Find out how your business can use customer feedback to its advantage with our complete guide to customer reviews. Read online at Feefo today.
In an era when three in four people say they avoid advertising altogether, what information do consumers trust? Customer feedback.
Feedback provides so much more than social proof, though. If you’re not currently collecting ratings and reviews, or you are but feel like you could get more from them, you’re in the right place.
Here’s everything you need to know about customer feedback, the benefits it can offer your business, and the right software to moderate it.
Why is customer feedback important?
Here are four key reasons why you should be collecting, showcasing and analysing ratings and reviews:
1. To support your customers
According to Feefo’s 2019 Consumer Trends Report, 96% of UK consumers use reviews in some way and 64% read them before making a purchase. But shoppers don’t always trust what they see online – 72% of them worry about fake feedback. Invite-only reviews, which are guaranteed to come from your genuine customers, are a great way to support prospects as they decide whether to buy from you.
2. To boost conversion rates
Adding customer reviews to your website can massively increase conversions, especially when they are displayed on product pages. In fact, people are 270% more likely to buy a product with five reviews than one without any reviews. Our work with the hair and beauty company Salon Services also shows that customer spending rises by 294% when reviews are showcased online.
3. To monitor internal performance
By analysing the customer feedback you receive, you can keep tabs on how well each branch, store, and member of staff is doing. Tools like Feefo’s Insight Labels make this easy, as you can track reviews by categories like staff names, branch locations and product types.
Using reviews in this way allows you to spot products and services that should be improved or stores that require further investment. You can also use positive reviews to motivate staff by rewarding those who receive excellent feedback.
4. To understand your customers’ experiences
Collecting and analysing feedback across the entire customer journey can help you dig deeper into the experiences of shoppers, their loyalty to your brand, and so much more.
Feefo’s Customer Sentiment Insight tool uses AI to automatically identify themes in your reviews. If topics like ‘delivery’ are constantly mentioned in a negative context, this will be highlighted to you, so you can find out what’s going wrong and how to make it right.
Using feedback to connect with your customers
There are several ways you can use reviews to build better relationships with buyers and improve their loyalty to your brand:
1. Create a personalised experience
Whether you’re trying to convince your customers to take advantage of an offer or you’re asking them for their honest feedback, you need to speak to them as individuals. Our Feedback Request Manager allows you to build and design feedback campaigns, so you can ask the right questions to the right people at the right time.
2. Respond to all feedback
Write a review takes time and effort – so when people leave feedback be sure to thank them (whether good or bad!). While we recommend responding to as many reviews as possible, you’ll want to prioritise negative feedback, as this gives you the opportunity to repair broken relationships. You may even be able to turn those one- and two-star ratings into five stars.
When responding to negative feedback, get in touch with the customer privately so you can fully understand their situation and fix any issues. Once you’ve done as much as you can, respond to the review publicly, so other potential customers can see you provide an excellent service, even when things go wrong.
For more tips on how to reply to customer comments, check out our complete guide on dealing with positive and negative feedback.
3. Tell people when their feedback made a difference
Customer reviews should help inform any changes you make to your business. And when you improve something thanks to that feedback, it’s important to let people know.
Whether you’ve increased the responsiveness of your customer service team or fixed a problem with your website, use your marketing channels to show customers you listen to all feedback – good and bad.
How to choose a customer feedback platform
If you want to make the most of your customer feedback, you need the right platform. Every platform offers something different, so it’s important to pick one that’s right for your business. Here are some key considerations to think about:
Choose whether you want to collect open vs. invite-only reviews
One of the biggest decisions to make is whether to opt for an invite-only platform like Feefo, where you only get feedback from verified buyers, or an open platform, where anyone to leave feedback about your business whether or not they’ve purchased from you. Here are the benefits and drawbacks of each:
Invite only platform:
| Benefits | Drawbacks |
|---|---|
|
Beat the fakes - No one can post fake reviews on your website, as only genuine buyers are invited to leave feedback. |
If someone visits your website but doesn’t engage or make a purchase, you can’t collect feedback from them (unless you run surveys). |
|
Trust your data - With real feedback from real customers, you can be sure that fake reviews aren’t skewing your data – so your business decisions are always backed by valid insights. |
As only real buyers can leave feedback, you may collect fewer reviews than you would with an open platform. |
|
Win more customers over - People are 15% more likely to buy when reading a verified review over an anonymous review. They want to hear from customers who have genuinely interacted with your brand. |
You must proactively reach out to customers for feedback – Feefo makes this easy with an automated email or text message that we send to each of your buyers. |
|
Streamline the feedback process - Customers don’t need to sign up or log in to leave a review, because their feedback is tied to a specific sale or interaction, so you already know who they are. This means they can share their thoughts with you quickly and easily. |
Open platform:
| Benefits | Drawbacks |
|---|---|
|
Get lots of feedback - With an open platform, anyone can search for your company and leave a review – so you may be able to collect more feedback faster. |
Anyone can leave feedback, even if they haven’t interacted with your brand or purchased from you. This opens the door to fake reviews from competitors and spam accounts, which can put your reputation at risk and skew your data. |
|
Hear from non-buyers - If someone visits your website or branch but doesn’t make a purchase, they can still leave feedback about your brand. |
Flagging and removing fake feedback is challenging, as it’s difficult to spot a fake review from a real one unless the writer gives proof of purchase. |
| Open review platforms tend to operate like comparison sites, which means you risk losing potential customers to competitors. | |
| Customers often have to create or sign into a profile to leave a review, which is time-consuming and may put them off giving feedback. |
Decide where and how you want to display your reviews
The best way to show off your positive feedback is by using widgets that work for your company and industry.
Review platforms offer different widgets and products, so establish what you’d like to achieve with your feedback before seeing what’s out there. That way, it will be much easier to narrow down which platform is right for you.
Check the moderation rules
Even if you’re using an invite-only platform, you may still get a review that is inappropriate from time to time – for example, one that contains bad language or is talking about the wrong product. In cases like this, you need to be able to flag feedback. A good, trustworthy platform will have clear moderation guidelines to determine whether a review should be removed or not.
Businesses should not be able to remove any review they want. If that worries you, it shouldn't – 52% of consumers become suspicious if there is no negative feedback on a product or service they want to buy.
Make sure you read a platform’s moderation guidelines before signing the dotted line. You can read Feefo’s moderation guidelines here.
Getting more customers to give feedback
Follow these key tips to encourage buyers to leave a review:
1. Make your invitation enticing
We all receive dozens of emails every day. Ensure yours stand out with a clear subject line and a message that incentivises to your customers to leave feedback.
2. Thank people for their time
Everyone likes to feel appreciated. Thanking someone, even before they have gone through with providing feedback, puts them in a position to do as you ask.
3. Dare them to be honest
People love sharing their opinions with others – it can feel extremely freeing. Use that to your advantage by daring your customers to leave an honest review about you. Encourage them in a cheeky way, or you can keep to a formal tone.
4. Draw attention to what you want them to talk about
This is especially useful if you require feedback regarding a particular product or service, or if you have recently launched something new. In your email, use the key words you want your review to focus on in a bid to guide your customer in the right direction.
5. Tap into their sense of social responsibility
We all want to feel like we are making a difference. Reviews give people the power to have an influence, so they provide a great opportunity for you to tap into the need for social responsibility.
6. Use humour
Humour is always a great tactic, especially if something has gone wrong. Maintain your professionalism, but also show your personality (if that's part of your brand image and tone). Customers are more likely to engage with a brand they can relate to.
7. Encourage sympathy
Tell your customer how hard you’ve worked and what efforts have gone into getting them the right product. You could even name a member of staff that made their experience possible. Tell them that your business depends on their happiness and that it starts with them giving you feedback.
Start collecting customer feedback, your way
At Feefo, we’re proud to be a trusted, invite-only review platform. That's why over 6500 brands trust us to help develop their customer experiences. Get in touch with our team today to find out what we can do for you.
