Ways to get great testimonials.
Here’s a hard truth about getting good reviews - they don’t just happen sadly (unless you are one of those people, who like to review places on Google Maps!). The key to getting good reviews and amazing testimonials, is asking for one. Or in other words, having a strategy in place to getting them. By having great reviews consistently, not only are you in great place SEO wise, but you have lots of social proof to fall back on, to promote your business with AND to attract customers. My boyfriend solely picks restaurants we eat at, based on their review score on Google. He picks his dishes, based on what people say in the reviews. As much as think reviews might not matter, they do! So here are some tricks on getting them!
1) Make it part of your routine.
For me, asking for reviews is as automated as possible. If it is a bride, it’s part of my Studio Ninja workflow and aftercare. If it’s a glam and go client, its again automated in my Wix system to go out 12 hrs after their appointment. If it’s a producer, or a client that wasn’t in one of my workflows, I have it pasted in my notes, as a quick copy and paste job! Making collecting reviews as easy as possible on my part, has allowed me to collect them without even thinking about them (I have almost 75 Google reviews and would love to get to 100 this year!)
2) Be Vulnerable.
In my process, I take a few sentences to describe how testimonaials help my business, and what that client could be doing to help me as a business owner. This is more personal than a generic link and appeals to their inner humanitarian. I mean, who doesnt want to help an independent business thrive! Instead of just asking for a review, take 2 minutes to tell them what a review can do and how they would be helping you!
3) Ask on Socials!
Our inboxes can be hectic, and life can be even more. But social media can give that prod that maybe you don’t feel like giving! Make a note in your calender, to share your testimonial link on social media, as a friendly reminder to those who may have booked your services and not left a review yet. Instagram makes it so easy nowadays to add a link to stories!
4) Shout about what you already have!
The testimonials you already have? Use em! Make sure to promote them on your social media and on your website pages. Use them as much as possible and be sure to thank the person who gave it to you! Again, like I mentioned, even just posting these testimonials is a great way to prod people into posting their own!
5) Incentivise it.
This is something I haven’t yet tried, but have had a lot of makeup artists and services do. In fact, the other day I was in a restaurant, and the server told me, if we left a review, we get 10% off our bill. You can bet it worked! If you are really struggling to get reviews, or are new and want to build them up qucikly, consider offering an incentive. A discount for next time, or even a free coffee at Starbucks can go a long way!