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Imagine one day you’re exploring a new city. You’ve been out exploring all day and now your stomach is growling. It’s time to eat, but you’re not sure where to go and you don’t want to miss out on some of the top-rated cuisines in the area. So, you pull out your phone and open Google.
After searching for “top restaurants near me,” a list of restaurants show up displayed in a box above the rest of the search results.
The pressure is on. You only have one chance to choose the right restaurant – how on earth are you going to select the right one?
You read the reviews.
According to a series of experiments conducted by Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov, it takes 1/10 of a second to make a first impression. This means that almost immediately after interacting with a person or business, you begin to form a basic idea of how you feel about them.
This statistic is both scary and exciting when you consider Google is where most potential customers make their first impressions.
Today, most consumers turn to Google to solve many of their problems ranging from local boutique recommendations to the latest Seahawks score. If you’re not showing up where your potential customers are asking for you, you’re missing out on a big opportunity.
There are so many benefits for local businesses to focus on generating Google business reviews:
In the digital era, people are turning to Google for their recommendations on where to spend their time and money. That means if you’re a local business that wants to be found by your potential customers (and we assume you do!), it’s a good idea to start collecting those reviews.
Now it’s time to answer the almighty question of, “how do I get these coveted words on my Google Business page?” We’re going to be upfront and let you know it’s not easy and it doesn’t happen overnight.
If you search “how to get more Google reviews”, you’ll run into ads from companies claiming to get you reviews quick and easy. While you can try that route, there are so many better, cheaper, and more authentic ways to gather this valuable content from your customers.
So, how do you get reviews? Well, all you have to do is ask. That’s it!
Just kidding. Of course, that is the basic premise, but there are better ways to ask than others. So, let’s break that down for you in just three basic steps.
Think back to a time when you had an amazing experience. We’re not just talking about a “pretty good” interaction, but rather a life-changing “oh wow, this was so incredible that I need to tell everyone about it” kind of experience.
The best review is one that is honest and unbiased by templates or incentives. We do not recommend incentivizing your customers to leave a review. Not only will they potentially skew the honesty of the review, but the practice is also against Google’s guidelines. Instead, make them so happy with their experience they can’t help but want to help you out.
One of the best ways to get your customers to leave a Google review is to make a lasting impression on them before, during, and even after doing business with you. It’s a simple idea, but it can be much easier said than done.
Leaving a positive impression on your customers requires thinking out of the box and going out of your way to go above and beyond their expectations. A few ways you can delight your customers include:
The golden rule is this: help people and they’ll help you. Show them you care about them beyond just a dollar sign on a spreadsheet. Your customers are people and they deserve to be treated as such. When that happens, they’ll be delighted to turn around and support you.
How many times have you been handed a receipt at a retail store with the bottom portion circled by the retail associate and a monotone request to “review us for a chance to win a $500 gift card” only to go home, throw away the receipt, and forget about it altogether?
We want to see hands raised here – we’ve all done it.
While this method might catch a shopper who wants that $500 gift card badly enough to remember to do it when they get home – or even while they’re still at the store if they’re really dedicated – there’s a reason why it doesn’t work so great.
Enjovia has created a comprehensive gift card management software that is very easy to use, the great thing about this is that you can set up multiple branded voucher stores and start selling within minutes.
We as a culture have gotten lazy – why spend 10 minutes answering questions when we can watch the latest show on Netflix instead?
The key here is to make the process so easy, simple, and fast that it’s hard to say no. There are a couple of ways you can pull this off in a way that’s also easy for you and your team.
1st Method – Send the link directly
2nd Method – Save time and automate the process
Automating your review request process can save time and help you get valuable feedback without any extra hassle. Many businesses set up automated follow-up texts or emails that go out within moments of a transaction, allowing customers to leave a review right away. This approach is perfect for capturing feedback while the experience is still fresh, and it eliminates the need for employees to manually send requests each time.
Want a more personalized touch? Train your team to mention the follow-up during checkout or a service interaction so customers are more likely to expect and respond to the automated request. This way, you maximize the chance of a review while building on that great in-person connection your team has already established. Plus, Odd Dog offers a full suite of digital marketing services to help you create an effective review strategy—check out our Small Business Marketing Packages to learn more!
Now that the transaction is complete, your customer has walked away satisfied with their experience, and you’ve asked them to send you a review, what’s next?
If you haven’t received a review within a few days of requesting one, it’s likely your customer has gone home and forgotten to do so. This is a good time to send a quick reminder email or text, checking in with them.
In your outreach, don’t make it all about the review. Instead, connect with them over a conversation. Find out how your service has solved their problems and, if you can, follow up with anything personal they might have shared with you.
With any luck, this conversation may even turn into the perfect review they can then just copy and paste into the textbox at the link you sent them previously.
On the other hand, you may have a brand new customer review sitting on your Google business page. This is a good time to send a quick thank you note and leave a response.
Congratulations! If you’ve done everything correctly, you now have new reviews sitting on your Google Business page. However, it’s not time to call it a day just yet.
Open up a new tab, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to respond to the reviews you now have. This creates a flow of two-way communication between you and your customers that will build deeper connections. Plus, it shows the community you are engaged and willing to step out of your way to keep the conversation going.
Note: Before you can respond to your Google reviews, you must claim and verify your business page. We walk you through how to do that on our Guide to Google My Business pages for 2022.
When responding to feedback, it’s possible you’ll encounter both positive and negative reviews. While it’s tempting to only respond to the positive ones, it’s almost even more important to put the focus on the negative feedback and do your best to turn it around.
Statistics show 33% of commenters who left a bad review that gained a response from the company turned around and left a positive response and 34% deleted the negative review altogether.
Beyond that, remember you’re not only responding to the one person who left the review, but you’re also responding to the thousands of people who will read this review and your response over the coming years.
So, how do you respond to a negative review? The first step is to take a step back once you’ve read the review and check your emotions. Oftentimes, negative feedback from a customer can feel like a direct hit to you as a person. Before you make your response, it’s best to clear your head and separate yourself from the feedback.
Once your emotions are in check, it’s time to draft up the right response. There are many ways to do this and your response will vary based on the content of the review, but here are a few basic guidelines to keep in mind while you write it:
Throughout the response, do your best to maintain a calm and objective tone. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. You will be tempted to say, “You’re wrong! There’s nothing wrong with us,” and in some cases, that may very well be true. But in responding to reviews, it’s not about who’s wrong or right, but instead, what you can do to rectify the situation.
In summary, the more professional, appreciative and helpful you are, the more confidence future readers will have that you will do everything in your power to correct the issue that gave someone a negative experience.
As you can see, getting Google reviews for your business is not only important to building your online reputation but can also act as a tool to establish brand loyalty and form connections with current and potential customers. Once you have a routine in place and the right tools to guide you, collecting reviews from your customers will become like second nature.
Have you got all that?
Great!
But if not, have no fear! We are an award-winning SEO Company, Google Ads Agency, PPC Agency, and Branding Agency!
If your business needs a boost, check out our Marketing Packages for Small Businesses or contact us. We’d love to work with you and your business!
Please use the calendar to the right to book an initial meeting with our sales team.
Have a specific service in mind or looking to share more about your project goals? Fill out the form on this page and one of our sales specialist will get back to you ASAP.