Online reviews can make or break your reputation. They are the number one thing people look for when searching for your business online. If your business has too many negative reviews, then that may be enough to cause a potential customer to go to your competitor instead. A good way to counter a bad review is to get more reviews for your business. While we have discussed briefly how to increase the number of reviews for your business, today we want to go more in-depth on what you need to avoid doing when soliciting a review.
- Do not pay for them. Companies have been known to post listings for review writers on sites like Fiverr and Craigslist. For prices as low as $1 to $5, a business could pay someone to write a positive review anywhere, from Facebook to Google+. Compared to the cost of a TV or radio ad, paying a few dollars to get people to write reviews can be a much less expensive investment. However this is an incredibly misleading practice. People seek out reviews to see if they want to support your business. If you are offering an important service, like a medical treatment, then you do not want people basing their decision on a fake review.
- Refrain from asking friends and relatives for a review. When you are a new business, it may be some time before you build up reviews from customers. Many bosses and owners then ask the people closest to them–their friends and relatives– to write reviews for these early days, These are designed to make the business look more established and to beef up their review quantity until customer reviews start pouring in. However, an online review should come from legitimate, unbiased customers. Not only may your loved ones not ever need to use your business, but you put them in an awkward position when you ask them to do this. They might feel as if you are guilt-tripping them into writing something positive about your business.
- Avoid instructing employees to write a review. While your staff may love their job, a review is not the place for them to show their affection. A review should be about the customer’s experience with your company. Plus, it is disingenuous when your staff writes something like “friendly and experienced staff!!” in a review. In fact, actual customers might recognize employee names when they go to write a review. This could turn them off and cause them not to go to your business again.
Want to know more about the right ways to drum up more reviews for your business? Contact us here by phone or email to schedule a meeting. With our help, you will never need to rely on sneaky and deceptive methods to increase your company’s amount of online reviews!