You know why your business needs 5-star reviews from your customers, but how much thought have you given to whether you actually deserve their praises?
Sometimes it’s not enough to simply hope for happy customers. Consider what type of service your customers need to be delighted with your company, and then make an honest assessment of how well you’re meeting those needs.
Could you be doing a better job of making your customers happy and, as a result, enjoy more positive online reviews?
What Does It Take to Get Great Online Reviews?
The first step to getting powerful testimonials and positive reviews is (no surprise) happy customers. So, what do customers need to be happy?
Hubspot recently published a list of the 16 most common types of customer needs. Among the most important product-related needs are:
- Functional products
- Fair pricing
- Convenience
- Reliability
- Performance
- Efficiency
As it concerns service, these are some of the most important customer needs:
- Fairness
- Empathy
- Transparency
- Options
- Information
- Accessibility
Whether you sell products or render services, customer service needs are universal across every business model. The more of a prospect’s needs you can meet, the more you can attract and maintain a strong customer base.
What Are You Doing to Deserve 5-Star Reviews?
To answer this question, start by performing your own customer needs analysis. Next comes the hard part – give yourself an honest assessment of how well you are meeting those needs.
Finally, because many business owners struggle to see things from the customer’s perspective, ask your staff and a few trusted customers to weigh in on the subject. Give both your employees and your customers an easy way to respond to you anonymously and you might be surprised by what you learn.
What Could You Be Doing Better?
By now, you might have a deeper level of insight as to how you can better meet the needs of your prospects and your customers. Take one issue at a time and brainstorm with your team on how you can improve that aspect of your business.
Be sure to quantify your goals, so you can track your progress and improvement. Many companies identify trackable key performance indicators (KPIs) to help achieve their goals.
Some potential places to start include improving your communication with customers, making sure every member of your team takes accountability for getting the job done right, and working on improving your consistency across the board. Finally, remember that excellence starts at the top, so lead by example to ensure the improvements occur company-wide.
Other Ways to Improve Your Chances of Getting Positive Online Reviews
You can do everything right and still not get the reviews you deserve online.
In that case, consider using the services of an expert to help you manage your online customer review process. Accrue Reviews specializes in helping companies encourage positive reviews from their customers and better manage those customers who are not necessarily thrilled with their experience.
Contact us today to learn more about the things you should be doing to deserve 5-star reviews from your customers.