88% percent of consumers read reviews in order to determine the quality of the local business (85% read up to ten!), and another 88% say they trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations. We can’t stress the importance of online reviews enough. Let’s take a look at helpful ways you can ensure customers review your product.

1. It’s all about the timing.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: the first step to obtain reviews is simply to ask your customers to leave their feedback. But the easiest way to increase your chances of your customers actually doing this is by asking them at the right time.

For example, if you just resolved an issue with a customer, make sure you follow up immediately and ask them for that review. The experience will still be fresh in their mind, and they will feel more compelled to share. If the person ordered a product that takes a few days to ship, make sure you aren’t asking for feedback until after their package is received. Chances are they aren’t going to go back to that email days later after they have your product.

2. Make it easy

This is an obvious, yet often overlooked strategy: make the process of leaving a review as easy and seamless as possible. Don’t make the customer have to log in again or click on a bunch of links in order to get to the right survey. If the process isn’t straightforward and quick, most people will give up. Make sure you allow customers to write reviews directly on the website, provide easy access to leave a reviews on other platforms, and make sure you have a call to action asking to “rate us” visible and easy to find.

3. Use demographics

Understanding the demographics of your customer base will help you segment how you reach out for feedback. For example, if the majority of your customers are millennials, you should know immediately that sending a bunch of marketing emails will be not only a waste of time but annoying. Millennials are known for leaving feedback and sharing their experiences on social media platforms even without anyone asking them to. Encourage this behavior with social campaigns directed around reviewing your product. On the flip side, older customers tend to be less engaged in social media, so they might prefer and email with a straightforward online survey attached.

4. Share the spotlight

If someone is helpful enough to leave a positive review, you can thank them by giving them a bit of the spotlight. Let’s say a popular blogger leaves you an awesome review. One way you could show them your gratitude is by mentioning their blog and their review on your website. You could also feature their review with a photo and a direct quote on your website. People like attention, and this sort of highlighting can make your customers feel special and appreciated. It’s also a great way to motivate others to leave reviews, once they see that you’re truly engaged in your customers opinions.

5. Offer free trials, discounts, or prizes

When asking isn’t enough, sometimes you need to offer a direct incentive. Customers love free trials, discounts, and chances to win huge prizes. While you can’t incentivize customers on certain review sites (think Yelp and Google), you can on your main website.

Final Thoughts

Obtaining customer reviews is an ongoing process that you can refine as you learn more about how your specific customer base reacts to your requests. All of these techniques will help you get more reviews, but remember, if you want positive reviews, it’s going to come down to your companies ability to provide an amazing produce and incredible customer support. The better you treat your customers along their purchasing journey, the better their reviews will be.

Customer reviews and feedback are crucial to your business. They reflect what your customers like and don’t like, what your businesses strengths and weaknesses are, and they give you invaluable insight into ways you can you can improve your services. Moreover, customer reviews build your business’s credibility and improve your online presence. If this information isn’t enough to convince you about the importance of customer reviews, perhaps this will: according to a recent survey done with 1000 consumers, 67% indicated they trust online reviews. So how exactly do you obtain customer reviews? Here are a few fool-proof methods you can try.

1. Request feedback

People don’t leave reviews just because. Reviews usually come about for two reasons: either the customer had a truly exceptional or horrible experience or more importantly, you asked him or her for their feedback. Seems straight forward enough, but you would be surprised how many companies are lacking in reviews simply because they don’t ask.

You can ask for feedback in several ways, including: sending feedback surveys after a purchase or customer service request, adding a call to action to your website, or sending out an email to your existing customer base. If you’re interested in more in-depth feedback, you can also host a focus group for your customers or conduct interviews via phone, Skype, or in-person. Adjust your request strategy depending on what kind of feedback you are trying to obtain.

2. Choose your words wisely

Considering that you are already asking your customers to take time off their busy schedule to basically advocate for your goods or services, be mindful of their precious time and be very clear about what you’re asking them for. Communicate exactly what you need from them, and formulate your questions as clearly and concisely as possible.

3. Incentivize

While you can’t offer these incentives for review platforms like Yelp, you can definitely do so on your own company’s website. Some incentives you can offer include discounts, sales, or special offers. Understanding what your customers want will help you come up with what would be the most engaging incentive.

4. Sign up

While you may not be able to incentivize Yelp and Google reviewers, it’s still very useful to sign up with these popular review websites because (1) it increases your visibility online and (2) review websites do all the work for you – they contact your customers, encourage them to leave feedback, and even help handle negative reviews. Especially if you feel too busy with day-to-day business operations to collect and manage reviews on your own, leaving it to the specialists can be quite appealing.

5. Utilize social media

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much you ask, incentivize, or practically beg, some customers will never find the time to write a lengthy review. But that’s okay! You can always encourage them to Tweet about their experience, share a picture about what they bought on Instagram, or even share a quick blurb with friends on Facebook. The other great thing about driving people to your social media pages is that many of these platforms are now providing a “buy” button, giving online consumers the opportunity to engage in online shopping right on your social media profiles. This makes it especially important to include links to your social media pages everywhere: emails, business cards, receipts, etc.

6. Personalize

If you want to encourage a customer to leave a review, make sure that customer knows how much you appreciate him or her. A great way to reassure your customer that he or she is not just a statistic to you is by making their experience personalized to them. Figure out their likes, their dislikes, their purchasing history, etc. That way, when you get ready to engage with or incentivize them, you will know exactly what pleases them most and have the best change of motivating them enough to leave great feedback.

Conclusion

If you’re providing an exceptional service, customers will be happy to leave a review when asked politely, so don’t be shy! It’s not only okay to ask for feedback, customers truly appreciate their voices and opinions being requested and heard. Just make sure you’re making them feel as appreciated as they are and not just a ploy to get a few stars.