Reviews are one of the most valued forms of online referral. For the system integrator, a good review can boost sales and keep existing customers loyal to you and your services.
Open reviews are tough to find in any business, especially in our industry. System integration and security professionals generally keep their information private. But, when you provide excellent service, a good review may be easier to get than you’d think.
Here’s Why Reviews Matter
According to the Spiegel Research Center, nearly 95% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase. Bright Local found that more than 92% of local consumers use reviews to determine if a local business is worthwhile. What’s more compelling, from Testimonial Engine, is that 72% of customers won’t take action until they’ve read a review.
So, when’s the right time to ask for the review?
Every customer relationship is unique, and there are some customers who simply won’t be able to write anything down for you, online or otherwise, due to organizational policies. However, many will. The best time to bring up the reviews is early and often. The sooner a potential customer knows that they have some leverage because reviews are important to you, the sooner that you’ll have an advantage of the competition. If you mention the review early, asking for it will be easier.
When your customer is ready to provide that positive review, you need to have platforms in place to capture the information with little effort on behalf of the customer. Some examples might be a link to an online form where they can submit feedback, a link to your Google Reviews page (if you’ve set that up) or even a simple email with a list of questions your customer can respond to.
So, keep thinking about acquiring those reviews because a positive review is the last, and often overlooked, step in your customer’s buying journey.
Marketing Partnership
The Vector Firm can help you find and deploy the appropriate online platforms for collecting customer reviews and testimonials. From online surveys to website and blog forms, we can assemble platforms to curate your testimonial library. This is a critical component of Vector’s ability to capture and provide comprehensive online content for every step of your customer’s buying journey. We’re here to help!
