In online reputation management, timing is everything. Knowing when to ask customers for feedback can help you more efficiently get reviews for your local business. In turn, online reviews will improve your SEO and make you seem more trustworthy to prospects.
These tips can help you time your review requests for optimal results.
Ask When The Experience is Still Fresh
For most local businesses, it’s best to ask for customer reviews immediately or soon after the purchase when you’re still fresh on your customer’s mind. You’re more likely to get good reviews when customers remember who you are and what they liked about your product or service.
If you see your customers in person, make a habit of asking them to write a review at the end of each smooth transaction or service. For example, restaurants could add a request on their receipts or have waiters tell customers the restaurant would appreciate a review when they bring the check.
Time of Day Matters When Asking for Business Reviews
A ReviewTrackers survey found that people were most likely to rate a business on Google between 2-3 pm and 6-7 pm. If you ask customers for reviews at the beginning of these hours, you may be more likely to get results. The bulk of online reviews are written between noon and 8 pm, with a sharp drop off in review writing at night.
Mornings and nights are the least popular times to write a review. You may want to avoid scheduling review request emails and texts before noon unless you’re sending them directly after a transaction.
Consider the Product Timeline
With some products, it may take months to see if a product or service is trustworthy. For example, you might not know if a health supplement is effective right away, or if a protective phone case works until after you accidentally drop your phone on the ground. In other cases, there may be an adjustment period before someone knows whether your product is really easier to use than your competitors’ products.
Make sure to follow up with customers using long-term products after they’ve had time to adjust to and use them. If a customer finds that your product is effective where others aren’t, they’re sure to write a glowing review.
Give Your Customers an Extra Nudge
It’s perfectly OK to ask customers for a review more than once. While you shouldn’t bombard people with review requests at risk of annoying them, feel free to send a couple of reminders or messages asking for feedback. An extra nudge can encourage more people to write a review.
We generally recommend tracking which customers write reviews and sending no more than one or two additional requests to non-respondents, depending on the scope of the client experience. Timing the requests several days apart may increase response rates.
Follow Up With Technology
It’s good practice to ask for a review after finishing a service, but you shouldn’t end there! Follow up by asking over email, text, or another medium.
You can use a free review generation tool like Kudo to speed up the review request process. Designed to do one thing very well, Kudo allows you to transform your online reputation in literally a few minutes a day. Once you’re set up, all you need to do is enter a first name and email address, and Kudo will do the rest. GET IT FOR FREE >
