We all need ‘em, so how do you get that happy customer to actually take a moment to give you a review? And, if he does, what will you do with it? Where will it get maximum exposure? Some businesses know just how to get those reviews set up to be a regular part of day-to-day affairs. They know that the most effective way to get a review is to ask. Yes, it’s bold. But it’s also business. That happy client or customer is worth several more when they share their experience with others. Turn the request into a part of the way you run your company and it’s a no-brainer that you’ll have many reviews to choose from when you want to make your testimonials public.

Sure, not everyone will comply. But companies who practice this will tell you, if you don’t ask, chances are slim that you’ll have much to work with. There is a place within every transaction, or at the end of it, that is appropriate to request a favorable customer response:

• A follow-up phone call
• A perforated post card with return address and survey boxes
• A question asked as the project commences, “If you will fill out a brief review when the job is done, we’ll take five percent off your next … “
• “Please review us on MerchantCircle.com, or Yelp.com if you’re happy with the product or job performance.”

Making it easier on the customer is the name of the game. Give them an opportunity to know the best way to review your company and support your good effort. One thing is certain, if you don’t ask, you won’t get a response. Customers who give a favorable review out of the goodness of their heart are few and far between.

Where are the best places to post your reviews?

Whenever possible, have your customers post reviews on these sites:

• Yelp.com
• MerchantCircle.com
• Google Places
• CitySearch.com
• Insiderpages.com
• Local.com
• Superpages.com
• TripAdvisor

And make sure you’re listed on each of these sites! These places have high authority and the link to your site is a very powerful way to bring traffic to your website. Once easily added by your customers, these can be additionally pasted into your website testimonials page, your direct mail pieces, and any other media that promotes your company.

One more thing. Don’t forget to thank your customer for the favorable review and let him know in some manner how it benefits your company. And if you get a poor review, by all means, fix it! Speak with that customer immediately and ask them what can be done to satisfy, compensate, or make it better. Find out what he feels should have been done differently, and thank him for helping you cure a problem by bringing it to your attention. If you take a willing-to-fix-it attitude to your company reviews in response to comments, you’ll show a trustworthy aspect of your company to your viewers. That practice will endear the public to your company and be visible for quite some time.

Do you post reviews for great service?

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Case Study: Small Business Listings

Maybe last week you were inspired to start your email newsletter service. Maybe you inspired me, instead. Newsletter design set up is so easy with AWeber that it might bowl you over. If you took any of our advice last week, you at least took a peek and know we’re not just some affiliate marketers out to sell a product. No, we use this service on two of our blogs, the Inside Line and Express Marketing Memo, with such ease that we gladly encourage everyone to try it for themselves. Yes, of course we become affiliates of products that work excellently and allow us to teach the small business owner how to take control of their marketing, duh. (No disrespect intended, just a disclaimer.)

So what type of content is appropriate for your newsletter? You can have your blog set up to automatically feed your newsletter with content that your subscribers get to view right in their own mailbox, and if you continue to update your blog with helpful information about your product, services, industry news, and specials, they will enjoy hearing from you if you follow the tips I outlined in Can YOU Influence Customer Response? Parts 1 and 2.

Try AWeber Email Marketing Risk-Free

Is that all? Well, no. If you use this service, you get to choose your template (appearance) and can even set it up to include affiliate links that YOU endorse. Inside the templates are places where you can add helpful links, upcoming events, and even (if you’re organized and plan your posts in advance) let your readers know what’s coming up in future editions.

You can choose to offer different content in your newsletter than your blog. It’s unnecessary and time-consuming, but you can put any relevant information in there that you wish. I happen to think that the discipline involved when realizing that your newsletter content and blog content are one, causes you to make ever so certain that you don’t ramble and send out worthless diatribe.

To wrap it up, here’s what can go into your newsletter:

• regularly updated blog content
• affiliate links
• product information
• service offerings
• specials
• industry news
• relevant links from other sources that your readers can use
• social media buttons so that they can connect with you in the eco-sphere

A couple words of advice:

• Decide in advance how often to send out your newsletter. You can set it up to send out as you post to your blog, or every other one, or on the same day each week, and so on.
• Figure out what time of day your readers are most likely to read your information, and set it up to post during those hours.

And remember, if this is outside your range of ability, we can do this for you for a nominal fee. We do offer customizing if you are looking for something a little different than you see there. You’re going to do great, I just know it. Make sure you add us to your blogroll, and tell us about your experience in the comments, below.

Related Posts: What Email List Marketing Method Really Works?

Here’s to all the great information on business email list marketing we enjoyed reading this week, now it’s time to share it with you. Please take some time to check out these links this weekend.

(PT2) We want our relationships with our customers and readers to be actual relationships, and that requires two-way conversation. We want to encourage them to call, sign up, or click on a link. We want them to tell us what they thought of our products or services. If you read my earlier post on the value of influencing customer response, it’s time to start asking the questions and posing the statements that engage dialog.

Or you can just wait and see if your schedule fills up. (See pic for emotion that follows waiting for your schedule to fill up).

I suggest being proactive by adding these messages to your campaign:

• Has this helped you? We’d love to hear about it. Please email your comments to info@xxxxxxxx
• Please leave us your comments, is there anything you would like to learn about in the future?
• Please take this survey. It will only take 30 seconds of your time.
• Sign up for this promotion using this code: xxxxxxx
• If you purchase during this week’s promotion, every second item will be reduced! Buy now!
• Did you enjoy the last service call or sale? If your friend schedules and keeps an appointment between now and the end of the month, get $$ off of your next appointment.
• I want you to feel great about your purchase and to be totally satisfied because I know you made an excellent choice.

Notice how every one of these suggestions specifically asked the reader or customer to respond in a certain way? Did you notice the persuasive mechanisms at play? Believe it or not, these types of messages increase your response rate and conversion astronomically. You can’t go wrong inciting a positive response, but you can go terribly wrong not doing so.

How Do You Track Your Response Rate?

How do you know if your methods of engagement were successful? Using a customer code as a link to a page on your Web site that is unrevealed in regular navigation is a great way to know that the traffic you’ve encouraged is responding. Set it up and use your Web analytics to find out how many are making it to that page.  Surveys available through a link can really narrow down your information, and offering a discount or coupon for taking the survey is a helpful way to get the highest response rate. If your specials are only offered to those taking the time to respond to the survey, you’ll know exactly how successful your promotion was. Follow our  link to AWeber for the easiest way to track promotions using email marketing that lets your customer opt-in and opt-out, avoiding the spam implications entirely.

Take this advice and your readers will be EXCITED to open, read, and click on most anything you send, and look forward to more. How are you encouraging your customers’ response? Let us know what you would like to hear more about and we’ll be happy to respond to YOU.

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Can YOU Influence Customer Response?

Build Your Email List – Jump Start Your Marketing

Can what you say or write about your product, service, or message really influence a response from your customer? Can you inspire a reaction?

Are you a parent? Maybe you’ve noticed a response from your child that you didn’t see coming, but later realized was a direct response to a marketing message. We’re always being incited to respond, and kids are infamously receptive. No doubt you recognize these attempts on you and your children:

• RT this
• Sugared cereal on child’s level at grocery store
• Buy one, get 1/2 off of the next item
• Sign here for additional warranty (authorizing additional charge)

How Can This Work For You?

This type of marketing has been around since marketing began, but few small businesses take advantage of this tool for add on sales. It’s surprising how often we’re not encouraging a reaction. Not every response from your customer will be a sale, this time, but every attempt you make at a dialog is an investment successful companies know will eventually return positive results. So what responses would you like to encourage?

• Do you want your message to ‘go viral?’
• Do you want comments and feedback?
• Do you want your potential customer to purchase?
• Are you working on a larger sale from a previous customer?
• Are you testing an offer to check the response rate?
• Do you want more customers?

All these questions and many more can be answered by simply asking the uncomfortable. And actually, success often requires taking your comfortable self out of your comfort zone and doing the uncomfortable. In this case, I want you to think about what it is you want your reader, potential client, or previous customer to do, and then go about the business of encouraging that response.

That’s actually as simple as adding text to the bottom of your email campaign, newsletter, blog, or direct mail. You know the average, “contact us today,” message, (which is important because it really needs to be instructed), but how can you specifically target the response you’re after?

First of all, you’ll need to make sure your potential client enjoyed hearing from you. Are you adding tidbits to your regular messages that they enjoy? Is your tone pleasant, and do you offer what your readers are after? Do you offer a free anything? (freebies = good)

Once you’re convinced that your customer is looking forward to hearing from you, it’s reasonably certain that you’re conditioning that response. You must be doing something right. How would you ever know? You’re going to have to ask and use some tracking to see if your investment is yielding favorable results. In my next post I’ll go over some simple ways that you can influence customer response to find out information, add to your client list, and sell your product or service to an otherwise lethargic customer.