Why Online Customer Reviews Are The Ultimate Salesperson?

Because we love to take third party opinions to validate our thoughts.

We humans aren't usually autonomous thinkers when it comes to making judgments. From buying our daily coffee to significant purchases such as a new automobile, we rely on our network's thoughts, recommendations, or viewpoints to make the best decision.  

With the Internet, such networks become much more significant. We're no longer limited to friends, family, and coworkers; with a short Google search, we can find out what people worldwide believe. And these consumer reviews have a lot of clout with shoppers.  

According to some research, positive or negative online reviews can influence more than 93 per cent of customer decisions. As we'll see throughout this article, online reviews have become an essential plug-point in the sales mechanism for almost every eCommerce site globally.

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What Are Customer Reviews?

A customer review of a product or service is written by a consumer who has purchased and used the product or that service. Customer Feedback can be available on various websites, including Google Reviews, Amazon, Yelp, and even social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.  

Customers read these reviews during the purchase process to determine how well the product performs and whether it is worth the money.

While reviews might build up on their own, they should not exist in isolation. Knowing how to solicit reviews, use them to get more business, and respond to unfavourable customer testimonies may help you enhance your company's image and gain more long-term clients.  

Platforms Where You Can Ask Your Customers To Post Reviews?

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on a company's success. If a consumer writes a good evaluation of a firm, that company's approval rating will rise. Having more reviews will garner more attention for your company. The more favourable ratings you have, the more likely you will convert. Consumers may now express their ideas about a product or service more efficiently than ever before, but where can you invite your customers to submit reviews?

• For B2B - Websites such as G2, Gartner, and Capterra are commonly preferred. Aside from this, software assistance and recorded video testimonials placed on the website or LinkedIn profile are helpful.
• For D2C & B2C - eCom sites like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or the website where the items are listed, or customers have made purchases are regarded as valuable.

How To Approach Existing Customers To Write A Review?

Simply asking for customer evaluations is the most effective approach to encourage them. Customers are generally eager to provide feedback on their interactions with your products or services, especially if those interactions were favourable. Below mentioned are a few other approaches you can try:

• Put up signs, stickers, or badges for online review sites at your store or on your website. This encourages consumers to post evaluations and encourages people to read them, perhaps recruiting new customers. Furthermore, badges automatically build trust in the customer.
• Include a CTA also known as call to action on the back of a menu, receipt, invoice, or coupon code requesting that the consumer leave a review. Consider sending consumers an email when they make a transaction. You're more likely to obtain a review when the customer still remembers the purchase.

• Create an email campaign triggered when a consumer purchases anything from your store or uses your services. In this manner, you can ensure that only consumers who have had a positive experience with your company are asked to post a review. See how Zapier can help you with this.
• Alternatively, as mentioned above the easiest method is to simply ask the buyer orally. After you make a sale, or provide a delicious meal, or provide excellent service, ask the consumer whether they are willing to submit a review. You don't receive unless you ask!

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Do Paid Reviews Work?

While morally, it is a no-no, some companies ask the users/influencers to try the product for free and then ask them to review it.  

Why you may ask?
Online product reviews are quickly becoming an essential component of the marketing mix. Research conducted by Bazaarvoice in 2012 discovered that 80 per cent of Generation Y buyers are highly impacted by consumer-generated evaluations from strangers when making purchase decisions, particularly in categories such as electronics, autos, and travel. In the same year, Nielsen discovered that 92% of 28,000 customers believe earned media, such as online word of mouth also known as WOM and product evaluations.

Many businesses provide extrinsic motivations to potential reviewers, such as monetary incentives. Tactics range from inviting people to spill the beans in exchange for prize draw entries, to offering discounts on future purchases and the awarding of loyalty points, to using services that connect businesses with consumers willing to earn money by reviewing products.

However, paying for consumer-generated content both generates and solves problems. Some recent research, focused on two product categories, computer games and music, has examined whether solicited reviews are more helpful and whether their advantages are offset by the awareness that they have been paid for. They discovered:

• Content producers paid to create online product evaluations are regarded as more helpful by content consumers but not more favourable or less impartial.
• Payment disclosure causes content consumers to decrease their review-based product quality expectations despite apparent gains in review quality. These reduced expectations are the outcome of doubts about the product's quality.
• The negative effect is shown even when the review is not solely accessible information, regardless of whether the incentive disclosure is precise or ambiguous.

While further research into its long-term consequences is needed, paid reviews appear to be a noisy signal to customers that drowns out the sound of a positive review.

Why Customer Reviews are trusted?

The main reason shoppers trust internet reviews is that they want companies to be transparent. When we go shopping or downloading an app, we want to know everything. We only had personal recommendations before the Internet, so purchasing at new businesses that our relatives or friends were unfamiliar with was dangerous.  

With today's tools and resources, we can better understand what we need to know to have a pleasant shopping experience and avoid being unsatisfied with our purchases. Customers trust these evaluations because they help them learn more about a company and its products or services, especially if the company isn't very open.  

Also, the second reason buyers trust internet reviews is that they rely on the opinions of others to help them decide what to do. People will try that new restaurant if everyone else is raving about it. Still, they will avoid it if everyone else complains about the service or the cuisine.

What to do once you have a Customer Review?

Here are some pointers to help you go above and beyond regarding product reviews and client testimonials.

1. Put your reviews in the spotlight - Consider including a handful of reviews on your site. For example, provide them on each product page if you have product reviews.

2. Contact people who have given you positive feedback - “Thank you for seeing a positive Yelp review or a lovely Instagram tagged photo!” A small message goes a long way in building healthy relationships. Using your CRM can surely help you keep track about this.

3. Also contact the ones who have left you a bad review - Ignoring these will not make them disappear. Respond to unfavourable reviews as soon as possible, especially if you believe the reviewer is legitimately concerned or if other customers have complained about the same issue.

4. Give your consumers a cause to edit the negative review- It may be as basic as resolving their issue. Or informing that you are working on that. This action will go a long way towards making your customers feel appreciated.

5. When you post the testimonial, include the customer's name and photo - This is an excellent approach to thank your consumers while also adding legitimacy to their reviews and encouraging your customers.

Online reviews are gradually becoming the public face of a company's digital reputation. Reviews help the company become recognised, which leads to increased sales, improves search engine results, informs customers, and persuades them to pick up the phone and call you. It's time to start paying attention to your internet reviews.

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