How To Successfully Ask Your Clients For Google Reviews

What is Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile recently rebranded from “Google My Business”. It’s a free tool that allows businesses to manage their digital presence all in one place, from maps to search. Oh and yes, you read that right - it’s free so you really don’t have an excuse not to hop on the GBP bandwagon.

While there are other host sites that you can get reviews on, the majority of search traffic is directed through Google these days. So, GBP is the place we suggest you start with, in terms of hunting down online reviews. It’s particularly powerful for businesses wanting to attract local customers.

What good reviews can do for your SEO

Did you know that Google reviews can also help with SEO, especially for local businesses? Local SEO is all about helping businesses be found by people searching in their area.

Check out this piece of advice straight from Google themselves: 

“High-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’s visibility and increase the likelihood that a potential customer will visit your location.”

You might be familiar with the major tactics of SEO that help get you at the top of Google’s search results. Reviews support this effort by establishing your brand as credible and trustworthy.

Think about it this way: Google wants to make its users satisfied so that they’ll keep coming back. Therefore Google wants to show searchers the most reliable, relevant and helpful results and one of the major ways Google decides who’s going at the top of the search results is reviews! 

Who do you think will receive more clicks: a business with heaps of 5-star ratings or a business with 2-star ratings? It’s pretty simple: the more stars, the more clicks you’ll be getting. And SEO rankings are influenced by click through rates because if you’re getting the clicks, Google will assume you’re doing something right.

At the end of the day, if you focus on making your customers happy and do a good job of asking for reviews, you’ll be on your way to getting those shiny stars and a whole lot more clicks.

Using the Commitment and Consistency Tactic

In Robert Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence and the Psychology of Persuasion, the Commitment and Consistency Tactic suggests that people are more likely to do what they said they are going to do. Whether this be moral obligation or saving face, once someone verbally says they will do something, they are more likely to act consistently according to their commitment. 

What we’re saying is, on your way out from finishing a service or delivering a product, don’t forget to ask your customers “how did we go?” or “how was your experience today?” at the completion of the service. This is important as it initiates the Commitment and Consistency Tactic. 

For example, imagine you have an electrical business.

Step 1:

You would ask a question to the customer as you are about to leave from a job. 

• “Is everything done?” and “is there anything else I can help with?” 
• “Are you happy with the service today?” 
• Customer says “Yes I am, thank you”

Step 2:

• For those customers who say YES, have your job management system send an email or text message that says “thanks for choosing us, and thank you for letting us know you were happy with our service today. Would you mind taking a minute to let others know?” 
• Then, add a link to Good Reviews

The Law of Commitment and Consistency suggests that they are more likely to follow up on a good review because they have verbally said they are happy with the service!

So, how exactly do you ask your client for reviews and what other ways can you do this?

Ways you can ask your clients for reviews

According to one study, 85% of buyers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations. This is a pretty incredible statistic when you think about it. It means if you put effort into getting reviews from past customers, you can be confident you will begin to attract more and more new customers. 

There are so many ways to ask a customer for a review. Emails are often the most convenient, but the important thing is to choose a method that your unique customer base will respond well to. Check out the ways below for some inspiration.

Asking via Email

• Make it personal: Give and get. If you don’t show that you’ve put in the effort for your customer, they’re probably not going to want to put in the effort for you. Show them that you care by using their name and even mentioning the specific product or service they used.
  

• Make it easy: The more hurdles your customers have to jump, the less likely they’re going to give you a review. Make it super easy for them by including a review link.
• Watch your tone: Avoid sounding desperate, pushy or robotic. These are major turn offs. Instead, use a casual, friendly tone so that you come across as personal and sincere.
• Don’t waste their time: Everyone’s busy, and you’re just about to ask your customer to take time out of their day to write you a review. Your email needs to only do the following: thank them for their business, explain why you’re asking for a review and how they can leave one, and tell them how long it will take.
• Test & Adjust: Your business and customer base are unique; what might work for Joe down the road probably isn’t going to work for you. Testing out different email templates and making the necessary adjustments has been proven to dramatically increase the number of reviews that come in, as much as 80% according to this case study. In time, you’ll be able to create a really solid email template that has a high success rate. Just don’t forget to personalise!

FREE EMAIL TEMPLATES

Review Cards

If your business involves meetings or on-site visits, you could ask for reviews by leaving a business card with a review link on the back. Make it even easier for them and put a QR code leading to your Google Reviews on there.

Thank You Pages

If your website normally comes up with a thank you page after someone purchases a product or makes a download, you can use this as an opportunity to ask for a review. Say thank you, ask for a review, and include a link to your Google Reviews.

Things to consider when asking for a Google review

To give yourself the best chance of success when asking for reviews, there are a few things you should think about. Keep in mind the best practices below.

Your Website

Some customers will be proactive and want to give you a review, so make it easy for them and include a link on your website. In the website footer or on the testimonial page would be ideal.

Timing: when should you ask for a review?

When asking for reviews, you’ve got to find the sweet spot. Ask too early and your customer might not have had enough time to experience your product/service. Ask too late and their initial excitement may have worn off. Think about your specific customer base and try to ask them at an appropriate time. Be willing to test this out and adjust accordingly.

Make it easy

It’s human nature to put off stuff that takes a lot of effort. Unless we are super motivated, we won’t get around to it. Whatever you do when you’re asking for a review, make it as easy as possible for your customers.

Use organic opportunities

You probably have many opportunities to ask for a review that come about naturally. For example, if a customer gives you positive feedback without you asking, see if they’ll be willing to write that up into a review. Make the most of these organic opportunities.

Show your customers you care

When asking for a review, you’re essentially asking for a customer to do something for you to benefit your business. Always take care to avoid sounding insincere or that you only care about the review and not the customer. Take care of them, and it’s likely they’ll take care of you.

How to link your Google Business Profile review form in an email

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: make sure you provide a review link when asking for a review! This will make it so much easier for your customers and the easier it is, the more likely they’ll do it. Follow the steps below to generate your own review form link.

This is the simplest and latest way:

• Sign into your Google Business Profile account
• Go to Info>’Add short name’ to create a profile short name if you haven’t already done so.
• Find the ‘Get more reviews’ box on the homepage
• Copy the link and paste into the email to your customer

You can also use this longer method: 

• Sign into your Google account
• Search your business on Google
• Click the button ‘Write Review’ to the right of your results
• Copy the URL in your browser address bar
• Optional - shorten the URL with a free tool like Bitly
• Paste into the email to your customer

Phone Calls

If you’re already talking to a customer on the phone, it could be a good opportunity to ask them if they’d be willing to give you a review. If they agree, you can send them a link via email so they can do the review at their convenience.

So, you get reviews, then what?

Getting reviews isn’t the end of the story. The next step is to respond to any reviews you get. As Google says, “Responding to reviews shows that you value your customers and the feedback they leave about your business.” 

Your interaction with reviews is really important for maintaining credibility because 97% of consumers who read reviews are reading what businesses write in response. Whether you get an amazing 5-star review or a measly 1-star, you have a chance to respond and show potential future customers that you care.

Treat your customers well and try your best to get glowing reviews, but don’t be discouraged if it’s not all 5-stars. Research has shown that people are most likely to spend their money when a business has a rating of 4.0-4.7 and actually less likely when the rating gets closer to 5.0. It goes back to the point of not faking it; if you only ever got 5-star reviews, consumers might think something’s up.