How to Work It…
In our (personal) opinion, the Makalla email signature and review/referral system is quite awesome, but it’s up to you to take a test-drive to see if it’s right for you, your business and your preferred email client (e.g. Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook etc.).
How It Works:
- Every single email you send automatically requests reviews and/or referrals via your professionally-branded email signature with eye-catching review and referral buttons.
- When a customer or client clicks on the “Leave a Review” button, they are directed to a personally-branded feedback page that thanks them for their business and asks whether or not they had a positive or negative experience with you and/or your company.
- If a client or customer clicks the “Positive Experience” button, they are directed to a personally-branded review request page that asks them to leave a review on a variety of industry-relevant review sites. Clicking on any of the links conveniently sends them directly to the page where they can leave a review on that site, regardless of whether or not they are on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
- If a client or customer clicks the “Negative Experience” button, they are directed to a personally-branded private feedback form that allows them to vent their frustrations by leaving feedback that can be handled internally, giving you the chance to resolve the situation privately before the customer or client decides to make their negative opinions public.
- Via your very own Review/Referral Request Portal, you can specifically request reviews and/or referrals by sending a personal email or sms/text message to any current or past client/customer you choose. According to research, personal requests from your specific email address or phone number are much more effective than automated surveys, text messages etc. from third-party services.
How to Work It:
- Provide an exceptional, review & referral-worthy product or service, with the understanding that every single client or customer you do business with is a potential positive review and/or referral.
- Verbally ask for reviews and referrals in-person before you send the email requesting your clients or customers to do so. Research shows that people are much more likely to leave a review or give a referral when asked in person.
- Don’t be afraid to ask! The success of your business relies upon positive reviews and referrals. What’s the worst that can happen? Everyone will likely say “Yes” to your review/referral request, but many won’t follow through… So what? Just like many other aspects of business (e.g advertising), getting positive reviews and referrals is a numbers game. The more reviews and referrals you ask for, the more you’re going to get, so just ask! When you do, make sure to let the client or customer know how much you look forward to reading their comments about your product or service. Doing so encourages them to feel happy and accomplished about giving your business some feedback.
- Don’t wait until the transaction is completed to ask for a review or referral. Ask for the review/referral at the pinnacle of client/customer satisfaction. For example, if you’re in real estate, that is likely to be at the moment the buyer or seller has an accepted offer. Don’t wait too long to request a review or referral. Choose the moment that your client or customer is most delighted, and ask at that time.
- That being said, if you’ve recently signed up for the Makalla Review & Referral System and have an email database of past clients and/or customers, send them a review/referral request! Even years later, you never know who might be willing to sing your praises. It never hurts to ask! Don’t ever forget how important reviews and referrals are to your business.
- Don’t direct clients and/or customers to a specific third-party website to write a review. Give them a (small) variety of choices so they can easily choose the site(s) they are most familiar with, and likely also have an account with (e.g. Google, Facebook, Yelp etc.), to make it as easy and painless as possible to leave a review for your business without feeling pressured. Giving your clients/customers options also allows your reviews to propagate over many different third-party websites… Search engines (e.g. Google) love a diversified review profile and will be more likely to increase your search rankings accordingly if your online reviews are spread across a variety of third-party websites.
- Whether positive or negative, acknowledge every single online review that you receive with a positive response, be it “Thanks for the review John! I look forward to working with you again in the future!” -or- “Jenny, I’m sorry that my service didn’t meet your needs. Please let me know what I can do in order to make things right. Your business is very important to me!” – Acknowledging every review and referral helps create brand/business evangelists that will continue to refer business to you over time.
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