Simple Ideas For Increasing Your Response rate of Google Reviews.

As you’ll already be aware, there are many powerful benefits of getting more customer referrals and testimonials, especially via Google. There is an entire process around how best to get referrals and testimonials and there’s a 128 page A4 whitepaper MKLINK wrote about it you can have if you need some help getting to sleep at night. However, for now, let’s just focus on one aspect of it, i.e. the response rate of Google reviews.

From the study that MKLINK undertook on behalf of multiple Managed service providers where we spoke in person with a statistically significant number of end clients, our research showed that of those 87% of end-clients that verbally confirmed that they were happy to provide the MSP with a Google review, only 19.8% of them actually went on to do so. That’s less than a quarter of them. This is a surprisingly dreadful statistic!

Ignoring for a moment all the potential academic reasons for the low response rates, let’s just focus on one certain fact. That is, your clients are doubtlessly busy and distracted.

This means that in order to increase the number of Positive Google reviews you receive when asking for them, the whole process needs to be as frictionless as possible.

We’ll not discuss incentivising the process of getting google reviews at this juncture because that opens up a whole new can of worms and needs careful consideration in each case. So instead, here are 4 quick suggestions that you definitely can implement which will help, regardless of how motivated your clients are.

Number 1 – Ask at the right time: Timing is critical when asking for a Google review. Ask your customers for a review after they have had a positive experience with your service. For example, after resolving an issue, delivering a successful project, or closing a sale, ask them to leave a review.

Number 2 – Make it easy: You can email them with a link direct to your Google review page and include a pre-written review which they can either edit or submit directly to the Google review. Additionally, you can provide everyone with clear instructions on how to leave a review on Google. Perhaps have a specific reviews page on your website which you can reference in your email signature.

Number 3 – Personalize your request: Make your request personalized to each customer. Address them by their name, mention specific details of the service they used, and show gratitude for their business. Personalizing your request can make it more impactful and increase the likelihood of a response because it makes them feel less like part of a cut-and-paste exercise you’re running.

Number 4 – Follow-up: Follow-up with your customers who have not left a review after a few days of your initial request. Sometimes, people simply forget to complete the review, or the email requesting the review might end up in their spamfolder. A gentle reminder may help them to remember and complete the review. You could try sending a card through the post. Alternatively follow up via WhatsApp. Crucially, it should be different mode of communication entirely.

Further to these suggestions, remember to always respond to existing reviews because it shows that you value your customers’ feedback and it can encourage others to leave a review as well.

Even if someone writes a less than ideal review, avoid any knee-jerk reactions and take the time to respond in a professional and courteous manner – this will always paint you in a better light and can actually serve to help you. Obviously, biting your tongue is easier said than done!

In Summary, anything you can do to make getting more Google Reviews less hassle for you and your clients will be time well invested.