{"id":21969,"date":"2022-12-08T15:23:48","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T15:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/08\/how-to-ask-customers-for-reviews-and-actually-get-them\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T15:23:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T15:23:48","slug":"how-to-ask-customers-for-reviews-and-actually-get-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/08\/how-to-ask-customers-for-reviews-and-actually-get-them\/","title":{"rendered":"How to ask customers for reviews (and actually get them)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Outside of the food and hospitality industry, it can be a real struggle for businesses to get positive reviews.
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\nConsumers don\u2019t typically review their landscaper, gym, car rental agency and many other business types that they interact with on a daily basis unless something goes wrong.
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\nBecause of this, we talk daily with companies who do outstanding work and have a great real-world reputation but have more negative online reviews than positive ones.
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\nFor business owners, this disparity between offline and online reputation is beyond frustrating. So what\u2019s a business owner or general manager to do when they find themselves in this situation?
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\nAsk happy customers for reviews.
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\nTip the review balance back in your favor by getting those happy customers to be your online advocates. Below, I\u2019ll share some tips, best practices and tests you can run to get more positive reviews.
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Is it okay to ask for reviews?<\/h2>\n

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\nBut first, you may wonder: Is it okay to ask for reviews? For Google, the answer is a resounding \u201cyes.\u201d<\/a>
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\nYelp, however, has much stricter guidelines when it comes to requesting reviews. Currently, Yelp prohibits businesses from requesting reviews<\/a> in any way, shape, or form. One potential loophole to these guidelines is to request reviews verbally<\/a>, either over the phone or in person.
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\nYou can ask a customer to search \u201c[business name] Yelp\u201d in Google, or \u201c[business name] [location] Yelp\u201d if your business has more than one location. This should lead the customer right to your Yelp listing.
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\nYou\u2019ll also want to make sure the customer does not leave a review inside of your office\/store, as Yelp may see the location and flag the review as solicited. One of the most important things to remember is to never offer a direct link to your Yelp listing, as this is one of the quickest ways Yelp can flag a review, or set of reviews, as solicited.
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\nIf you\u2019d like to avoid Yelp guideline violations or potentially having your Yelp listing removed altogether, we suggest sticking to Google and other review platforms when requesting new reviews.
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\nRemember to check each review site\u2019s guidelines, as they may differ on what requests avenues are or aren\u2019t allowed.
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\nNow that we have that out of the way, let\u2019s dive in\u2026
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The gold standard: Asking in person<\/h2>\n

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\nThere\u2019s no better way to ask for, and get, reviews than to do it in person. The person-to-person request is incredibly effective, particularly if the requester has spent much time with the customer. We\u2019ve found that asking in person can garner you seven to eight times more reviews than asking via email.
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\nLet\u2019s take a furniture store as an example. A sales associate might spend an hour or more helping customers pick and customize just the right couch for their home. They get to know each other over the course of that time and talk about where they\u2019re from, their families and so on. A mini-bond is built in the time spent together.
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\nAt the end of the sale, there is now no person better positioned to ask for a review than this sales associate. The associate can explain that it helps other customers who are researching them and gives a true perspective on the business.
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\nIf you\u2019re thinking about asking customers for reviews, try to figure out the customer touch points and who within the company builds the deepest relationship with the customer. That is likely the person who should be asking for reviews.
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\nTo make the process as simple as possible, you can display QR codes at the checkout counter or on a promotional flier given to the customer that links directly to your review site.
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The \u2018tip\u2019 trick<\/h2>\n

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\nThe \u201ctip\u201d trick is one of those review growth hacks that can work great in particular industries. The strategy is that someone who has spent a lot of time with a customer then asks for a review but throws in the kicker of, \u201cIf you had a good experience and include my first name in the review, the company gives me a $10 tip.\u201d
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\nThis little \u201csweetener\u201d gives a customer the extra incentive to leave an online review, particularly if he or she had a good experience.
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\nWe\u2019ve seen this strategy work best with services provided in and around customers\u2019 homes. This includes landscapers, exterminators and movers.
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\nThe service providers work hard, and people sometimes want to tip them for their work; this strategy gives customers a free way to tip someone who did a good job.
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\nFor the right companies, this can drastically accelerate the number of reviews that come in.
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Asking via email<\/h2>\n

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\nAsking for reviews via email is a bit trickier. There are cases where you don\u2019t have a lot (or any) face time with a customer. In those instances, email may be your only option.
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\nIf you\u2019re going to ask for reviews via email, we strongly encourage you to pre-screen your customers via an internal survey before following up with another email asking them for a public review. While this may sound like cheating, it\u2019s no different from what you would do in person.
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\nIf someone is clearly upset, you wouldn\u2019t ask them for an online review. Likewise, using triggers from an internal survey allows you to apply this same human logic, just algorithmically.
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\nHere are some of the best practices for your email request letter:
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