Customer reviews may have started as a novel way for businesses to humbly brag about their success, but that has changed over the years. It’s now shown that 97% of customers use online media to shop locally and to research a product before buying. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how important reviews have become to the general public as of late.

 

Encouraging customers to reach out and leave positive reviews is an easy way to boost your online reputation at a glance. Customer reviews can be seen as something of a self-fulfilling prophecy—the more positive things that more people say about your business, the more potential customers this will win over in the process.

 

Read on to learn more about who writes and reads reviews, and how you can get your business more positive reviews.

Who Reads And Writes Reviews?

If you were to imagine someone who sits there and reads a company’s reviews, who comes to mind? The person that may have initially come to mind for a reviewer is a stereotypical “Karen” that all the memes and jokes are based on: grumpy, impossible to please, and makes sure your manager is aware of the slightest inconsistency—the list goes on. However, that can’t be further from the truth! As we now know, potential customers are the ones reading and sorting through these reviews, and your responses to said reviews (both positive and negative).

 

While reading through previous clients’ reviews sets a first impression in the reader, they do read through your responses and take that into account as well. This means that properly addressing the customers who do leave you reviews is equally important. Typically, you’re going to hear from customers or clients who are in one of two camps: people who feel they’ve had stellar service and they’ve fallen in love with your products or someone who’s felt they’ve had a subpar experience and feels the need to share this with the world. Thankfully, there’s something you can do to nudge your reviews in a more positive direction.

How to Get More Positive Reviews

With understanding the influence that customer reviews have over your potential customers, it’s natural to wonder about how to sway said influence in the right direction. Because of this, proper placement is a priority. Putting positive reviews directly on your home page is an excellent way to introduce your website’s visitors that your company aims to provide 5-star service.

 

Also, if there are product-specific reviews, you can place those on the appropriate product pages. This allows the reader’s first impression to be that of excellence.

 

Another valuable tool is timing. Requesting a review as a follow-up with your customers or clients can lead to more positive reviews.

 

 

 

At The Lively Co, we understand how impactful reviews can be to your business’s success. This is why our reputation management software allows companies to request, read, and respond to reviews all in one place while giving you access to a professional team who can handle this for you. For more information on our reputation management services, contact us today.