There’s nothing better than customer feedback to help you improve service, build trust and increase sales. parcelLab’s Julia Henry offers key advice on inspiring feedback on products and services.
You may think that as an online retailer the one thing you have no control over is the number of reviews you get, other than selling great products and providing an excellent service, of course. If someone’s going to give you feedback, they’ll do it, right, and that’s that. Well no, actually there are three steps you can take to encourage customers to post a comment about your service and hopefully help build that all-important trust factor that will drive people to your store and have them coming back for more.
1. Ask for them
Most people only leave online reviews when they really love – or really hate – a product or service. Tap into the ‘silent majority’ of satisfied customers by asking for feedback, like Skype does at the end of a call.
2. Create incentives
While you should avoid offering discounts in exchange for reviews, you can create incentives to give feedback. Some Websites use social media and online voting to learn about their customers’ favorite product features, offering prizes to chosen participants in the exchange. The thrill of winning makes for a great incentive to leave a review.
3. Pick your moment
People are likely to offer unsolicited online feedback if they feel they’ve had an exceptional experience or a truly awful one. However, there are plenty of times when customers get a fast, efficient and enjoyable service, but aren’t inspired to comment. So it can be useful to remind them to do so through a prompt. The key is choosing the right moment to ask them to share their opinion.
4. Publish them
Put your reviews – good and bad – on display to encourage customer feedback. Create a testimonials page on your website or get creative, like clothing brand Everlane, by creating a ‘campaign’ around sharing your customer experiences.
With these tips, you can generate real conversations about your product, which can potentially attract new customers to your business. Give them a try, and let us know if you discover other ways to encourage online reviews.
5. Say Thanks to Every Reviewer
Monitoring your Reviewsonce a week might seem anal-retentive, but you need to know what is being said at all times. Make the task a Sunday morning query of review sites. In 5-10 minutes you’ll easily be up to date and can thank any and everyone who reviews you with one or two personal sentences that speak to what they wrote. A simple thumbs up won’t do here.
6. Make it easy for them.
As I left Heathrow airport customs, they had this simple machine which sought to easily let them know customers’ experience. In an email to your customer, you can do the same. Just keep it simple.
What is the best Business Listing Site?
Try WOWPilot’s Free Business Listing Which Offers Your Small Business to Collect Reviews.
