5-Star Customer Reviews Online: Get Customers to Review Consistently

You know that what customers say when they review your business matters. But no one seems to be reviewing your product or service—or worse, the only ones reviewing it are the handful of disgruntled customers.

In this series, we’re reviewing how to get those 5-star customer reviews. Our last piece covered how to get set up with a strategy. Here we focus on getting customers to actually leave those reviews consistently.

Make Review Outreach Part of the Sales Process

Some people are naturally inclined to leave reviews online everywhere they go. Most people are not.

That means that you have to bring the review process to their attention, then make it as easy as possible.

For example, if you own a restaurant, you can display your Yelp badge to remind customers that you have a profile there. (Note that Yelp has some very strict policies, though—for example, you cannot offer incentives for reviews, or even give incentives to servers to ask for reviews. Follow the guidelines for your platform!)

If you sell software online, send a polite review request as soon as the software is downloaded and paid for, or the subscription started. Then follow up again three weeks later. Or even better, have an in-app prompt to leave a quick review.

Use Social Media to Encourage Your Customers to Review

Your followers on social media likely are fans of your business already. Reach out on your social media platforms and ask for reviews. Provide a link so it’s as easy as possible.

When you get a good review, share it. That could prompt others to share their experiences, too—plus it gets the positive word-of-mouth in front of more viewers.

Can You Use an Incentive?

Yes, but be careful: Some review platforms, like Yelp, do not want you to use incentives as they believe it leads to inauthentic reviews. At the end of the day, nothing will prompt a good review better than a perfectly stellar experience on the part of the customer!