In an increasingly remote world, customers are continuously looking for a human connection. This concept is especially true in business. Before sharing their disposable income with a company, budget-savvy consumers want to see the value in their expenditure. They do this by reading customer reviews. Getting online reviews is an essential part of building customer trust for your brand.

With upwards of 95% of customers reading online reviews before making a purchase, businesses have an opportunity to increase conversions and revenue without spending more on campaigns. Here are five tips for getting online reviews and building customer trust.

Create a Follow-Up Plan

Getting customer reviews should be a part of the overall CRM functions within a business. While many businesses see the value in focusing on retention, they often skip over the request for a review. Rather than relying on customers to take it upon themselves to leave an online review, the onus is on the business to ask.

Create a follow-up plan for after a sale. Make it a part of an overall customer service campaign in which you proactively reach out to offer support. Once you’re sure that the customer is satisfied, ask them to leave a review and share their experience. Consider offering an incentive if you deem it appropriate.

Practice Social Listening

Practicing social listening is essential when working on your brand. Social listening allows you to be alerted not only to reviews and direct mentions but when your brand is mentioned in passing. For example, someone might tweet their experience with your product or company but not tag you. By having social listening alerts put in place, you can still be notified about these conversations.

Having the right tools in place can make all the difference when trying to get online reviews and build customer trust. Using review monitoring software can help you track reviews on popular sites like Facebook, Google, and Yelp. Using a social listening tool like Hootsuite can help you see when people are talking about you without tagging. Finally, setting Google alerts can notify you of any press surrounding your product or business so that you can craft the narrative of your brand.

Make the Process Foolproof

The easier it is for your customers to leave a review, the more likely they are to do so. Make the review process foolproof.

Airbnb has a fantastic review strategy that lets them collect a lot of information without burdening their customers. Upon arriving, guests receive an email prompting them to click a few buttons indicating whether or not the space met their expectations. To submit this review, guests simply click a smiley face, a neutral face, or a negative face. After the stay, they’re prompted for more details in the form of a questionnaire and brief recap.

Reduce friction for your customers to make their review experience as positive as their purchase experience. Use direct links and simple instructions to guide the process.

Create a Negative Review Response Plan

Negative reviews are a fact of life when running a business. Sometimes, mistakes are made. Other times, miscommunications happen. In many cases, you run into someone who complains for the sake of it.

So what do you do?

You respond to the negative review as soon as possible.

Create a negative review response plan that outlines the tone you take when responding and how you proceed to correct the issue. For example, you might choose to redirect a customer to a private email conversation rather than responding on the review platform. Remember to add a step to the process that asks customers to revisit their review after you’ve helped.

Highlight Reviews and Testimonials on your Website

Finally, build trust by highlighting your reviews and testimonials on your website. Use SEO-friendly language to ensure your website pops up when customers search for reviews. Whenever possible, include customer names, testimonials, and purchase dates.

Remember to use your reviews as social media content as well. Making graphics that fit your brand and highlight some of your best reviews can help move customers through your sales funnel.

With these five tips, you’ll be able to build customer trust and gain more online reviews over time. Be strategic and put processes in place to manage this essential business task.

Ashley Lipman is an award-winning writer who discovered her passion for providing knowledge to readers worldwide on topics closest to her heart – all things digital. Since her first high school award in Creative Writing, she continues to deliver awesome content through various niches touching the digital sphere.

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