What Are Good Reviews and Why Are They Important for Winning Sales?
Look, I know you're not new to the world of online sales (or sales in general!), but sometimes when you delve deeply into one aspect of your business, you lose track of the finer details of things like oh, say, customer service. Specifically getting good customer reviews. Next thing you know, you're too stressed out, embarrassed, and out of ideas to ask for advice. Don't worry, that's what this article and I are for!In this article I will explain the key ingredients you need to get glowing reviews that will win you sales and why you need to know all about it to succeed in your business. What are Good Customer Reviews?
Ok, you probably already have a general idea of what good customer reviews are, but let’s break it down anyway. At its most basic, good reviews are lovely comments, feedback, or recommendations you receive from past or current customers. Good reviews sing your praises, highlight your best features, and convince others that you’re 100% worth the money.
Let's add a little more depth to that. According to Indeed.com “good reviews allow potential customers to trust your business and feel comfortable making a purchase from you because they know others have had good experiences doing the same.” That means good reviews are critical to the success of any business!
And finally, just in case we need a dictionary definition (or for those subject matter experts among you) good reviews are evaluations of a product or service made by someone who has purchased and used, or at the very least had experience with a product or service.
But good reviews are more than just a quick “great product!” comment left on your site. Don’t get me wrong - those are excellent to be able to include in your scrolling ticker tape of reviews that you showcase on your website. But think about it - when you buy a product online you usually want to look at the reviews, right? And I’m betting you scroll right past all the short “worked great!” or “excellent product!” reviews in favor of the longer, multi paragraph-length ones.
Why? Because you want to hear all the deets about what the experience was like for that person. Let’s be honest - we all secretly like hearing the tea! Hearing others’ unbiased opinions helps us feel comfortable making a decision to spend our coin or save it for something more worthy and deserving.
Ok, I think we’ve sufficiently defined what good reviews are!
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Why Should You Care About Good Customer Reviews?
I'm all about making up your own mind, and I can't make you care about getting good reviews (although I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a business owner that doesn’t), but let me give you some great reasons to make this something you should focus on.
Good customer reviews are important because:
Reason #1: They build trust with your audience. Trust is vital for gaining credibility, and if your goal is to make sales online you’re going to need to seem credible to your audience. Asking for reviews shows your customers you care about their feedback - another trust builder! Remember - business communication isn’t just a one-way street. It should be a conversation between you and your clients.
Reason #2: They increase your visibility. Customer reviews can give you a window into the mind of your customer. This lets you make changes and adjustments to your product/service, or even your process to be more attractive and enticing to the customer. Any changes you make to your website that outline these changes will improve your SEO and ability to be found on Google. (I prefer the term “Googleability” but you can call it whatever you like!)
Reason #3: They ultimately lead to more sales. Being able to convince people to buy from (without having to use your own words, personality, or persuasion) will 100% increase your sales. It’s like someone raving to their friends about the cool new thing they bought that was a great deal and excellent value - but with the broader reach of the internet!
Important: Don't think that investing more of your budget into marketing and advertising will overcome bad customer service.
The truth is, it costs more to get new customers from marketing and advertising than to keep ones you already have.
Good Reviews in Context
Understanding how good reviews affect your business is just as important as understanding what exactly great customer service is and why it's essential.
Let me give you a real-world example:
Let’s say you sell custom graphic t-shirts. Your online store is filled to the brim with beautiful examples of the products you’ve created. And you’ve done your homework (aka market research) to determine the perfect **chef’s kiss** price point for your t-shirts.
All of those elements working together are amazing for winning sales!
But wait… let’s say you’ve got a competing brand (because you always will). This company is selling similar custom graphic t-shirts to yours. And in the same price range. The major difference between their site and yours? They have multiple good reviews from past customers raving about the quality of their shirts, how soft they are, how they hold up in the wash, etc.
Who do you think customers are more likely to buy from?
Having your potential customers be able to piggyback on the experiences of others is such a crucial element to making an online sale, partially because the sale is online. What do I mean? Well, when we buy things online we usually trade convenience (and sometimes a better price) for the in-person experience of touching a physical item, trying it on, comparing colors, etc. Buying online is inherently a teensy bit riskier than buying in person because you can’t do any of that before spending money on it.
That’s where those good reviews come in! Good (and in-depth) reviews go a long way to overcoming that inherent risk, because they take away the element of the unknown. Those lengthy reviews offer real opinions and experiences with your product or service.
Sidenote: this is also why it’s become commonplace for companies to offer a generous return window and policy (to overcome the risk of buying online.)
My client Cathy banks on good reviews whenever she needs to sell her ceramic sculptures. She didn't think it was possible for good reviews to help her send clients to her website instead of her Etsy shop and make sales with fewer fees (hello extra money!)
Check Out: My favorite Squarespace and online business teacher Paige Brunton. Paige is a brilliant example of good reviews gaining sales in action. Have a look over here for how she does it (Paige’s Student Success)
4 Tips for Getting Good Reviews
Ok, so we know getting good reviews is important for winning sales. But how do we get them?
Raise your hand if you are feeling a little lost. Be honest! 🙋♀️
That's no problem; here are some hints and tips to get you started and on your way to getting dreamy client reviews:
Tip #1: Provide excellent customer service. This might seem pretty obvious, but you can’t get any good reviews if you haven’t done anything worthy of writing about! Make sure your customers are happy and generally satisfied with their experience. You’ll want to respond quickly when addressing any concerns or complaints (or even just regular questions!) Respond to positive reviews will help build loyalty and encourage repeat customers. Responding to negative reviews shows that you care about your customers and their feedback (not just about taking their money) and are willing to address any issues.. Also, go above and beyond when working with your customers. Try to think through your process from a client’s point of view. What would you want done in that situation? Show people you really care about your products or services, and that you stand behind them.
Tip #2: Remember to ask for reviews! Sometimes it might feel awkward having to ask for reviews, but it’s necessary and worth it! How many times have you seen a pop-up asking “will you let us know how we did today?” or “how did our service stack up this time?” I’ll bet you’ve had a great customer service experience at least once, and were happy to share about it, but might not have done so if you weren’t prompted. I know I definitely have! Well consider this your stamp of approval to ask for reviews! You can even incentivize reviews if it makes you feel more comfortable. Offering a discount on their next purchase or entering them into a giveaway contest for completing a review might just tip the scales and convince them to leave one.
Tip #3: Make it easy to leave a review. I’ll be honest - not everyone is going to leave a review. But the people who ARE willing are usually not going to go to the trouble of hunting down your review page, so we’ve got to make it easy for them. Post links to your review form in multiple places on your website and even in your email signature. You can also send a follow-up email after their purchase. Just make sure it’s easy for them to find.
Tip #4: Schedule a free website audit with me! If you're looking for some tips and tricks on how to improve your website from a pro - girl I got you! We can chat about whatever you like - tell me what you want a second opinion on and I’ll give it a look and offer some tips based on my experience.
Bonus Tip: Once you’ve got some good reviews you’ll want to show them off everywhere you can! Feature them in your social media posts. Plaster them on your website. Make sure people know how great you are! Don’t think of it as bragging - after all, OTHER people are saying nice things about you, not YOU!
Key Takeaways
Let's wrap this up, shall we? The key takeaways to remember from this post are to prioritize customer service, ask for customer reviews, and respond promptly to any customer feedback (good, bad, and general questions.)
At Gold Standard Design, I make it my mission to provide people with beautiful, functional websites that are set up to convert from day 1, but are also completely manageable by the client. Basically, I want YOU to be able to run your website when it’s finished (unless you just absolutely don’t want to!)
If you would like to know more, check out my Services page. And if you have a question or would like to work together please drop me a line here (hello@goldstandardak.com). I love hearing from you guys!
Pssst, you can also check out my free Website Launch Checklist. It includes 10+ tips to make sure your website is ready to launch and is set up to run smoothly.
