Whether you’re selling products or services, customer ratings are extremely important, and possibly more than ever in the modern, connected age.
Reviews and ratings are the first thing people will look for in the consideration phase. bad reviews, or even just a few reviews, can have a negative impact, while lots of amazing reviews will obviously increase your response rates.
Reading: Reviews how to improve customer care list
So how do you get more customer ratings, or better yet, more great customer ratings?
In this post, I’ll outline four key tips that will help you improve your customer ratings.
the importance of reviews
but first of all, let’s reiterate why reviews are so important, especially in the modern age.
With people now always connected and able to check their mobile devices at any time, they can research your business and products at any stage, informing their decision on whether or not to make a purchase. And consumers now have more options than ever to share their thoughts: they can post on Facebook, Twitter, they can submit reviews on Yelp or Google directly. all of these responses are digitally recorded and can be shown to potential future customers when they do a search.
overwhelmingly bad ratings will send potential buyers to your competition, while as noted, having only a few ratings can make you appear too “green” or inexperienced compared to your competition.
That’s why you need reviews and a process for getting feedback. So how can you increase your number of online reviews and generate better ones to begin with?
1. perform a customer experience audit
Customer experience has become increasingly important in recent years. Services like Amazon, for example, have created streamlined and effective buying and referral processes that include personalization, fast delivery, and an overall ease of use that keeps people coming back to them time and time again.
See also: The 13 Best Customer Service Software Platforms for 2022
One of the main things many of the world’s largest companies have in common is excellent customer experience. In many cases, it won’t even matter if you sell an amazing product: if potential customers take too long to discover your website and place an order, they’ll go elsewhere, and that could be not only a lost sale, but also a bad review.
similarly, if you ship your product to customers days late, or if it arrives at a different (and bad) time than originally scheduled, you’ll almost certainly get a lower rating. Whether you only sell online or have a physical store, you should always put the customer experience first.
The better your service, the more likely customers will want to leave a review and also buy from you again.
The best way to find out how good or bad your customer service process is is to perform an audit of the entire customer experience, from the research phase through delivery and post-delivery.
there are several ways to investigate your own customer experience:
- ask your existing customers directly: Use a tool like surveymonkey to ask your customers for feedback on their experience. this can show that you value their feedback and care about their opinions, while also providing valuable information.
- Put yourself in the customer’s shoes: Go through the entire buying process yourself, just as you would if you were a potential customer. Google your business to see where you can find information and what information is available about your business. check what reviews you can find. search for products on their website and order something. this can be an important and valuable learning lesson and should not be overlooked.
- Verify Steps – List all the touch points that can affect the customer experience and verify each one (before purchase, during purchase, and after purchase). These may seem obvious, but few marketers take the time to look at things from the customer’s perspective, which can be a key starting point in your improvement.
- in person
- by email or phone
- via a live chat tool
- via social media
2. invest in your services to improve the customer experience
It’s also worth considering that, on social platforms in particular, people tend to want to share the most extreme experiences, both amazing and downright annoying.
they will complain or praise you in posts, tell their friends and family about it and of course leave reviews on google, on your website and on different review platforms.
Given this, it’s worth considering how you can make your customer experience stand out and invest in such improvements where possible.
Doing so will effectively encourage sharing and discussion: maintaining basic service standards is key, but offering sharing-oriented experiences can also be highly beneficial.
3. improve your delivery system
delivery time and other additional options can also make a big difference to the customer experience and overall ratings.
See also: How to Write a Good Review on a Car – Gauge Magazine
and really, everyone is now competing with amazon on this front: amazon has revolutionized delivery systems time and time again, and will continue to do so (with options like ultra-fast prime air delivery).
Advanced delivery systems like bringg can allow you to better compete with amazon, because it’s not just about speed anymore, it’s also about being able to choose a preferred delivery time and easily track your delivery, among others.
You probably can’t be as good as Amazon on this front, but it’s another key part of the customer experience to consider.
4. improve your customer service options
Another very important aspect of the customer experience is the customer service you provide. I would go as far as to say that excellent customer service can even completely change the perception customers have of your business, and it definitely has a huge impact on your ratings.
For example, I recently tried a product for the first time that I thought was great. and yet i returned it after a few days because i had a problem and wasted so much time trying to get an answer through customer service that i just didn’t want to deal with them any longer. really, the product no longer mattered at that point.
Take the time to evaluate your customer service and make a list of all the customer service options you currently offer; for example:
Basically, you should be looking to offer customer service options across all platforms your audience uses to interact with you directly in any way.
In short, you need to give your customers enough options to get them to contact you for customer service, and you need to be prompt and polite. These are the most important factors for excellent customer service.
conclusion
Customer experience is vitally important when it comes to the perception of your business. an amazing experience will inspire customers to not only leave positive feedback, but will also incentivize them to keep buying from you. a bad experience, on the other hand, will likely make them want to complain about you online and to their friends and family, both through reviews and through digital platforms like your social media accounts.
Take the time to evaluate your current customer experience and find ways to improve it; there is always something you can do to improve your process.
See also: Ultimate 2022 List: The 30 Best Customer Feedback Tools
