Getting customers to review their experience with you is powerful.
Before they make a purchase, go to a restaurant, stay at a hotel, and more, many customers do online research, which leads them to reviews that help form their opinion of products or services they want to buy—or even the business they want to purchase it from.
How do you get reviews? Well, the easy way is to ask for them! I was recently asked about how to get good reviews, and I noted that there are at least two requirements:
- The customer must be willing to leave a review
- Your employees must deliver the positive experience you want your customers to talk or write about
Customers who leave reviews fall into two categories. The first is those prone to leave the review without being asked. The second is those who are willing to do so if you ask.
Either way, if they are willing, you should make sure the review they write about you is good. The only way to make that happen is to give them what they need, which is a good experience.
A few years back, I wrote about a hotel with a sign that read, “Please leave a review on Trip Advisor.” Then, I received terrible service. As I was checking out, I picked up the sign, showed it to the front desk clerk and asked, “Do you really want me to leave a review?”
Here is the point. If you want your customers to leave a good review, everyone in your business must understand that they are all part of what will be graded. Everyone must do their job to ensure the customer has an experience you want them to write about.
Hold them accountable and responsible for ensuring the experience is worthy of a good review.
Even employees who don’t work on the front line have a place in the customer experience they must understand.
In a ‘behind-the-scenes’ supporting role, they take care of someone doing something that directly impacts the customer’s experience—even if they never see the customer.
You want customers to want to come back. You want them to talk positively about you. And, you want a good review, whether they publish it or not. Make sure all your staff understand the goal, then empower them to go out and achieve it.
If you won’t ask, who will?
Not long ago, I wrote an article and created a video on ‘Doing More Than Expected’ – even when it’s not included in your job description.
I used the example of the server at a restaurant who ran outside during a storm to move the outdoor furniture blowing across the patio to a safer, more secure spot. He returned to the restaurant, drenched from the rain, to applause from the guests. I jokingly asked him, “Was moving patio furniture included in your job description?” He said, “I just do what it takes.”
That’s a great attitude to have. First, you must be the kind of person who innately knows you should do something right, even if it isn’t expected. Second, you must be empowered to make and act on those choices.
I’m reminded of an employee who fixed things around the office. If he saw something that wasn’t right, he made it right.
For example, we changed a frame with a motivational quote every week. One week later, the quote and picture frame were crooked. I noticed it, and while it bothered me a bit, it wasn’t worth saying anything about it. By the end of the day, it was fixed.
Stepping up
I knew who did it, but I still asked loud enough for others to hear, “Who fixed the weekly quote?” Of course, the answer was the guy who fixed everything around the office. I thanked him and asked him why he handles things like this. He said, “If I don’t do it, who will?”
I love those seven words. “If I don’t do it, who will?” is right up there with “I just do what it takes.” These are the mindsets of people who go the extra mile; by the way, it’s not an extra mile. Often, it’s just a tiny bit more effort, if any. It’s just doing it because, “If they don’t, who will?”
When someone comes to work for you, whatever their role and responsibility, you hope they are good at it.
If all they do is that role and don’t care to do anything else, such as fixing a crooked piece of art in a frame, you would still be happy with their work. But what if another employee did the same and, in addition, was willing to fix the symbolic piece of art in a frame, even without being asked? Who would you rather have working for you?
Your answer is most likely the second option. That employee is the type of staff member who will do whatever they can to care for their internal and external customers. Why? Because they do what it takes and know, “If I don’t do it, who will?”
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