Why Customer Reviews Are An Essential Part Of Your Sales Strategy
Most people know that reviews are important for attracting customers and driving brand awareness. But few are aware just how much reviews can help your business online...
Case in point - there's a guy who once listed his shed as a restaurant on TripAdvisor. Being a curious bloke (or just having too much time on his hands), he decided on an experiment to see how fast he could get his shed 'restaurant' into a top ranking spot.
He bought a burner phone, registered a fake number, a fake email address… the lot. He successfully registered on the platform, and filled his listing with arty nonsense that didn't give away any real details (such as a street address).
To post photos of his 'meals', he got creative, using cat food, polystyrene, paint, shaving foam, and all sorts of other household items were dressed up to look like a 5 star meal. Yum.
Starting off at ranking #18149, it was time for the fun to begin.
He started asking his friends and acquaintances to take a photo of themselves eating a nice meal and submit a raving review for his restaurant on TripAdvisor. Surprisingly, soon his phone started ringing hot. He became swamped with people requesting bookings... and found himself at the spot of 156 after just 3 months.
Suppliers started to send sample stock to him. Everything from food preparation tools, ingredients, tea samples, stuff just kept flooding in. People started sending their CVs. Assistants to big executives started using every trick in the book to get a table for the boss.
It took 6 months and ninety-six 5-star reviews to become Trip Advisor's #1 rated restaurant in London.
Now, by no means am I saying you should go out and get a bunch of fake reviews for your business. But it does show just how important reviews are for getting your business in front of your market online
The facts & Numbers behind Customer Reviews
The numbers don't lie - and they're pretty persuasive:
- Nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
- Having five reviews results in purchase likelihood increasing by a factor of almost four times (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
- 72% of customers don't take action until they have read reviews (Testimonial Engine)
Convinced yet? Of course you are!
How to Use Positive Reviews To Your Benefit
There's a few really productive places you can use reviews to establish trust in your business and its services.
Jump onto Google My Business, so people can look for your business name on Google or on Google maps. Obviously the more reviews you've got, the higher organically you're going to be placed above your competition. It's a great way to get a good listing on Google without having to spend money on Google Adwords or SEO.
Also, if someone's wanting to speak with your sales team, as they're deciding which decision to make when buying a widget or your service, it's very easy to send them to a Google review page or a Facebook review page.
If you've got a page on your website with testimonials and shout outs or case studies as well, that's extra points for you. At The Game Changers, we regularly record testimonials from our clients, and showcase them on a dedicated webpage: https://wordpress-171069-1809066.cloudwaysapps.com/game-changers/
How to Use Negative Reviews To Your Benefit
It's never a great feeling to get negative feedback, especially when it's warranted (and not just someone trolling your page). But you cannot hide from these or sweep them under the carpet.
If it's feedback from a legitimate client, the first thing to do is reach out and have a conversation.
Was the feedback warranted?
What can you learn from their feedback?
How can you improve your business so it doesn't happen again?
You will get the occasional customer who is just not happy, no matter what you do to try and resolve their issue. In those circumstances, reply publicly and show you understand and care that they've had this negative experience.
Not only is this the right thing to do as an authentic and considerate person, but it also shows other potential customers how you deal with situations like that, which can endear them to your company.
Because let's face it, stuff ups do happen. It's what you do when the chips are down that shows your true values.
Using Customer Reviews In Your Sales Strategy
Customer reviews aren't just for putting on a wall - they're a powerful part of a bigger sales strategy. At The Game Changers, we sprinkle testimonials through all of our marketing, from our Facebook ads, to our email nurturing sequences, sales pages, social media, and videos.
Because it's one thing to tell others that you're good at what you do… but having others talk about it too (with no personal agenda), is an incredible trust builder and motivator
Over to you...
If you're looking for ways to grow your business, triple your profits, and start freeing up more time, I recommend you jump on to a call with one of my team.
Check out our case studies through Google, through YouTube, through Instagram, or Facebook, and if you want results like our clients are getting, reach out and take the first step.
Get in touch with the team for a quick 15 minute, no BS chat about your business. We'll get to know you a bit, see if we're a fit, and give you our honest view of whether we can help you.
