our family, friends or coworkers to offer their opinions on everything from where to eat dinner to who should construct our home.
Why you should ask
People turn to sites like Yelp and Google when researching a business because they are free to use and provide peer reviews people may count on as a valuable tool in their decision process. What you might not realize, though, is these websites can be a great tool for business owners as well. You can upload valuable information, promote events and monitor reviews and feedback all in one spot, for free.
As of December 31, 2015, Yelp reported a monthly average of 86 million mobile visitors and 75 million unique desktop visitors. There are now over 95 million reviews on Yelp — home and local services, like tree care companies, account for roughly 7 million of those reviews.
Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) president Mark Gavin says tree care business owners should not plead ignorance when it comes to managing their online presence.
“People who own small tree care companies,” he says, “should be very, very aware of what’s going on out there on the internet about their business and what people are saying.”
It’s apparent online reviews are growing in importance and relevancy — owning your online reputation is crucial to reputation and success of your business.
Before you ask
Before you can ask your customers to write you an online review, you have to create or claim your profile. These helpful sites will walk you through the process.
Claim an existing profile on Yelp
Create a new business profile on Yelp
Create a Google Business page
How to ask
It’s up to business owners to monitor what is being said about their company, respond to negative reviews and even help generate good reviews. Customers, especially ones that are already loyal to your business, are often receptive to a request to write an online review. Sometimes asking is all it takes for them to take the extra step and help spread the word online about the positive experience they had with your company. Marketing professionals suggest the following tips might help you in asking your customers to write an online review.
- Make the request early: Remember that positive experience you just gave the customer? So do they — for now. It’s better to ask them for a review right after you complete a job while it’s still fresh in their mind.
- Make it easy on them: People are busy — if you make the process painless and foolproof, your customers are far more likely to do you the favor of writing a review. Send them a short email with a link to the review page that states, “If you have time, would you be able to write a brief review for me on Yelp?” If they were happy with your work and your company, that might be all the encouragement they need.
- Make it personal: Add a detail to your message that shows you remember the person and the job you did for them. This will lend an authenticity to your request, so it doesn’t seem like you are just fishing for compliments.
- Make it worth their while: There’s no harm in offering a small incentive in exchange for a review. Remember, you’re not asking them to write you a good review, just a review. Show the customer that you appreciate the time they took to share their thoughts on your business with a percentage off their next service or a promotional item from your company.
- Make it known: People usually don’t mind a little attention. Ask them if you can share their review on your social media channels and website. The recognition might reinforce the customer’s decision to share their experience. As an added bonus, other customers might feel compelled to write their own reviews.
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This article contains third-party observations, advice or experiences that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Vermeer Corporation, its affiliates or its dealers. Advice or suggestions provided in this article are statements of general applicability that may or may not apply to individual businesses, whose circumstances and operations may vary.