As every business owner knows, you’re only excellent if Google says you are.
And by Google we mean the millions of potential 5-star customer reviews your business could earn from Google users worldwide.
Whatever your reviews rating may be, Google makes sure your customers know your standing. Your business’s rating shows up in the Google maps app, the Google search results, and your Google business page.
Your brand’s Google rating can make or break your business. That’s why getting as many 5-star reviews as possible can only boost your likelihood for success.
Why 5-star reviews are important
Online customer reviews and testimonials can make or break a business in today’s digital world. 5-star reviews improve customer satisfaction, conversion, and, perhaps most importantly, your sales.
Your customers trust real people with real experiences to share. In fact, 90% of potential customers rely on reviews and testimonials before making a purchase with your brand.
Positive reviews help retailers foster customer loyalty by building up trust in your brand and providing value to uncertain consumers.
Customer reviews build trust in your brand
Trust builds loyal customer relationships that result in bigger profit margins. But customers won’t just take your word for it. 93% of people read online reviews before making a purchase. That means 93% of potential customers are deciding whether or not to trust your brand before they even get to know your business.
5-star reviews can help guide more of those digitals researchers through your doors or on your site. Reading your business’s reviews online allows them to gather more information about your products, their potential customer experience, and if you’re the right fit for their needs.
People are more likely to trust reviews about your brand rather than your brand itself because they can be viewed as unbiased. Honest reviewers have nothing to gain by leaving honest commentary about their experience with your brand.
How you respond to your online reviews can even help further develop a customer’s sense of trust in your brand. Your customers want a brand that listens and responds to their questions and concerns.
By responding regularly to online reviews, both negative and positive alike, you are cultivating a trusting customer relationship while increasing your brand’s visibility.
Increase brand visibility with SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of tailoring your brand’s content for search engines like Google. SEO helps organically build up your customers’ trust in your brand.
This is crucial because organic search is one of the largest parts of your website’s overall performance. And your site’s health is a critical component to getting customers to make a purchase with your brand.
Positive experiences with your business lead to more clicks, therefore increasing the traffic to your site.
Those positive Google reviews can also increase your chances of ranking in local searches–especially those with “best” in their queries. Local SEO gives you the opportunity to convert the consumers nearest to you into lifelong customers.
For example, when a customer searches for “best coffee near me,” Google will only show Google Business Profile listings with a star rating of 4.0 or above.
So if you’re a small business owner in the vicinity with a 4.0 or above rating, Google will automatically boost your business listing to the top of that searcher’s results.
The more often your listing is boosted to the front of the line, the more opportunities for conversions SEO will give you.
What happens to stores with bad reviews😨
Negative reviews can decrease brand value.
86% of customers hesitate to spend at businesses with negative reviews. Unfortunately, this means that every time a negative review appears on Google, you’re potentially losing loyal customers.
And the fact remains that consumers are more likely to share their bad reviews than their good ones. Dimensional Research found that consumers were 50% more likely to share negative experiences than nothing at all.
However, there is hope.
Positive reviews from satisfied customers will provide valuable insights to other consumers. The average consumer in today’s market trusts collective experience more than singular opinions.
There is more trust in the majority.
How Stemless Can Help
Our exclusive reviews management software entices your customers to leave reviews with timely text message automations. We’ll reach out as soon as they’ve left your store and ask them to share their experience.
By asking every potential customer to leave a review, you’re increasing the likelihood of obtaining a 5-star standing on Google. You’re also more likely to bury any previous negative ratings under mountains of great reviews.
Here’s how we get you your stars:
3 Easy Steps to 5-Star Reviews
- After a customer leaves your store, we send an individualized text message & link asking for their feedback. This shows them that you care how your customers feel.
- If a customer gives you 4-5 stars, the review is automatically posted to Google.
- If the customer selects 1-3 stars, they’ll be redirected to a form that gets sent directly to you (and not posted to Google).
By diverting 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star reviews straight to your inbox, Stemless gives you the opportunity to address issues directly with their customers.Use this opportunity to engage with your customers privately and learn how to make their experience better in the future
Consider bad reviews as learning experiences and find a way to grow from them. Taking the time to fix mistakes and letting consumers see you publicly taking action to make improvements builds trust in your brand.
Finally, like all products powered by Stemless Co, we monitor your POS and CRM in real-time. We do this to ensure that your customers receive the right amount of reviews requests at the right time and not asking customers to review you when they already have.
Customer ratings matter; more specifically, your customer ratings matter. Check out Stemless Reviews Management to get your ratings up where you need them to be.