Leveraging the Power of Your Customer Reviews

Your customers are your biggest asset, and their reviews are a powerful way to increase your business’s revenue. Yet, many business owners are hesitant to use their customer reviews, or they don't know how to use them effectively. If you're not already leveraging the power of your customer reviews, then you need to get started now.

Customer reviews are a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. They can help you increase your revenue, improve your customer service, and stand out from your competitors.?

5 qualities of strong customer reviews

1. How?many?reviews a business has

For customer reviews, businesses should seek out both quality?and?quantity. A variety of unique positive reviews illustrates a business’ ability to maintain consistent customer satisfaction.?

Shoppers typically read multiple reviews to get a well-rounded picture of a business’s reputation, with?most reading at least four?customer reviews. And that’s not all. Though shoppers may only read a few reviews, they also consider the total number of reviews a business has alongside their overall rating—with more reviews indicating a greater level of trustworthiness to shoppers.?

2. How?detailed and specific?the reviews are

Shoppers read reviews to learn more about whether past customers are satisfied with a business’s products or services and their overall experience from the beginning to end of their purchase journey.?

Although a five star review might illustrate customer satisfaction, it doesn’t illustrate exactly what made the experience excellent. A?Consumer Affairs study?found that shoppers consistently consider the content of a review to be more valuable than the rating alone, which reveals little about the actual customer experience.?

3. How?recent?the reviews are

As time goes on, employees, products and service can change, so shoppers consider recent reviews to be most reliable.?

Plus, with mask mandates, vaccination requirements and travel restrictions impacting daily life, how companies do business has changed dramatically and will likely continue to evolve. Shoppers expect reviews to illustrate how a business has handled changes like these.

As a result, shoppers aren’t likely to look at?reviews over six months old, according to BrightLocal. For businesses, that means consistent, fresh feedback is critical to a positive reputation.?

4. How a business?responds?to reviews

Responses, especially to negative criticism, reveal a lot about a business’s professionalism and conflict resolution practices. That’s why?96% of shoppers?say they read businesses’ responses. according to a BrightLocal survey.?

Shoppers hope to see responses that are respectful, honest and prompt, and which open the door to further communication. For more tips on responding to negative customer reviews, read?BBB’s guide to handling criticism.

5. Whether the customer reviews are?authentic

Finally, shoppers take into consideration whether customer reviews are a reflection of legitimate marketplace interactions. To compete in the digital landscape, some businesses are turning to dishonest practices to inflate their reputation—namely, fake customer reviews.?

Shoppers are likely to consider reviews that are too positive, vague or lean too heavily on product specifications to be untrustworthy. As a consequence, businesses using fake reviews appear untrustworthy as well.?

How to generate trustworthy customer reviews

Customer reviews are one of the most powerful factors influencing where people do business, but many factors dictate how much weight is given to those reviews. Shoppers are?94% more likely?to buy from a business with a variety of specific, timely customer reviews about positive experiences.

In other words, businesses need to generate a steady stream of unique, detailed and trustworthy customer reviews.?

One way to do that is by reaching out to customers directly—via email, social media or at the time of purchase—to ask if they’d leave a?review on BBB.org. Encouraging customers to leave reviews on BBB.org enhances your reputation on one of the most-trusted sites for business information.

How to handle negative reviews

The importance of honest criticism

Open and honest communication is a necessary part of an ethical marketplace, in which both businesses and customers benefit from genuine customer reviews. When customers have access to honest reviews, they’re able to make informed decisions about where to spend their money, and businesses have an opportunity to address their shortcomings, improve their reputation and rebuild trust.?

Tips for handling negative reviews of your business:

• Respond promptly to negative reviews.?Prospective customers consider the newest reviews to be the most relevant and accurate, and they could interpret a lack of response as a business's lack of interest in a customer’s concerns. Consistently monitor reviews on various websites, so you can quickly respond to negative comments. (Note: it is also important to respond to positive reviews, as that shows appreciation and could increase customer loyalty).?
• Be respectful when responding to negative comments.?You should avoid making denials or excuses, even if you have a different perspective on the events. Acknowledge their concerns, apologize for the mistake and illustrate that you value customer feedback as an opportunity for you to improve.?
• Be sure to claim your business profiles.?Claim your profiles on as many platforms as possible. This will allow you to respond to comments and reviews. On some platforms, managing your profile includes being able to appeal negative reviews.
• Tell the customer how to contact you.?Responding online is important, but it can feel impersonal for the customer. When you talk to a customer one on one, they’ll know that you genuinely listened to their concerns. This also gives you a chance to reach a resolution that makes both you and the customer satisfied.
• Businesses can remove or prohibit reviews that are considered abusive, vulgar or threatening.?The CRFA protects a customer’s right to leave honest reviews, but it does not protect reviews that could be genuinely harmful. For example, it does not permit reviews that reveal sensitive information about a business or its employees, nor does it permit inappropriate language like racial epithets.
• Encourage customers to leave reviews on?BBB.org.?At BBB, customers are able to?post feedback?about marketplace experiences with businesses, brands and charities. Just like our complaints, reviews are vetted by BBB team members and sent to the business before they are published online.
• Give it time.?Customer place emphasis on recent reviews, meaning bad reviews will become less important as time goes on.?According to the BrightLocal survey,?more than 80 percent of people thought reviews more than three months are not as relevant. Time is even more of the essence with younger people. About 60 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds only consider reviews written in the past two weeks. Ensure your reviews are recent by encouraging clients to leave reviews.?

4 successful ways to use customer reviews to increase revenue

1. User-generated content (UGC)

Sharing user-generated content is a great way to leverage the power of customer reviews by getting people talking about your brand online. As you begin collecting reviews from existing clientele, you can quote them in all your content from?blog?posts to email marketing campaigns.?

Don't be afraid to feature your reviews as UGC. A study by Nielsen Consumer Trust Index concluded that approximately?92%?of consumers trust UGC more than traditional advertising methods. So, use it to your advantage!

2. Feature customer reviews on your social media

As you build your social media presence, it's essential to include customer reviews as part of your marketing strategy. The more people you can get?talking about your brand?online, the more likely you are to get more customers.

Since approximately?71%?of consumers make a purchase decision based on social media recommendations, it is a great platform for sharing your customer reviews to attract more potential customers and encourage them to purchase.

3. Social proof on landing pages

Customer reviews are also a great way to add social proof to your landing pages. Social proof is the perception that a particular product or service is legitimate, safe, or correct. It can make a huge difference when convincing people to buy from you.

Including reviews on your landing pages helps convince new buyers to take immediate action, especially since they won't have to search far and wide for reviews before they decide to buy.?

This convenience factor will go a long way in creating a positive?user experience, and that experience will also make them more likely to leave a positive review of their own and share their experience with their friends.?

4. Leverage customer reviews in abandoned cart messages

Approximately?88%?of online shopping orders will be abandoned by consumers. However, that doesn't mean the sale is completely lost. You can still use the data you collect from these abandoned carts to improve your conversion rate and increase revenue.

When someone abandons a product page, they were likely given little reason to fulfill the final conversion. Instead of letting that potential sale fall flat, start including existing customer reviews in your abandoned cart messages. These reviews should be related to the specific product/service that the person was considering. This level of personalization will show your customers that you are paying attention to them and their interests.?

Increase your customer reviews by getting accredited by the BBB

As you begin to leverage the power of customer reviews, make sure you're using them to their full potential. One of the best ways to fully harness the power of customer reviews is by getting your business accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).?

Getting accredited by the BBB is a great way to show that you're a trustworthy business that values your customers. It also shows that you're serious about providing exceptional customer service.

Get accredited?by the Better Business Bureau today.