Of course the answer is ‘of course’ but does that mean that lots of us do it routinely? No. Reading our latest article might give you some inspiration to do that however…
A recent study has showed that higher star reviews could account for as much as 13,000 more leads for local businesses. These are currently wasted / lost. Just think how you could benefit from some of these extra streams of lead generation. There is no denying that the point is kind of obvious but as mentioned above, not so obvious that many people are simply missing out it.
The mentioned study focused on local stores which were owned and had a national brand. The study found that there was direct correlation between the star ratings and the amount of conversions. E.g.
- Those who had star ratings around 3 had an average conversion rate of around 10.
- Those who had star ratings just under 5 had a higher conversion rate of nearly 13%.
Perhaps you might be thinking apart from providing a good service in the first place so people can positively review, there isn’t much you can do about how many stars or how many people actually take to review. Perhaps you could provide an incentive to give you a review in the first place?
However did you also know though that the study found something much more important and what may not be directly obvious? Conversion rates improve when a business owner also engages with those reviews.
Taking a step out from this for a minute, we all know the importance of reviews and what these can do for businesses. It is estimated that more than 90% of customers look at online reviews before they decide to make a purchase. Nearly about the same amount are likely to place reviews read online in equal regard and esteem as those that were given by someone personally. This latest piece of research simply adds extra weight to this and gives it more power.
Next time you receive a review (hopefully it will be good and be 5 star but even if it is not) pay attention to it, and consider responding. Not only will you be showing good customer service and care for your business, but you will actually be doing yourself a massive favour when it comes to increased conversions. With some of the share of the 13,000 extra leads you will wish you have known about this and been doing it much sooner!
If you would like to find out more on this subject visit our convert section now!