3 Steps to Great Customer Reviews

“Norm was extremely helpful in repairing my laptop. He is friendly, his prices are very competitive and he delivered his service in a fast and effective manner. He also conveniently came to my location and was able to fix a number of technical and start up issues my laptop was facing. I would definitely recommend Norm to anyone in need of IT technician support.” Joti

Doesn’t every business owner crave reviews like this? In fact, reviews like this on your business website can really help you to stand out from the competition. But just how do you go about getting such reviews? Read on for three steps to awesome customer reviews.

1. Do an Outstanding Job

It should go without saying that the first step towards getting great customer reviews is to do an outstanding job for the customer. Whatever your business and whatever your skill, you want your customers to see that you’re the best at what you do. In order to achieve this you’ll need to not only have the necessary qualifications and capabilities, but also be on a continuous journey of self-improvement. One of the keys to continuing success and progress is to never consider that you’ve actually arrived. Don’t rest on your laurels. You can always learn more, develop your skillset further and hone your craft.

Having said that, it’s important to accept that you’re human and that some jobs just won’t go so well. Whilst this is disconcerting in the moment, it’s also a great opportunity. You can analyze what went wrong, then learn from any mistakes you made, and think about how you can do better the next time. Never stop learning and growing.

2. Exceed the Customer’s Expectation

Every customer will have the expectation that you’ll be able to do what they’re asking you to do. But if you can go the extra mile you’re likely to have a client for life. Can you do the job for a cheaper price than they were expecting to pay? Can you do it faster than they were expecting? Can you do even more than they asked for but without charging them any extra? You’ll see in the quote above from Joti that he considered the price to be competitive and the service to have been delivered in a fast and effective manner. But he also mentioned the additional issues that were addressed and was clearly a very happy customer.

Exceeding your customer’s expectation should be in your mind from the moment they first contact you. Whether by telephone, email, or in a chat message, you want to capture their attention, follow through by saying what you’ve said you will do, and then go the extra mile.

3. Ask the Customer for a Review

Once in a while a customer may spontaneously post a review for you on a third party review site. This has certainly happened for me. But the vast majority of the reviews and testimonials I’ve received have been as a result of me asking the customer for feedback.

It’s a good idea, particularly with first-time customers, to follow up every job with an email. The email should be courteous and succinct and begin by thanking the customer for the opportunity to help them out with whatever service you provided. Then you can ask them for feedback and invite them to engage with you on social media.

The best way to ask for feedback is not by expecting them to reply to your email as most people aren’t likely to do this. Rather provide them with a link on which they can click, and assure them that this won’t take up too much of their time. I use a link to a short survey on SurveyMonkey with a few simple questions around the service provided and then asking them if they have any other comments. I ask them to provide their name if they are happy for their comments to appear on my company website. By doing this I acquired testimonials from about one in five of the hundreds of clients serviced in my first year in business, which was a great foundation for continuing success.

So there it is in a nutshell. If you can do an outstanding job for your customers, exceeding their expectations, and then ask them for feedback, you’re well on the way to having lots of great testimonials to post on your website.