Every one of us is likely to have used a review at some point in our lives to dictate whether we make a purchase or not.
For consumers, there has never been a better opportunity to find out more about a product or service than online reviews.
Their influence on spending has grown considerably as a result, with research from Trustpilot indicating that nine out of ten customers read reviews before deciding to make a purchase.
Need more proof that reviews matter? A separate study by Podium found that 58 per cent of consumers would pay more to purchase goods and services from a company with good reviews.
While many restaurants, shops and attractions have capitalised on the power of a positive review, professional service firms have been slower to catch on and more cautious about their approach.
Equally many users of professional services still tend to rely on word-of-mouth referrals, but this is changing quickly and provides exciting opportunities to firms who are willing to invest time in generating strong social proof statements on the top review sites.
There are now a plethora of trusted websites out there offering consumers, and employees, the opportunity to share their views.
Some of these require firms to set up and monitor their profiles, while others allow consumers and employees to post their comments without the approval of the businesses involved.
Getting started
If you haven’t previously explored review websites, then there are a few things that you need to consider initially:
- What websites do you want to operate on?
- How can you get customers to leave a positive response?
- How will you deal with negative reviews?
Looking at the first point there are many opportunities available to you, but the two most common review sites for professional service firms include:
- Google – Perhaps the most commonly used review site online, Google’s review page for each business is carefully integrated into each company’s business profile to give searchers a quick and clear appraisal of the quality of the product or services a business offers. As this is built natively into Google’s platform, this is where most firms are likely to receive reviews.
- Trustpilot – Trustpilot is a review platform that helps consumers make informed purchasing decisions while aiding businesses in improving their services. The platform hosts reviews of businesses worldwide, covering a vast array of sectors and provides a space for consumers to share their experiences and feedback on products or services they’ve used, thereby influencing potential customers and promoting transparency. Businesses are required to create a profile on the site to receive reviews.
Beyond these two sites, reviews and testimonials shared on your website and social media can have a significant impact on converting website visitors to new clients.
Gathering reviews
One of the challenges with review websites is populating them. Most firms have to rely on their clients organically posting reviews after receiving either a positive or negative experience to build up a significant number of reviews online.
Numbers and the frequency of reviews are important, as research has shown the varying levels of trust based in a review based upon these two factors:
- 38 per cent of customers look for at least a 4-star average review
- 83 per cent of customers say reviews must be relevant and recent to be trustworthy
So how can firms receive more reviews:
- Ask – It never hurts to ask clients to leave a review, especially if you know that they are satisfied with the service you have provided. This can be done via a personal email or a dedicated eshot campaign.
- Provide incredible services – The best way to ensure you get lots of positive reviews is to provide excellent services, that exceed expectations. Consumers are often more than happy to go out of their way to leave a review on services that have made a material difference in their lives.
- Make life easier – Prominently displaying links to your review sites on social media and your website is a great way to show potential reviewers that you are open to their opinion.
The challenges of online reviews
Whilst the sites mentioned above are a great way of building your brand and demonstrating your excellence via social proof statements from satisfied clients, there is often a fear about the impact of negative reviews.
Many of us will have heard horror stories about restaurants that closed after a series of bad reviews or competitors who have launched campaigns to discredit brands.
This is backed up by data from Review Trackers that shows that 94 per cent of consumers say they have avoided a business because of a negative online review.
It would be nice to think that review sites would be on top of false or exaggerated reviews and remove them immediately, but this can be challenging.
Don’t let this put you off reviews entirely, however, as there are steps that can be taken to monitor and manage negative comments:
- Respond quickly – It is always recommended that you respond to reviews online and give a fair account of your actions. According to Podium, 56 per cent of customers say a company’s response to a review changed their perspective on the business
- Report it – Most platforms allow you to report reviews that you believe are inaccurate or unrelated to your business. This process can be challenging, and many platforms are often unwilling to remove comments unless you have clear proof that it is inaccurate.
- Learn and improve – Sometimes negative comments have merit and so they should be used to improve areas of weakness within your organisation so that future reviews do not carry the same complaints.
Need help?
Whether you are just starting and need assistance with setting up and promoting your online reviews or an established firm that has struggled with negative feedback, we can help.
We have previously worked with a number of practices to build their online brand and presence – creating campaigns that help them to improve and grow their ratings.
