Boost Your Visibility | Grow Your Business with Brenda Eckhardt
Resource for creative entrepreneurs seeking to grow their product or service-based businesses while prioritizing family and well-being. Hosted by Brenda Eckhardt, a successful photographer and brand strategist, this podcast offers the latest strategies and how-to's to increase online visibility, work smarter, avoid burnout, and find inspiration for both professional and personal growth.
Boost Your Visibility | Grow Your Business with Brenda Eckhardt
Five-Star Reviews: Transform Happy Customers Into Social Proof
Ready to unlock the secret behind skyrocketing your business's online presence? This episode is your golden ticket to mastering the art of accumulating five-star reviews, which are way more than mere compliments—they're your ladder to top-tier search engine rankings and a magnet for new clients. I'll guide you through the five-star formula, a strategy crafted from years of experience and collaboration with savvy marketers and business owners. We'll tackle the hesitance that comes with requesting reviews and discuss how to turn it into an opportunity for genuine engagement. Plus, I'll share my personal journey and the refined tactics that have made the review process not just painless but downright productive.
Step inside the world of strategic customer feedback, where every review is a stepping stone to success. In this episode, we're peeling back the curtain on automating your review-gathering to make it a seamless part of your business operations, freeing you up to revel in the joy of a flourishing online reputation. I've got a trove of tips to share, including the use of templates and the best times to ask for those gleaming stars. And if you're itching for more, I'm extending an invitation for personalized consultations and additional resources through my website. Whether you're looking to enhance satisfaction, reputation, or performance, I'm here to champion your journey to the top with five-star reviews.
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Hey there, welcome back. To Boost your Visibility. This is episode 13, and I'm thrilled to be here with you because I have something pretty special to talk about, and it's something that can really transform your business and that is growing more five-star reviews. Now you might be wondering why are reviews really that important? Well, reviews can be like a magic wand to help you attract more customers, boost your online visibility and to supercharge your business. It's a missed opportunity that I see often and something that we forget about as we get busy, so we're gonna talk about it today and give you some things to think about. In working with marketers and business owners, I've been able to test some methods and through that, I created what I call the five-star formula. This is a pretty game-changing strategy that has worked wonders for many industries, whether it's products, services, you name it. This works well as it's implemented correctly.
Speaker 1:Now I know you might have some questions and doubts. You're busy and I get it, so let's tackle those right away. These are some of the most common questions, the most common opposition that I get when I am asking about reviews, as I'm working one-on-one with a business or a marketer so that we can get them growing again. So the first question that's common is asking for reviews feels too forward. It does feel too forward, you're right, and I do understand it. I understand where you're coming from, and it just feels awkward in general, especially when you work alone. But let me give you a little bit of background on me and how I've come to this place. I've worked alone for the better part of 20 years. Over time I became very frustrated. Competition is high in photography and I realized one day if I don't ask for reviews, who will? If you don't ask for reviews, who will? You need to do it. So here's the secret sauce Approach it as a way to show gratitude and it will improve your business. Most customers are happy to share their experiences, especially when they're positive, and they appreciate that you care enough about them and that experience to ask and that they're remembered. It's a win-win for everyone.
Speaker 1:The second question is this seems time-consuming. What if I'm already stretched too thin? Boy, are you preaching to the choir? I get it again. I work alone, I wear many hats, time is my currency and I hold it most dear above all else, and I appreciate your time in this moment even. That's why we need to have strategies to streamline. We have to streamline the process. You can use templates or automated follow-up wording as a part of your appointment scheduling. That's what I do. It takes very little effort, but it yields big benefits, believe me. It is so so worth it. So question number three is will it really make a difference for me and my business? Absolutely, 100%. Take the time.
Speaker 1:Positive reviews work wonders for any business. They strengthen your online reputation Over time. We forget. We need to look at that. It attracts more customers, it boosts your SEO, it deepens that Google relationship with your business and your website and ultimately, it builds sales. Think of it as seeds planted in a beautiful garden that just keeps flourishing.
Speaker 1:So the question number four is I'm not good with words. What if I don't know what to say? Well, you don't need to be a wordsmith, you just need to be sincere. I think we forget that in a professional environment, that authenticity is what matters most. And I have a confession to make All of my customers get the same email. It's only their first names that are changed. I've tweaked it so much over time that people really do think I wrote it just to them and almost always they respond saying something unique about that customer experience, but it's automated, it works well and it's something to work on over time.
Speaker 1:So the last question is do I have to ask specifically for five stars? That is the five star question Based on lots of trial and error. Many businesses that I've worked with have found that asking specifically for five stars is the key. It shows confidence, it shows that you know you did a great job and the customer has a silent understanding that they need to find an alternate way to approach you if they had less than a five star experience. In a way, you're diverting anything but five stars. You created a private line of communication by sending them a thank you text or email rather than having them just go post rogue and make a negative review. So now that we've addressed those questions that are so common, let's talk about the five star formula itself, and here's a little inside sneak peek.
Speaker 1:So the first step is making sure that you are creating a positive customer experience. This sounds very basic. We all know it, blah, blah, blah, but really, over time we lose that and that's where the magic is. So as we work toward reviews, we can't put the cart before the horse. We really need to go back and reread any negative reviews, talk through, or think through any negative customer experiences and realize are we creating the best possible customer experience? I have an example for you on this myself, the turnaround time for pictures was something that I had to face. I'm one person. It sometimes took longer than I had planned and I had to really look at that and change my ways and either promise a longer period of time turnaround time or hire it out or just get faster. And once I did all those things and then I started to ask for more reviews, they flooded in. So that was kind of my pain point. You need to identify your pain points in the customer experience so that you can get to that five star experience for everyone.
Speaker 1:So the next step, step number two, is timing of your request. Timing is crucial. There is a magic window of time that you should send your request and that is when your customers are the happiest. I call it the happy high. The happy high in the experience. They walk away and they're just on Cloud 9 and they're so happy. That is when you time your request.
Speaker 1:Step three is writing your thank you message. Blending a thank you with the request for the review really is key. You have to avoid canned professional wording and make it real. Write in a language that is a little more casual, a little less professional. Obviously, be professional, but be real and use your customers first name and express sincere gratitude.
Speaker 1:Step four is requesting detailed reviews. It is totally okay to ask for specifics. You can even provide a set of bullet points of things that you're hoping they might cover, or you can give a couple of examples for your best reviews and say this was really helpful for future customers. If you want to use it as inspiration, please do. Remember we're working to ask for the help of our current customers to build trust with potential customers. That's what five-star reviews are all about. There you have it.
Speaker 1:There's a sneak peek into the five-star formula, but this really is just the tip of the iceberg. There is still so much more to getting an ongoing plan in place so that you can really automate this and not think about it much other than thanking your customers for continuing to give you five-star reviews. That's when it really gets fun and it gets so much easier. If you're eager to unlock the potential of reviews and really transform your business, you can head over to the website to learn more about the five-star formula, or shoot me an email, brenda, at BrendaEckhartcom. Remember I'm here to guide you in making your marketing easier and to take out the overwhelm, so that I am more than thrilled to do. If you'd like a one-on-one consultation to get your five-star reviews growing, let me know. Thank you for joining this episode of Boost your Visibility. Stay tuned for more valuable insights to help you grow your business and achieve the success that you deserve. Until next time, I'm Brenda Eckhart. Have an awesome day.
