WHY CUSTOMER REVIEWS ARE IMPORTANT

When a potential prospect comes in contact with your product or brand for the very first time, there’s a chance they'll be looking for one thing that’ll make or break their trust: past customer reviews. Every day, consumers are growing increasingly distrustful of products and services, as well as the brands that stand behind them.

Our prospects are growing more distrustful of brands and products because they've been lied to their entire lives. Whether through ads on tv or over social media and the internet, they see so many messages they learn to ignore them. Because our prospects are getting pitched regularly, they have learned to focus on the truth and how to get that information. Thus, looking to online reviews before making a purchase.

Sometimes, reviews are looked at before the sales process even begins. And unlike the sales process, gaining trust is an even longer process. Hence why customer reviews are a great way to start earning trust. Take a look at these stats to see how often reviews are being sought out.

STATS

According to the Spiegel Research Center and their report on How Online Reviews Influence Sales, they found that "95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase". Just in case you don't believe that statistic, here's another one. According to G2 and Heinz Marketing's B2B Sales & Marketing Report, they also found that "92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review.”

Looking at those stats, I hope you understand why it's essential to get reviews. They not only help you influence your prospects to purchase your products and services, but they also help you gain trust, making the sales process as frictionless as possible.

Getting reviews can be a tricky task as most customers and prospects view this process as a transactional one. But there is one principle you can take advantage of to make the review acquisition process easier and more efficient, and it’s called the principle of reciprocity.

Let’s explore how you can use this principle to your advantage to increase customer reviews!

HOW TO USE THE PRINCIPLE OF RECIPROCITY TO INCREASE REVIEWS

When it comes to increasing customer reviews, using the principle of reciprocity will be your best weapon. This is because when someone does something nice for us, it’s in our human nature to want to reciprocate back the generous act. By using this little principle you can grow your reviews exponentially as more people will be inclined to help you in the long run. But before we go into the execution of using this principle, let’s define what it is.

THE PRINCIPLE OF RECIPROCITY

The principle of reciprocity is a basic law of social psychology that states in many social situations, we usually pay back what we’ve received from others. For example, if I were to do you a favor you’re more than likely to (at least want to) return it back to me. Knowing this, there are several ways you can use this principle in order to gain more reviews.

EXECUTION

When we use the principle of reciprocity, there are several ways we can execute on this and it can be through:

• Gift giving
• Writing and sending handwritten notes
• Giving free add-ons to products or services
• Exclusive customer-specific offers

The reason why these methods work so well is that they’re different and personable. If you do your research and personalize accordingly, your customer will notice these efforts and will reciprocate by leaving you a review.

Now that you have some ideas to execute when it comes to the principle of reciprocity, you may be wondering to yourself which idea above is the best one to use to gain reviews. Well, you might have guessed that we feel strongly about writing and sending handwritten notes!

Handwritten notes are the best method to use in order to gain more customer reviews while using this principle because they’re cost-effective, efficient, and highly personable. Handwritten letters are uncommon to receive and it’s a medium that has been forgotten over time. Handwritten letters are great to use because they don’t break the bank as they’re very cheap for you to send and you won’t need a big budget. And with the handwritten nature of these letters or notes, the recipient will appreciate them more than other methods because people value what they can touch and hold.

Additionally, handwritten notes offer a hidden benefit because these notes can be combined with the other methods mentioned above. For example, you can give an extravagant gift and couple that with a handwritten note to double the effect of the gift. Or you can include an exclusive offer within the contents of the note.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to handwritten notes and if you need more information, check out Why Handwriting a Business Letter Can Be Worthwhile. When it comes to using handwritten notes, they make it easier for you to gain reviews because they prove to the customer that you care about them, which in turn will lead them to reciprocate by leaving a review.

So, start taking advantage of this principle today to increase your reviews!

If you don't have a huge marketing budget and you want to take advantage of the principle of reciprocity by sending handwritten notes, you can through IgnitePost!

IgnitePost can help you increase your reviews by sending handwritten thank-you notes to all of your customers within a click of a button.

Take a look at how you can use IgnitePost to gain more reviews.

So what are you waiting for? Contact us now to get started so that you can increase your reviews.

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