More than 97% of people read online reviews about a business or product before they make any kind of final purchasing decision.
Translation?
Your potential clients are already looking for what your past customers have to say about working with your IT company. You want to make sure that they have something to read in addition to the testimonials that are on your business’s website.
But how can you get more reviews?
It’s easy — you just have to be willing to get creative and to give people an incentive for leaving them.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about how to get more reviews for your IT service.
1. Be Responsive
The first step you need to take if you want to get more reviews? Respond to the ones you already have.
Trust us when we tell you that both current and potential clients will judge your business — and be tempted to leave you reviews — based on the fact that they know you’re reading them.
Not only does being responsive let your target market know that you take their feedback, praise, and even concerns seriously. It shows that you’re actively involved in managing your brand’s reputation online.
Be honest: would you work with a company that hadn’t bothered to address some legitimate concerns from clients written in online reviews? Would you think more of a company that was able to constructively take feedback, and publicly address even harsh criticism?
When your clients see that you’re reading reviews, they’ll be much more likely to leave you one in the future.
2. Use Multiple Review Platforms
There are a few places that come to mind when we mention the phrase, “Online Reviews.”
You likely think of the big names first. These include places like Google My Business, Yelp, and even Angie’s List. Third-party review sites are incredibly important, and you need to ensure that you make your profiles on them as complete as possible.
This means that, yes, you’ll need to claim your business listings on multiple platforms as soon as possible. (Remember that if you don’t, your competitors can — and will.)
But if you stop there, you’re forgetting about another hugely essential place for people to leave your IT service reviews: your social media accounts, especially your Facebook page.
Make sure that you frequently read and respond to reviews people are leaving you on social media, as you do with your third-party sites.
Where else should you include reviews?
Companies like Spiretech also include their customer feedback and reviews on their website. You should always have a testimonial page on your own website, in addition to full third-party review sites.
Remember, the goal here is for you to make it as easy as possible for your leads to be able to learn more about the level of service they can expect from your IT business.
You need to make it possible for people to leave your company reviews on the platforms they choose — not the ones you want them to.
3. Incentivize Client Reviews
One of the most important things to keep in mind if you want to get more reviews for your IT company?
You need to make it worth your customers’ time to do so.
In other words: what (in addition to what was hopefully great service) are you giving them in return? A good review takes time and effort — and they’ve already paid you for your services.
If you truly want to bank up reviews, you need to incentivize them. That’s not to say that you should give out $100 gift cards to everyone that leaves you a five-star review. That isn’t fair. It’s also definitely not profitable.
Instead, make your customers want to leave you reviews by entering those that do so into a giveaway for free or discounted services.
Offer them a 10% discount on an IT service package in exchange for a review. Even just featuring them as a “customer of the month” or highlighting their review on your social media sites will sometimes be enough.
4. Ask for Reviews in Your Company Emails
If you’re anything like 35% of businesses, you probably send out between 2-3 emails per month to both leads and past clients.
Email marketing is a great way to ensure that people keep your IT company’s name in their minds — and to let them know about upcoming offers you have.
It’s also an awesome way to up your customer service ratings and reviews. Include a quick link to the review site of your choice in your email signature. To make things even easier, embed a star ranking option in the actual body of your email.
Even if your readers don’t leave a written review, they’ll likely still have time to at least give you a star ranking.
You’re Ready to Get More Reviews for Your Business
We hope this post has helped you to better understand some of the most effective steps that you can take to get more reviews for your IT business.
Remember to incentivize your reviews, always respond to what people say about your brand online, and ask people to leave your company reviews in your email correspondence.
Above all, make sure that you leave clients plenty of chances to review your brand on social media accounts. Looking for eye-catching statuses and photos that will make consumers notice your brand — and engage with you — on social media?
We’ve got you covered.
Whether you need a good status update or the perfect quote for an image, you’ll never run out of things to say if you keep checking back with us for more social media content ideas.
