There are a lot of factors that go into a customer's decision to make a purchase from your company.

When I'thou deciding whether or not to purchase something, for example, I typically enquire my friends for recommendations and then practice a lot of online research of my options.

And since it's and then fast and easy to make purchases online without ever connecting with a sales rep, the internet normally does the selling for you -- and that tin accept a huge impact on if a customer purchases from you or not.

The fact of the thing is, your company's best marketers and sales reps aren't your employees -- they're your existing customers.

Free Download: 45 Customer Referral Templates

Why Client Reviews are Of import

Customer trust in businesses is fading. HubSpot Research found that customers trust recommendations from friends and family over any type of online marketing and advertising your brand tin can create. And in the absence of trusted recommendations, according to BrightLocal, 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations -- the single near trustworthy and apparent source of "advertising" out there.

HubSpot Research as well found that threescore% of consumers believed client reviews were either trustworthy or very trustworthy -- pregnant that businesses that can accrue positive reviews had a skilful take chances of them helping a customer make a purchase decision.

The same BrightLocal survey found that positive customer reviews brand 73% of customers trust a business more, and 57% of customers visit a company'southward website after reading positive reviews. That besides means that, in order for businesses to grow in today's competitive, online-first marketplace, they need happy customers sharing positive reviews of their experiences in order to even get visitors coming to their site for the first time.

The good news is, your customers are unremarkably more than than happy to help yous out with this: The same survey constitute that, of the 74% of customers who were asked to provide feedback, 68% were willing to do it. And so don't exist intimidated by the prospect of asking your customers for a favor -- because all y'all have to exercise is ask, and they'll probable be happy to assist you lot out.

Good/Positive Client Review Examples

1. HubSpot

A great customer review will be one that is detailed and specific. In this example, a HubSpot employee left a review on Glassdoor. They noted how long they'd been working at HubSpot, what they liked about it, and what they're most proud of in terms of company growth.

Additionally, a great way to continuously encourage positive client reviews is to respond to your reviews. In the screenshot below, you'll see HubSpot's Principal People Officer responded to the review with gratitude and agreement.

Positive customer reviews: HubSpot Prototype Source

2. Amazing Lash Studio

Positive client reviews frequently call out amazing customer service. This is a smashing example because the client discussed who they had been seeing at the Lash Studio, and why her customer service was so excellent.

Additionally, the customer proclaims that she is a customer for life, and her review indicates that she has gone from a customer to an advocate because of the slap-up client experience.

If you become a detailed review that calls out your customer service, then yous're doing something right.

Positive customer review example: Lash studio Epitome Source

3. Ashley Leavitt Photography

This is ane of my favorite positive customer reviews because the client felt and so compelled by her experience that she updated a previous review.

The photographer provided an excellent customer experience in 2020, then the customer left a review. Then, she used her services once more a year after and left an even more detailed review citing why the experience was then positive.

Additionally, the best client reviews will have photos. This user included several photos she got from her photoshoot, which helps potential customers decide whether they desire to hire this photographer.

Positive customer review: Ashley Leavitt Photography Image Source

So, how exercise yous get your customers to write glowing reviews that help shut deals? How practice y'all ensure a client is satisfied and happy enough to ask for the kind of positive reviews you demand? Read on to adopt strategies that will brand generating positive customer reviews a cinch.

1. Identify the right moments to ask according to their buyer'south journey.

Make sure you're soliciting customer reviews at the right moment in their journeying with your business organization to get optimal results.

Business relationships have natural ebbs and flows, from times of sticker shock or buyer's remorse before a successful event to times of euphoria after their pain/problem is successfully resolved.

Think almost information technology: If y'all ask for a review at the wrong moment, it could issue in a client leaving a negative review that hundreds of more than people read when because whether or not they want to buy from your business.

Ask for customer reviews at strategic moments forth the customer journey, like:

  • Later on they experience or demonstrate success with your product or service
  • When they re-buy or re-order
  • Afterwards they tag your brand in a post on social media
  • If they are spending time on your website browsing other products or services
  • If they refer another client to you

These are just a few examples of signs that your customer is satisfied enough that they would get out a positive review of your business.

For instance, Etsy asked me to review a recent purchase approximately 1 month after I received information technology. I ordered a party favor for a friend's bridal shower, and so one month afterward was the right fourth dimension frame to make certain I had time to relish and use my product.

email from etsy asking for review on product

On the other hand, some products and services will work within unlike time frames. For the ride-sharing app Lyft, I unremarkably receive a prompt to review my feel with my ride and driver immediately later the ride ends. For the language-learning app Duolingo, I receive a prompt to review the app in the App Store after completing a lesson or achieving a milestone in the language I'yard learning.

2. Choose a method that works for yous at scale.

According to BigCommerce, 50 or more than reviews per product tin mean a 4.six% increase in conversion rates. The big takeaway hither is that more than reviews mean more than proof and, therefore, more than trust in your make. In add-on, dated reviews inspire less conviction than contempo ones.

To truly fuel your flywheel and benefit from testimonials as social proof, getting them should become a regular part of your procedure. Here are some common avenues to help you inquire for reviews at scale:

  • Train your squad to ask for reviews subsequently every successful project or service
  • Comprise requests for reviews as part of your e-mail marketing automation campaigns
  • Use NPS to identify promoters (your happiest customers) at scale and have your service team foster relationships with them
  • Include review links afterward checkout or on thank-you pages equally an optional final pace

Whatsoever yous choose, it should be consistent and oft.

3. Enquire the customer in person.

If you lot work in a customer success manager or account executive function and you have close relationships with the portfolio of customers you work with, don't hesitate to add a personal impact and ask your customers to review their experiences in person.

If you're taking your customers out to coffee or dejeuner, or if you invite them to one of your company events, keep things conversational, and ask them how they're doing with your product or service. (Ideally, y'all'll know if they're achieving success or non based on your regular communications, so you'll ask customers that you lot know are achieving goals already.)

If your customers tell you they're seeing success, permit them know that you value their opinion and their loyalty and that you'd appreciate them helping yous go the word out to potential new customers. Retrieve the data from the showtime of this mail service? Most customers will leave you a review -- all yous have to do is ask.

iv. Leverage moments of customer happiness.

If you've simply made a major breakthrough for a client, or if yous've received praise or positive feedback from them, y'all've just come upwardly to a point of client happiness. At these moments, they may non but be more than inclined to give y'all a review as a mode of providing reciprocity for proficient work, merely they are as well more likely to give you a good review.

v. Begin with an open-concluded question.

Don't showtime by coming out and asking directly for a customer review.

Instead, outset a chat -- and employ an open-concluded question to kick off the process.

By asking customers "How are yous liking the production?" or "Are you lot gear up to renew/purchase once more?" or "How was your recent interaction with customer support?" you tin can commencement a chat and gauge their level of satisfaction before really asking for the review.

This is helpful in two ways:

  • You can source helpful customer feedback
  • You can avoid the awkward error of asking a client for a review before learning they had a bad feel

Utilise the open up-ended question to genuinely collect client feedback -- and to sneakily make certain the client is happy earlier offering them a reason to submit a review. At that place'due south naught you can practice near negative reviews coming onto diverse sites, only if in that location's a customer who needs a resolution, focus on that before you ask them to rate your business.

An open-ended question in an e-mail subject field line -- as BioClarity did hither -- prompted me to get set up to give an answer every bit a reply or in the course of a review:

bioclarity email asking for review with line: "how is your skin liking our nourishing Essentials Routine?"

6. Reduce the friction where you can.

If leaving a review becomes a hassle, your customer will be less likely to do information technology. That means you lot should go far every bit easy as possible, especially when asking for a testimonial over email. Here are some ideas:

  • Include multiple options and then that the client can choose the platform they're most comfortable on
  • Include a link directly to the page where they exit a review to minimize the number of clicks or steps they must accept
  • Give them a prompt so they're never at a loss on what to write (e.g. "Will you leave a review almost your experience with your well-nigh recent store visit?")

vii. Let them know how long it will take.

One of the biggest points of friction that should exist called out is fourth dimension. If the customer perceives that they don't have time to fit in a review, they won't. Yet, if yous accost this objection beforehand during your ask, you can alter their thinking while you have the momentum. For example, you might say or write "It will only have ii minutes" every bit a side-note or post-script to the request.

1. Create dissimilar spaces to go out reviews.

Before potential customers even make it to your website to larn about your business, make sure they can learn virtually yous no thing where they're conducting online enquiry about making a purchase.

There are a few typical 3rd-political party review sites people consult to acquire more than about a business or a product:

Yelp

BrightLocal plant that Yelp and Facebook were consumers' near trusted sources of customer reviews in the U.S., and then make sure your business is registered and up-to-appointment. Yous can acquire how to claim your concern (or add it, if your business is make-new) using Yelp for Business concern Owners.

Make certain you're regularly monitoring communications coming from this contour -- responsive business owners are highlighted with an average response time and response rate that could encourage readers to motility frontward in the process towards becoming a new customer.

Yelp request a quote and response time and response rate

Facebook

You should also claim your business concern' Facebook Page so potential customers can discover yous to larn more nigh y'all without having to leave their social network. This is another site that rewards loftier levels of responsiveness, so make sure you assign someone to monitor incoming messages beyond the channels you're trying to optimize for new customer acquisition.

Facebook response rate notification

Google

Adjacent, utilise Google My Business to merits your business on the world's biggest search engine, where potential customers might find y'all if they're searching for information on Google, or searching for directions in Google Maps. (This is of item importance to brick-and-mortar businesses trying to concenter foot traffic -- learn more than about local SEO in this blog post.) People also leave reviews using Google, which appears in the search results for your concern, every bit shown below if yous Google "HubSpot."

HubSpot's Google My Business Card With Google Reviews

Amazon

If y'all're an Amazon seller, make sure to claim and customize your Amazon page.

Amazon serves up a lot of dissimilar results for different searches, so make sure your Amazon page tells your business organisation' story the same way your website does. If a shopper finds your brand over the grade of an Amazon search, make sure your Page highlights product details, testimonials, and reviews.

Amazon Store Results Page With Product Listings and Corresponding Reviews

Epitome Source

Better Business organization Bureau

For businesses in the U.Southward., Mexico, and Canada, you can register with the Meliorate Business Bureau -- another highly trusted source of customer reviews. By claiming your business on the BBB, yous can access more than candid customer reviews and become accredited on the site -- which lends greater credibility and trustworthiness to you if customers are deciding between options using these reviews and ratings.

HubSpot's Better Business Bureau Page With A+ Rating

There are likewise industry-specific review sites you should claim if they're pop within your business's vertical -- such every bit TripAdvisor and Oyster in the travel and hospitality industries, G2Crowd, and Finances Online in the software industries, and OpenTable and HappyCow in the restaurant industries. Make certain your contact information, website, hours, and key offerings are available on these more niche sites, too.

2. Optimize your content.

Your client reviews might be coming in unsolicited from happy -- or unhappy -- customers on third-party sites.

Just once people are already on your site, make sure it'southward easy for them to leave reviews there, besides.

Optimize your website, blog posts, social profiles, and emails to provide quick and like shooting fish in a barrel avenues through which to write reviews by:

  • Setting up website badges to chop-chop and easily direct visitors to your Yelp, Facebook, and Amazon pages to read and leave reviews
  • Optimize your website for mobile devices for people who come to your website when they're browsing social or conducting searches on their phone
  • If you're asking for customer reviews via email, keep the asks brusque and sweetness.

Here's a review request I received from a tour company in Charleston. It wisely included a link to various means to review the company on the actual receipt of my purchase soon after taking the bout. (For those curious, I highly recommend the haunted graveyard bout if you're ever in Charleston, SC.)

Bulldog Tours Email With Buttons to Request Reviews on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google

3. Create incentives.

Your time is valuable, and and then is your customers', so make sure you're giving customers a reason to get out a review.

Offer incentives to make your customers desire to write a review -- such as discount or coupon codes, entrance into a contest for an even bigger prize, or gift cards for coffee, online shopping, or common cold difficult cash.

g2crowd "have a coffee on us" incentive for testimonial

A review asking (with a caffeinated incentive) from G2 Crowd

4. Meet customers where they are.

Don't email your customers to enquire them to leave you a positive review on Yelp.

Instead, make certain your requests match upward with the avenue where you lot want your customer to write a review. If you're sending out an email request for a customer review, make sure the email links to exactly where they can leave their feedback. If y'all want reviews on your Facebook Page, send the request via Messenger. And if you have to ask for a customer review cross-platform, make the request as integrated as possible -- for example, by linking to your Yelp page in your email signature, or asking customers to review their purchase from your Amazon store in a follow-up email post-purchase.

Hither's a review request I received from a third-political party Amazon seller -- forth with some helpful tips for how all-time to use the production I had recently purchased:

litter mat request for review along with tips for using the product effectively

v. Respond to every review -- even negative ones.

Nobody'south perfect, and mistakes sometimes happen that result in a customer leaving a scathing 1-star review on your website, on Facebook, or on Yelp.

When you lot get a one-star review, though, brand sure to take the time to respond thoughtfully, without beingness defensive, to come to a resolution. It's the right thing to do if yous work in customer service, and it could actually help your business in the long run.

Harvard Business Review found that businesses responding to negative reviews online really resulted in ameliorate ratings overall. Your customers are human being beings too, and the value of empathetic and compassionate customer service strikes a chord and actually leads to an uptick in full reviews, peculiarly positive ones.

Hither's an example of how HubSpot responds to reviews on our Glassdoor folio. Although not technically "customers," showing prospective employees that HubSpot responds to feedback and takes it seriously helps our employment make, likewise.

hubspot glassdoor review response to neutral rating with negative feedback

6. Share positive customer reviews you've already received.

When you get-go receiving positive reviews from your customers, go on the momentum going past highlighting and sharing them so other customers are inspired to do the aforementioned.

On Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Glassdoor, and many other reviews sites, business organization owners (and site visitors) tin can mark certain reviews as helpful, which is like upvoting and moves reviews further upwardly on the site so more people can read them. Brand sure to periodically do this to positive reviews and so your visitor's page highlights the foam of the ingather.

You could likewise share positive reviews on your brand's social media channels to open up the selection to your audience there. Y'all could reshare positive Facebook reviews in a post on your page, or you could format positive reviews as quotes for Instagram to post for your followers.

Social proof is a powerful marketing tactic -- it means that, if customers run across other people like them sharing reviews, they're more than likely to do the aforementioned by post-obit the crowd. So make sure that, in addition to asking for new client reviews, you're promoting the positive ones you lot receive across your make's channels for promotion.

7. Give your customers a positive review first.

If you want customers to leave y'all a review, you could get out them one first to go the ball rolling.

This may non always exist possible (depending on your manufacture or production), simply in a lot of cases, you can get customers to reciprocate your positive words.

If your production or service allows customer profiles to be reviewed -- Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, VRBO, and TurnKey are examples -- then leave them a positive review if you'd like them to review you in return. Of course, if they were bad customers, y'all don't have to exercise that, only if you desire to garner more reviews, taking the outset step could prompt them to leave you 1 in return.

Another expert option is recommending your customer on LinkedIn. If yous're in an account direction role and y'all work with individuals over a long period of time, y'all could leave them a recommendation or endorsement on LinkedIn. Those get a long fashion for their own personal branding and might compel them to reciprocate on their own by leaving your business concern a positive review. And if they thank you lot for the endorsement, you lot could politely ask them for a specific review on a unlike platform during that exchange.

Customer: Thanks for endorsing me on LinkedIn! I capeesh it.

Business organisation Representative: Y'all're welcome! I've enjoyed working with you over the concluding few months and wanted to brand certain other people know how skilled you are at web design. If you've enjoyed working with me as well, I'd appreciate a review of our product on G2 Crowd if you're upwardly for information technology.

I merely recommend this strategy if you've built a human relationship with the individual over the form of working together. If an unknown person starts endorsing the customer for random skills on LinkedIn, that might seem creepy, and likely won't result in them reciprocating.

viii. Host an event.

To create opportunities to ask for reviews in-person as details in the previous strategy, and to create the conditions where customers are more probable to leave positive reviews, host a remarkable user conference or manufacture outcome to create more value for your customers beyond just the products or services you sell.

By creating an engaging and useful experience for customers, where they can network with a community of people like them, go access to new product releases and discounts early, and see their points of contact at your company, you'll increase their positive sentiment toward your business and engender the likelihood that they'll leave more reviews.

You could even brand customer reviews a office of your mail-result feedback procedure -- after customers consummate a survey request how they'd charge per unit their experience, you lot could ask them to share highlights of their experience at the event on a public review site.

1. Use social media.

While using social media to gather reviews isn't exactly clever, the place you ask for them can be unique. For instance, if you have a Facebook grouping or LinkedIn group, you could enquire those members to leave a review.

Chances are, that if they're in your social media group, then they similar your visitor and will provide a positive review if y'all enquire.

Additionally, you lot tin utilise social media to promote your reviews. For example, one company I follow on Instagram, Bowmar Nutrition, responds and reposts reviews to their Stories every single twenty-four hour period. As a follower, I know that if I leave a review on Instagram, it'll exist shared by the company. This provides an incentive because information technology helps develop a human relationship with your customers.

2. Transport a handwritten note and souvenir carte du jour.

Information technology might seem a little former school, but if you're running a company, a handwritten note to your customers will go a long way. Your sales reps can write these if you're at a mid-size or larger company, or if you run a small business, you tin can write them yourself. You might consider sending a gift bill of fare to your loyal and happy customers, just thanking them for beingness a customer.

While you can't and shouldn't ever purchase reviews, it's okay to send your customers a nice thank you gift, whether they go out a review or not. Your notation could say something like, "We wanted to thank you for beingness a customer with this gift card! If you e'er experience inclined, we'd love to get your honest feedback in the form of a review."

3. Help your customers when they need it.

When times are tough, be there to help your customers. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, HubSpot offered reduced prices for prospects and customers, increased limits for customers, and offered a six-month accelerate on commissions from HubSpot to all Platinum, Diamond, and Aristocracy Solutions Partners.

Again, we weren't doing these things merely so customers would get out good reviews, but and so we could actually help customers during an unprecedented time. Many customers, new and old, were and then positively impacted, that they felt compelled to leave a positive review.

Helping your customers and putting them beginning will requite you lot goodwill and and so inspire positive reviews.

4. Give employees rewards for positive customer reviews.

A calendar month agone, I went to an escape room with my family unit. Subsequently we escaped the room (with 5 minutes to spare, I might add), we were talking to our guide and request him questions.

After our discussion, he told united states of america his name again and said that he'd really appreciate it if we left a review considering they get extra tips if a review calls them out specifically.

Offer your employees a advantage for positive reviews gives them a reason to enquire happy customers for a review. It also incentivizes customers. I wanted to help our guide because nosotros had such a keen experience, so my family and I all left separate reviews calling him out.

To begin implementing customer review cultivation at calibration, the best affair yous can do is incorporate it into your concern as a process. This starts with an active strategy for customer service equally well as online reputation and testimonials. Get-go past building from templates and request your existing customers for reviews.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Free Resource: How to Reach & Engage Your Audience on Facebook

45 Free Customer Referral Templates

Originally published Aug 4, 2021 11:15:00 AM, updated Jan 12 2022