How Reviews Can Improve Your Company’s Relationship with Customers

Customer relations is a foundational aspect of running a successful business, especially for small-to-medium-size companies with less exposure than their larger rivals. A business’s relationship with its clients has an impact on everything from conversion rates and reputation to marketing success and so much more. Although focusing on high-quality products and services can improve customer relations, there are other important components to take into account. Here, we’ll explore the various ways reviews can improve your company’s relationship with clients.

 

It’s an accurate measure of customer satisfaction.

A key to optimizing customer relations is knowing how customers feel. If you have a well-defined and accurate understanding of how your current and potential clients perceive your business, you’re in a better position to improve the experience. You’ll know what you’re doing right, what needs some tweaking, and what you should get rid of altogether. Reviews are the single most effective way to gain a precise, real-time, and unfiltered understanding of customer satisfaction. It’s a great way to save time, energy, and money all while gaining an accurate gauge of how your customers feel.

 

Customers feel heard.

Whether you’re responding to positive or negative feedback, customers appreciate it when businesses interact with their comments. It shows that you genuinely value their opinion and eagerly want to improve your business. Engaging with great feedback reinforces the client’s positive experience and encourages them to continue working with your business. On the other hand, responding to constructive feedback shows clients that you take their concerns seriously and want to solve the problem. In both scenarios, the customer will feel heard and understood which increases the likelihood they’ll decide to work with you again.

 

Reviews can improve customer service.

The benefit of client feedback on customer relations isn’t just limited to positive reviews. In fact, some of the best changes can come from critical reviews. While positive feedback is great for building reputation, loyalty, and awareness, it does little in way of improving how your business operates. Conversely, critical reviews highlight areas where your business is falling short in the customer experience. Addressing these issues can drastically improve your company’s relationship with existing and future customers. The trick is seeing critical reviews as opportunities for improvement instead of an attack or threat to your business.

 

Potential customers love client testimonials.

People spend hours, days, and sometimes even weeks researching a business before spending their money. With customer testimonials influencing 93% of purchasing choices, it’s clear what potential customers care about the most: reviews! Although it’s crucial to include information about your offerings and company online, you make it so much easier for potential clients to make an informed decision about your business by curating feedback from previous customers. It lends a level of credence that your brand can’t achieve alone. By simplifying the research process for clients who are on the fence, you’ll further improve your relationship with customers.

 

Why most review sites fail businesses.

Some of the biggest obstacles preventing businesses from making the most of customer feedback are actually the review sites themselves. Google, Yelp, and other conventional review platforms severely limit the control businesses have over their client feedback. Positive reviews aren’t properly bolstered for potential customers and critical reviews aren’t effectively channeled to resolve issues that arise That’s where hapigood comes into play!

 

This one-of-a-kind customer review and reputation management platform is designed to put businesses back in the driver’s seat when it comes to client feedback. hapigood makes it easier for businesses to source reviews, promote positive testimonials, respond to negative client experiences, and reap all the myriad benefits of customer feedback.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about what hapigood can offer and how your business can benefit, contact us today. We’re already helping a host of small businesses improve their review and reputation management. Your business should be next!

7 Tips for Boosting the Number of Customer Reviews for Your Business

Customer reviews are a powerful tool that can help your business boost online exposure, improve reputation, perfect customer service, build loyalty, and so much more. The more reviews you have, the more potent the benefits. If you’ve been struggling to get customers to share their experiences, follow these 7 tips to open the testimonial floodgates.

 

1.   Ask for reviews.

The first step to boosting customer reviews is to ask for…well, reviews. That’s a painfully obvious starting point, but it’s also painfully underutilized. A whopping 70% of customers are more than happy to leave a review if a business asks. That’s right! Simply requesting a review can elevate the number of client testimonials your business curates. Most customers aren’t actively deciding to NOT leave a review. Instead, it’s not something that crosses their minds. A request is all the nudge most clients need to share their thoughts.

 

2.   Catch customers right after their purchase.

Recency is critical when encouraging customers to leave reviews. Generally, people are more motivated to leave a testimonial right after working with your business. As more time passes, that eagerness gradually decreases. The trick is to catch clients immediately after buying a product or paying for a service. This immediate follow-up increases the likelihood they’ll share feedback and ensures they remember specific details about what made the experience so great.

 

3.   Give a specific time.

Time is one of the top reasons customers refuse to leave feedback even after a positive customer experience. When presented with an open-ended request for a review, clients are uneasy about dedicating an undisclosed amount of time to leave a testimonial. This problem is easily solved by offering a fair heads-up about how long it will take to write a review. You can say something like “Take a few minutes to fill out…” or “It’ll only take 2 minutes to complete…”. A little transparency can go a long way.

 

4.   Offer the possibility of anonymity.

Some people are skeptical of sharing online reviews because they don’t want their information shared online. You can ease this concern by making it clear to potential reviewers that none of their personal info will get shared. Furthermore, you can allow a customer to omit their last or full name from the review, depending on their privacy preferences. You’ll be giving customers peace of mind knowing their information is protected while still getting the real reviews you need to improve your business.

 

5.   Ask for emails at checkout.

Despite the variety of modern marketing channels, email is still among the most effective methods of communicating with customers. In fact, 72% of consumers prefer email as their primary source of contact with businesses. What relevance does that have for customer reviews? Well, collecting emails during the checkout process – whether that’s in-person or online – is a great way to send follow-up review requests. It’s easy to implement, and there’s no burden on customers. Plus, you’re building an email list at the same time which will come in handy for marketing efforts.

 

6.   Offer an incentive for reviews.

Everyone loves free stuff, especially after spending money. Offering even a small thank-you for a review can considerably increase the number of clients willing to share their experiences. Coupons or gift cards for future businesses are an excellent strategy as you’re securing a review while encouraging customers to come back and spend more money with you. Be sure to make these incentives prominent so customers know what they’ll get in return.

 

7.   Use powerful review management software.

The unsung hero of an effective customer review strategy is a committed management system. Google, Yelp, and other common review sites fail to give businesses the oversight and management needed to make the most of reviews. hapigood, on the other hand, helps businesses curate, manage, and publish customer feedback in an organized, effective, and scalable manner. It funnels all reviews to one, convenient location where businesses can figure out the most appropriate way to utilize them.

 

If your business is struggling to get the most out of customer reviews, contact us today to learn more about how hapigood can help.