How to Get Online Reviews

This step may seem a bit obvious, but if you don’t ask, you won’t get your reviews. Some great ways to request reviews are in a follow-up email, in-person, in a social media post, in reply to a positive social media comment, over the phone, in a text conversation (if appropriate!), on a postcard, on preprinted 'review us' business cards, and in your email signature.

when you don’t take the time to set up certain business pages yourself, someone will add them for you. For example, this happens a lot with Yelp and Alignable. So be sure to claim your business profiles on all review sites right from the start. Then optimize them so they all match. By doing those two things alone, you'll be way ahead of your competition!

When you ask someone to leave a review, you’re asking them to put their credibility and reputation on the line in order to endorse you. Be understanding and don’t treat it lightly.

Wait to ask for any review until any post-sale issues have been resolved. You want your reviewers to have a positive business experience fresh in their minds.

Besides the methods mentioned above, here's a great time and approach to ask in person: Let's say you are chatting to the customer during checkout and the customer is really happy. That's a great time to say, "We're so glad we you're happy. As a small business, we'd be grateful if you could take a minute to leave us a review on either our Facebook or Google page. Those reviews are really valuable to us."

When someone says they’ll leave a review, make it as easy as possible for them. Give them a link directly to the review site to make the whole process simple and painless for them.

Show your appreciation to those who leave reviews! A little gratitude through a quick note, a call, or even a $5 gift card goes a long way. Do something to show you’re grateful for their help.

As you go through this process and learn how to easily and efficiently gather and respond to reviews, you'll be able to turn it into a repeatable process.

The feedback your getting is valuable, and the negative feedback is the most valuable of all. When you do get some, set your ego aside, ask yourself what could have been done better, and make changes accordingly. It's part of the growth process.