Writing Reviews Is a Pain, Ask Customers to Tell You How They Really Feel
For a lot of Carlsbad business owners, generating customer reviews at a consistent clip can be somewhat of a challenge.
But it doesn’t have to be, and it certainly doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition – whether you’re a doctor or dentist using reviews & retention software or a local eatery offering a more grass-roots approach.
Google tends to get most of the reviews attention, but best practice is to offer your customers options.
Maybe some prefer Facebook, or Yelp (eeeek!), or even Angieslist.
Instead of asking your customers to write a review on Google, ask them to talk into the microphone and give you a voice review.
Show Customers How to Give Voice Reviews on Google
One of the easiest ways I’ve seen so far for customers of any local business to leave a review is on Google Maps.
You could have customers go through the rigmarole of finding your local Carlsbad biz on Google Maps then manually typing in their kind words.
But we all know with Dr. Spellcheck hawking every word, or those of us with sausage fingers, typing a review from a mobile phone can be a challenge…or an exercise in frustration, which will ultimately lead to no review for you!
Image via neatorama.com
Of course your customers could try to find your business to leave a review using their mobile browser, but Google makes it darn near impossible for that contingency.
For more on the mobile reviews conundrum, check out this post, but let’s get on with the voice review via mobile process.
This process should take between :30-:60 seconds to complete:
- Ask your incredibly happy customer who is bubbling over with enthusiasm if they have an Android phone.
- Stand next to them and help them find the Google Maps App on their phone, then find your Carlsbad place of business within Google Maps. (judging of course your Google+ Local page is verified, if you are standing in your business, it should be easy to locate based on GPS location)
- Once you’ve both found your business in the Google Maps App, don’t ask for a review but rather – ask them for a small favor.
- Do not make them type it in one letter at a time, just show them how to click on the microphone icon on the phone keypad to audibly submit their review.
- Hit publish and you are both finished.
End result: you get a highly coveted Google review, and the customer feels extra special that you showed them a new trick!
It normally takes about 24-48 hours for a review by mobile phone to show up on Google Maps.
Credit: I take ZERO credit for this little ditty, I actually came across it in the “Local Search” community over on Google+ when some other local search pros were inquiring about how to leave a review for a local business from a mobile phone.
Make It Incredibly Easy for Customers to Review Your Carlsbad Business
Yes, we all know that when most customers leave your business the last thing on their mind is to go seek you out on Google, Facebook, Yelp, YP, or any of the other local search portals & directories out there in order to give your business a raving review.
This is one reason why review software can follow-up with your customers at a predetermined frequency, without being a pain in the ass or sounding desperate for some digital word of mouth love.
But reviews software is not mandatory for building a review profile that is wide in scope & genuineness.
Some software is incredibly expensive, complete with all the bells & whistles for email newsletters, reactivation messages, text alerts, recall notices, birthday wishes…you name it.
And some not so much. Keep an eye out for our newreviews software launching in the coming weeks.
Like I won’t be back here doing a post about it trying to generate some buzz (read: at least one pair of eyes) when the time comes?
Until then, if you prefer grass-roots over gratuitous groupware grab your FREE Google Reviews Toolkit to immediately amplify your digital word of mouth!
Get More Reviews from Your Customers with this Google Reviews Toolkit:
