The Power of the Online Review

How important is someone reviewing your business or organization online?  I don’t know, because there is no way to put a number to it…but I’ll try.  I do know this:  I’ll listen to another consumer about a company rather than some form of one-directional advertising trying to get my business for the same company.  Not that I don’t pay attention to advertising, but is that just because I look at it to critique it and draw ideas from it?  Some advertising has turned into a form of entertainment, I think.

I look at it this way: the consumer was once in my shoes, performed a similar search for a local company that provided a service that they need(ed), and they made a decision.

How is their experience with that company captured?  How can we, the other consumers, learn from their decision to choose one company over another? Well, (drumroll…..), enter the online review.

My Story

Let me tell you a story.  My wife is a successful cosmetologist and Salon Manager for a nation-wide company called ULTA.  Because of her constant standing and raising her arms doing hair, she frequently gets knots in her back and her neck and shoulders are sore constantly.  She’s had countless massages in attempts to help the situation, and it has worked some.  About two weeks ago, she mentioned seeing a chiropractor.  Having never thought of it myself, I decided to do a local Google search for Tulsa Chiropractors.  Sitting at the stop light, I brought up my Google app on my iPhone and did my search.  The results you see to the right.

Even with the distractions of operating a motor vehicle, my eyes locked in on the 5 STARS and 15 REVIEWS that Snyder Chiropractic had on their local Google Business Listing.  Of course I’m going to call them.  I might call Alliance Chiropractic, but would you call Brooks Spinal Care with zero reviews? (I’m not saying they are not a reputable business; I’m just proving a point)

So, I set an appointment for my wife for the following Monday morning.  She gets to talking to Dr. Snyder and tells him what I do for a living, and he extends an invitation to have lunch with him and some friends that he networks with.  I agree, because networking is always a good idea! We have lunch, and it goes well.  I actually had lunch with Dr. Snyder and the networking group again today (go Sushi Train!).

Within two weeks, my wife has seen Dr. Snyder 4 times and has had 3 adjustments, and feels much better.  Additionally, my wife has passed out 10 of his cards, and also referred 4 other people to Snyder Chiropractic and actually setup 4 appointments for those other girls from the salon to see Dr. Snyder.

Not counting the new relationships I have made by having lunch with Dr. Snyder’s networking group, which to me is invaluable, I will speak from strictly a revenue standpoint standing in Dr. Snyder’s shoes.  He has seen my wife 4 times, which is 4 billable visits less than he would have had should the reviews not have been written on his local business listing in Google.  Now calculate the number of visits that will come from the 4 people my wife referred that have booked appointments.  If they see Dr. Snyder 4 times like my wife did, that’s 16 billable visits less than he would have had should the reviews not have been written on his local business listing in Google.  But, let’s be conservative, and say they just see him twice  Now we’re up to 12 visits extra in less than two weeks time.

Now calculate the number of people my wife sees each week in her chair (she says about 25/week), plus the number of people the other 4 people will talk to and drop Dr. Snyder’s name.

The saying rings true: “Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising.” Online reviews are a printed form of Word of Mouth Advertising.  And it doesn’t come out of your advertising budget (if you have one).

Here are some tips to help you begin using online reviews to your company’s benefit:

1. Ask your friends that have used your service to leave you a review. I would say to ask all of your friends to leave you a review, but it’s not really ethical, and it defeats the purpose.  “Padding” your reviews will not help you – keep it honest.
2. Offer a discount on a bill or monthly invoice to your customers / clients for leaving you a review (positive or negative) on your Google, Yahoo, or Bing local listing.  I did this a month ago when I sent out invoices, and received 8 reviews on our Google Business Listing.
3. Include a link in your email signature to your business listings where customers can leave reviews.
4. If you have a fan page like we do, encourage your fans that have done business with you to leave a review on your review tab.  This is huge, because there are hundreds of people that will find out about you on FaceBook and other social networking sites that would never visit your website simply because of who you are connected to or friends with.
5. Get in the habit of leaving reviews. Do it at the restaurant that you love to eat at before you pay the bill! This will really benefit a family owned or locally owned restaurant in your area that you want to succeed.  Who knows?  A couple of reviews could drive a LOT more businesses to that little restaurant, and once the word is out, it’s a new hot spot.  The big restaurant chains don’t need any help fighting for the market share, but if you want to leave reviews on them anyway, go ahead.  Leave reviews for your plumber, electrician, lawncare company, day spa, wedding chapel, auto glass repairman, or roofing company. Thank you for those shameless plugs.  haha
6. Open an account with localndex.com.  If you are an iPhone user, localNdex has a cool little app that brings you local search results where you can choose a provider based on search criteria, contact them, and leave reviews on them – sharing your experience with everyone.
7. Buy a domain specifically for promoting a place for people to leave reviews. For example, instead of telling people, “Yeah, just go to http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&georestrict=input_srcid%3A93d2af2ba4ae273c and leave us a review!” you can tell them, “You can leave us a review at www.reviewourservice.com.”  Just point the domain to the URL where your business listing is.

There are other ways to promote your local listings in the search engines, but the point I’m making is that it’s easy, doesn’t cost any money other than your time, and is MORE than worth the results.

On a side note, don’t let your local listings go weeks and months without being updated.  Be sure to update them with photos and videos that will help visitors to see what it is you do and what services you provide.

Contact us if you need some help!