{"id":5228,"date":"2015-03-30T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=5228"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:36:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:36:04","slug":"customer-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/customer-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Customer Reviews and How to Get Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Customer reviews and revenue go hand in hand. In fact, companies with the highest customer loyalty typically grow revenues at more than twice<\/a> the rate of their competitors.<\/p>\n

Want more data? A study<\/a> of 200 of the Fortune 500 firms across 40 industries found a 1 per cent improvement in customer satisfaction led to an increase in the firm\u2019s value of approximately $275 million.<\/p>\n

The typical business only hears from 4 per cent<\/a> of its dissatisfied customers. And while 80 per cent<\/a> of companies rate their customer service as superior, only 8 per cent of customers feel the same.<\/p>\n

For every one complaint, an estimated 26 remain silent<\/a>. Well, not exactly silent. A customer may not file a complaint with a company, but they may spread word of a bad experience to friends and family. The worse the experience, the more people they tell. On average, consumers tell 15 people<\/a> about their good customer service experiences, and 24 people about their bad experiences. Another survey<\/a> of 3,600 consumers, located in the U.S. and Canada, revealed that 79 per cent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.<\/p>\n

This means there is a premium on asking for customer reviews and making them a strategic part of your business\u2014online or offline. Here are four steps to do just that.<\/p>\n

1. Ask<\/b><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s start with the obvious. To get customer reviews, you have to ask. But how?<\/p>\n

The mechanics are fairly simple. If you run an online business, create a simple template in your email provider (an autoresponder) that includes a link to your page on the most relevant review site listed below. A week or so after every new sale, send a confirmation email (read CASL implications below). If your business takes place in person, then you can integrate a request-for-review email into your point-of-sale system<\/a> itself.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a comprehensive breakdown of some of the major review sources, first by industry, then by category.<\/p>\n

Service Review Sites by Industry<\/b><\/p>\n