I’ve been thinking a ton about customer reviews. So I’ve researched quite a bit on how to get customer reviews. I’m sharing my best advice for small business reviews and testimonials.

I have setup my own customer feedback web page to help me gain input from my current clients. This should be a great tool I can use when completing a successful project and asking for a testimonial. Contact me about a website design if your website isn’t working for you in this same way.

Three tips for how to get customer reviews

It really can be pretty simple. The hardest parts for me have also been the only way I’ve received any feedback at all. In the end, there is nothing to it, but to do it!

1

Ask your clients for their feedback

Many people have heard the Bible verse quoted “Ask and ye shall receive!” This couldn’t ring more true for gaining feedback about your products and services. Most of the time it comes down to just being a matter of asking. There are many reviews you can get without asking, but you’ll never get the positive traction you want without asking for a few words to be written about your small business.

I had a self employed plumber talk to me about wanting reviews online. He mentioned that he always has people praise his services, but can’t every seem to get them to leave feedback online. I asked him how many of his customers he had asked testimonials from. His answer, “None.” Sometimes the best way to accomplish something is to simply ask

In contrast to this view of asking for customer reviews, Yelp says that you shouldn’t ask customers to review your business. I think their points are worth reading, but I disagree. To me, asking a happy customer for a review is like asking a friend for a favor. A true friend will be happy to do you a favor. A truly satisfied customer won’t have any problem leaving you an online review.

A truly satisfied customer won't have any problem leaving you an online review Click To Tweet 2

Make it easy for customers to leave reviews

Part of making it easy for customers to leave a review of your business is making sure that you have updated profiles on several websites. The main websites that I would recommend would vary for each business. Contact me if you need help setting up your profiles. The three that I recommend for every business are the following:

• Google My Business
• Facebook Business Pages
• Yelp Local Business Listing

Another aspect to making reviewing your business easier is to make sure that links to your local business profiles are easy to find. You might even consider writing an email that you send to every customer at the end of every successful project. Make customer feedback part of your project ritual.

3

Make sure your customers love you

Michael Hyatt in his book Platform says to “Bake in the Wow! Factor.” Make sure everything you’re doing is going to impress the customer you have. My first two tips will fall flat without this very important step. In fact, there is no shortcut to getting great customer reviews. Good client testimonials only come to those with great customer service.

Good client testimonials only come to those with great customer service Click To Tweet

Wow! your customer with your communication during the project. Do your very best to hit project timelines. If you can, give them something extra that they didn’t expect. A little attention to detail goes a long way.

Benefits to client testimonials

It’s great to hear back from your customer after a project is complete. Especially if it’s good news about how the work you’ve done is lasting and still meeting expectations. A few of my favorite benefits of customer reviews:

• Free credible promotion for your business
• Better search engine rankings for your website
• Builds trust with potentials customers shopping for your product or service
• Reveals areas you could improve your customer service
• Allows you competitive advantage over your competition