Table of Contents
- What Are Client Reviews?
- The Importance of Customer Reviews and How to Leverage Them Effectively
- Why Are Client Reviews So Important?
- Build Trust with Real People
- Provide Valuable Feedback
- Encourage Positive Engagement
- Provide Coaching to Agents
- Improve the Bottom Line
- Related Reading
- How To Gather Client Reviews
- Ask Satisfied Customers for Reviews via Email
- Email All Previous Customers to Request Feedback
- Check Social Media and Review Sites for Existing Customer Comments
- Use Pre-existing Testimonials for Individual Team Members
- Pay a Previous Customer, Celebrity, or Influencer to Provide an Endorsement
- Integrate Testimonial Requests into the Service Process
- Related Reading
- The Easy Way Of Getting More Client Reviews On Your Website
- Speed Up the Process of Gathering Client Reviews
- Tools for Collecting Client Reviews Efficiently
- Why Use Testimonial to Gather Client Reviews?
- 6 Ways You Can Use Client Reviews Effectively?
- 1. Make Customer Reviews Stand Out on Your Website
- 2. Use Reviews to Inform Purchases
- 3. Include Pictures of Products or Services
- 4. Reward Loyal Customers Who Leave Reviews
- 5. Share Feedback Across the Business
- 6. Ask Customers to Edit Negative Reviews
- What to Include in a Client Review
- 1. Specific details about the experience
- 2. The problem they were trying to solve
- 3. Results or outcomes
- 4. Authenticity and honesty
- 5. A recommendation
- How Testimonial Enhances Trust and Credibility for Businesses Across Industries
- How Can You Improve Your Client Reviews?
- Embrace Feedback from Negative Reviews
- Ask for Reviews in Different Ways
- Respond to Customer Reviews
- Make the Review Process Simple
- Create an Easily Accessible Review Page
- Related Reading
- Where To Include Client Reviews On Website
- Key Landing Pages are Essential for Client Reviews
- Ad Content and Client Reviews Go Hand in Hand
- Incorporate Reviews in Your Success Stories, Portfolio, and Case Studies
- Contact Pages and Checkout Deserve Client Reviews Too
- Don’t Sleep on Social Media Content for Reviews
- Create a Testimonial Page for Your Client Reviews
- Build a Wall of Love for Free Today with Testimonial
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What are client reviews? Know the six powerful ways to turn reviews into a business asset for building trust.
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What Are Client Reviews? 6 Ways To Use Reviews Effectively In Your Business
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People look for reviews before they buy. Studies show that consumers read online reviews before purchasing a product or service. So, it’s no wonder that client reviews, or testimonials on website, are among the most effective ways to build trust and credibility with potential customers. And the best part? You don't have to pay your clients for their reviews. They simply document their experience with your business and share it with the world.
This article will explore the significance of client reviews and offer practical tips on how to use them effectively in your business. We’ll define client reviews and discuss the difference between client reviews and testimonials using testimonial software. We’ll cover six ways to use reviews to your advantage. We’ll help you get organized so you can easily manage this process.
What Are Client Reviews?
A client review is a form of feedback or personal evaluation supplied by a customer who has used a product or service. These reviews are typically published on company websites, e-commerce platforms, or review-specific sites. Client reviews offer vital insights into customer satisfaction, product performance, and service quality. Most agree that they help potential buyers make informed decisions. Client reviews can also influence a company’s reputation and credibility.
The Importance of Customer Reviews and How to Leverage Them Effectively
According to BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey, 75 percent of consumers regularly read customer reviews before purchasing a product, hiring a company, or investing in a service. While your friends may pick up the phone to tell you about a product or service they loved or hated, they are also likely to post positive feedback online—or leave a scathing review.
Businesses can’t avoid ratings, so instead of dreading this input, make customer reviews a part of your customer experience strategy by mastering how to ask for—and earn—excellent reviews. Use our guide to learn why customer reviews are essential, what popular review sites your customers may use, how to get and use reviews, and how to respond to all types of client feedback.
Why Are Client Reviews So Important?
Build Trust with Real People
Client reviews are powerful because they come from real people. Even when posted by brand evangelists, reviews often feel more authentic to buyers than traditional marketing. About 50 percent of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from family and friends, demonstrating that word-of-mouth marketing online can significantly impact a business’s bottom line.
In our digital age, companies can build customer trust when customers read honest reviews from people they know and other consumers with real experiences.
Provide Valuable Feedback
Reviews give insight into what you’re doing right and where there’s room for improvement—from your product quality to the effectiveness of your support team. Honest feedback also helps you know if you’re meeting customer expectations.
For example, Mailchimp used customer feedback to identify which features and functionalities were most important to customers. Using this information and a customer-centric strategy, the company built better products that helped more customers than ever.
Encourage Positive Engagement
Creating a platform where customers can exchange experiences enhances engagement and fosters a sense of community. For instance, encouraging interaction on your website or mobile app by allowing customers to post reviews and respond to others’ feedback can significantly increase customer engagement.
Provide Coaching to Agents
All feedback can be good, especially when it breaks down service flaws and helps strengthen support quality by identifying areas of improvement. Positive customer reviews encourage agents to continue performing as they are, while constructive or negative reviews can reveal where they might be missing the mark. Managers can use all customer feedback forms to create transparent coaching sessions, skills labs, or training programs.
Improve the Bottom Line
Reviews can directly drive customer acquisition, plus upsells and cross-sells. When prospects read client reviews about their customer experience (CX) or see a business interacting with customer reviews online, they form opinions about who to trust and interact with. Good review etiquette and honest reviews from real customers can significantly tip a business’s revenue scales in the right direction.
Testimonial simplifies the process of building trust and credibility for businesses. Our testimonial software allows easy collection and display of authentic client testimonials, featuring:
- Video and text options
- Embeddable 'wall of love' widget
- A clever Email Assistant
- Third-party review imports
This software is ideal for:
- Content creators
- Agencies
- eCommerce
- SaaS companies
Testimonial helps boost your credibility and conversion rates by showcasing real customer experiences. Build a wall of love for free today with Testimonials.
Related Reading
How To Gather Client Reviews
Approaching people for reviews might seem challenging, but they’re often pleased to share their experiences. To collect reviews, consider the following strategies:
Ask Satisfied Customers for Reviews via Email
Reach out to clients who’ve previously praised your business privately, such as during a meeting or phone call. They might be open to publicizing their comments.
Email All Previous Customers to Request Feedback
If the business has an email list, the owner or a marketer could politely request testimonials. Adding an incentive, such as a discount code or a gift, can entice customers to leave feedback.
Check Social Media and Review Sites for Existing Customer Comments
Comb the business’s social media pages for customer comments or use a social listening tool to monitor what people say about the business. You can also check review sites like Google Maps, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Trustpilot. When sourcing reviews from external platforms, avoid directly copy-pasting them to your page to avoid copyright infringement.
Instead, use a widget that fetches these reviews directly from the site or seek the reviewer’s permission for a unique testimonial.
Use Pre-existing Testimonials for Individual Team Members
If the business is in its infancy and has few or no previous clients, testimonials specific to team members or individuals can bridge the gap. For example, “I worked with Ciara on X project…”
Pay a Previous Customer, Celebrity, or Influencer to Provide an Endorsement
This option isn’t for every business but may offer certain brands a valuable initial push. Remember, any compensation or incentives, including discounts on future purchases, should accompany the testimonial for transparency.
Integrate Testimonial Requests into the Service Process
Consider incorporating feedback requests after every service rendered or in follow-up communications.
Related Reading
The Easy Way Of Getting More Client Reviews On Your Website
Speed Up the Process of Gathering Client Reviews
Gathering client reviews manually, such as through email requests, can take time and effort. You must draft messages and follow up with customers; you often need more time to respond. This can lead to missed opportunities to showcase positive feedback that could help potential customers make informed decisions.
Tools for Collecting Client Reviews Efficiently
Tools like Testimonial streamline collecting and displaying customer feedback, making it faster and more efficient. With platforms like this, you can send:
- Automated requests
- Captured reviews in various formats
- Text
- Video
- Imported reviews from third-party sources
Testimonial also provides features like an embeddable “wall of love” widget, allowing you to showcase customer experiences directly on your site without hassle. This simplifies the collection and presentation, making building trust and credibility with new visitors easier.
Why Use Testimonial to Gather Client Reviews?
By using these tools, businesses can reduce the time spent manually tracking feedback and focus on gathering authentic, impactful testimonials that enhance customer trust and drive conversions.
Leveraging such technology streamlines the process and easily boosts your credibility with minimal effort, whether you're a:
- Content creator
- Agency
- eCommerce business
6 Ways You Can Use Client Reviews Effectively?
1. Make Customer Reviews Stand Out on Your Website
As your business receives positive reviews, highlight the best ones on your website in a prominent location. Place reviews on your homepage so visitors see them as soon as they arrive. This placement may encourage shoppers to make a purchase or read more reviews.
2. Use Reviews to Inform Purchases
If you sell products through an online store, display reviews on specific product pages. For example, you might have ratings and reviews about a pair of shoes for sale on your website so shoppers can read others’ opinions about those shoes. This practice helps potential customers make informed decisions before buying.
3. Include Pictures of Products or Services
Pictures of your products or services may motivate more shoppers to trust your site’s reviews and buy from your business. Consider adding photographs to reviews so people can see your products or services and compare them to similar items.
4. Reward Loyal Customers Who Leave Reviews
As your business gains more reviews, look for ways to leverage this feedback to benefit your operations. For example, you can identify loyal customers and customers who may be at risk of churning. To show your appreciation, reward customers who leave positive reviews with discounts or offer discounts and benefits to customers who leave negative reviews as an apology for the poor experience.
5. Share Feedback Across the Business
Instead of siloing reviews on marketing pages, leverage reviews throughout your organization to shape:
- Agent training programs
- Inform product updates
- Praise team members
6. Ask Customers to Edit Negative Reviews
If you contact a customer about a negative review and solve their problem with their purchase, you may ask them to edit their negative review. While it's the customer’s choice to update their review with new information, asking them may increase the number of positive ratings for your business.
What to Include in a Client Review
An effective client review goes beyond saying "great service" or "would recommend." It includes essential elements that make it both helpful for potential customers and valuable to the business. Here's what should be included in a vital client review:
1. Specific details about the experience
A practical review highlights what was great (or not so great) about the product or service. Instead of vague praise, mentioning particular aspects like:
- Customer support
- Ease of use
- Timely delivery is better
For example, "The customer service team quickly resolved my issue with a broken product, and they even offered a discount on my next purchase."
2. The problem they were trying to solve
A good review often starts by explaining why the client sought the product or service in the first place. This context helps other potential customers relate to the review. For instance, "We needed a reliable CRM to streamline our sales process."
3. Results or outcomes
It’s adequate to share how the product or service made a difference. What results were achieved? Did it save time, increase productivity, or boost revenue?
An example could be, "After using the software for just one month, we noticed a 25% increase in client retention."
4. Authenticity and honesty
Reviews that are genuine and balanced, mentioning both positives and any areas for improvement, are more trustworthy. Instead of a glowing five-star review without details, potential customers appreciate an honest take, like "The product worked well overall, though I found the learning curve a bit steep at first."
5. A recommendation
A substantial review often ends with a recommendation. Whether they would recommend the service to others and why. For example, "I highly recommend this service to small business owners looking for a cost-effective solution."
How Testimonial Enhances Trust and Credibility for Businesses Across Industries
Testimonial simplifies the process of building trust and credibility for businesses. Our software allows easy collection and display of authentic client testimonials, featuring:
- Video and text options
- Embeddable 'wall of love' widget
- A clever Email Assistant
- Third-party review imports
This testimonial software is ideal for:
- Content creators
- Agencies
- eCommerce
- SaaS companies
Testimonial helps boost your credibility and conversion rates by showcasing real customer experiences. Build a wall of love for free today with Testimonials.
How Can You Improve Your Client Reviews?
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Embrace Feedback from Negative Reviews
Negative reviews shouldn't scare you. Instead, they can help you improve your business and customer product expectations.
- Consider any suggestions for improvement that customers mention in their reviews.
- Make changes to help you better meet your target audience's expectations.
- Respond to the reviewer and let them know how you addressed their concerns. This will show them, and anyone else reading the review, that you value customer feedback.
- It also helps you earn better reviews in the future.
Ask for Reviews in Different Ways
One way to get more reviews is to ask for them differently. For example, you can request reviews on your website, in follow-up emails, on social media, and in notes included with product packaging. Each of these methods allows you to reach different customers and encourages them to share their experience with your business in a convenient way. Follow-up emails are beneficial because they target customers who have purchased and may want to share their opinions with others.
Respond to Customer Reviews
Replying to customer reviews regularly allows you to see what people are saying about your business and address their concerns publicly for other shoppers to see. When you reply to negative reviews, you can find solutions to problems your customers present and show other shoppers that you want to improve services for unsatisfied customers. You can also reply to positive reviews and thank those reviewers for supporting your business and for sharing their opinions with others.
When online shoppers see these replies, it may motivate them to learn more about your company and leave their reviews after a purchase. Customers who visit these replies may trust your business more and feel a deeper connection to your brand when they see you care about replying to customer reviews.
Make the Review Process Simple
Making your review process simple may motivate more customers to leave reviews. If it’s easy for them to do so, they may be more likely to do so. You can create a simple review process using software that allows customers to enter their information quickly and post reviews without going through many web pages. It's also a good idea to send a link to customers after they purchase so they can leave a review specifically for the product or service they purchased.
Create an Easily Accessible Review Page
Customers may be more likely to leave a review if they know other shoppers can see it, so it’s essential to create a review page that’s easy for shoppers to access. You can do this by creating a specific page on your website that shows star ratings and reviews or adding a separate webpage that users can access from the homepage of your company's website. This accessibility helps shoppers know you accept reviews and value their opinions enough to post them publicly.
Related Reading
- Best Video Testimonial Software
- VideoAsk Alternatives
- Vouch Video
- How to Display Testimonials on Website
Where To Include Client Reviews On Website
Client reviews belong on almost every page of your website. No matter the kind of industry you belong to or the nature of your business, there are places on your website where client reviews need to be to produce the most desirable results. Here are just a few of those areas:
Key Landing Pages are Essential for Client Reviews
Placing reviews on your key landing pages will provide the best area for potential customers or buyers to see how great your brand or company is. Also, having reviews on your products or services pages will allow you to back up my claims.
Ad Content and Client Reviews Go Hand in Hand
Let your customers vouch for you in paid ad campaigns and watch the results roll in.
Incorporate Reviews in Your Success Stories, Portfolio, and Case Studies
This is where you can provide quantitative data in the form of data and statistics of outcomes and qualitative data using customer reviews. As previously mentioned, combining both will win your customers’ hearts and minds.
Contact Pages and Checkout Deserve Client Reviews Too
Having a review on your checkout or contact page can be the final touch of persuasion you need. It could just be what you need to push someone to buy your products or services. To make this as effective as possible, save your best reviews for last.
Don’t Sleep on Social Media Content for Reviews
Share reviews across your social media channels for high engagement. Remember to tag your clients in the content and ask them to share it so you can reap brand exposure with their networks.
Create a Testimonial Page for Your Client Reviews
While many companies include reviews throughout their site, creating a dedicated testimonial page is also a good idea. For example, making a Wall of Love with Testimonial ensures I get all my testimonials and reviews from various sources on a single page.
Build a Wall of Love for Free Today with Testimonial
Client reviews, or customer testimonials or feedback, are customers’ ratings and comments about a business after using its products or services. Reviews can appear on a business’s website, but they are most valuable when featured on third-party platforms the public trusts, such as:
- Yelp
These reviews can affect a business’s search engine rankings and help build its online reputation. Customer testimonials help create a narrative around a business and its offerings, highlighting the real experiences of actual people.
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