In our initial post in this series I stated that “Online reviews are one of the best things that could have ever happened to marketing-led companies.” But how do you get reviews? And how do you go about ensuring that the reviews are positive, or at least not negative?

8 ways to Increase Your Positive Reviews

1. Give great service – this first obvious step will make the rest so much easier;
2. Deal with queries quickly and efficiently, don’t wait until they become complaints;
3. Invest in staff training and ensure everyone in the company knows how to deal with and escalate issues, even small ones;
4. Put a “review us” notice on your customer service feedback forms with the website address for www.bizwiki.co.uk and other online directories that accept reviews;
5. Considering adding a “review us” page on your website with links to your Bizwiki record (great buttons coming soon for those who want them!);
6. Link to positive reviews about your company on other sites like www.bizwiki.co.uk;
7. Contact everyone who’s ever written a testimonial for you and ask if they would be so kind as to post it or similar on www.bizwiki.co.uk;
8. Include an appeal for reviews in your next e-newsletter, be sure to include a link to your Bizwiki record;

3 Ways this can Pay Off

1. Increased Sales: Research shows that people research companies online before buying and they do take the reviews into consideration when making purchase decisions. This is more true for some industries than others but word of mouth is a tried and proven sales technique and a positive review can never hurt.

2. Increased Exposure: Most online business directories and even some search engines rank businesses by the number of positive reviews they have received. Thus those with the most positive reviews get the top positions, more views and, all other things being equal, more enquiries.

3. Positive Positioning: You’ve spent a fortune on positioning your company, why not let your customers help you. Positive reviews are amazingly effective marketing tools to help improve people’s opinion of your company and its place in the market.

Stay tuned for the next installment in this series: How to Positively Deal with Negative Reviews