As we ease out of lockdown our valuable and treasured local businesses will spring their doors open, and now is the time they will need all of our support.
So how can we help and support our favourite high street shops, local services and family run businesses? What is so important to their survival and ongoing recognition for the hard work they’ve done to provide us with a product or service.
And when was the last time we took less than 5 minutes sitting in our comfy chair and shared our appreciation to them.
We too often react quickly and angrily towards a business that has provided a service or product that has not lived up to our expectation. Bad news unfortunately spreads quicker than good news, but a good review has the capability of changing a business for the better.
I refer to this as the “domino effect of a good review” and I’m going to explain this in further detail and how what I’ve described can really help our local businesses succeed.
All from the comfort of our living room (or office) but let’s take the time now, to support those critical and fundamental businesses throughout our communities.
Many years ago, when I started Harris Consultancy (My web design and social media business) I was lucky to receive some fantastic reviews, which spiralled to new business in a way that was very trackable in the infancy of the business.
One kind review simply led to another lead, which in turn led to another review and so on and so forth. I call this the domino effect of a good review, starting just from one review and one client taking 5 minutes of their time to show appreciation. This shows the power and support that one review can give.
We are all now driven by influence, when was the last time you purchased a product or service without looking at the reviews, or was not recommended by a friend or relative (Verbal review) to that service in question?
We rely on each other to give us feedback on a product or service before pursuing and clicking “buy now” or accepting the service which we were considering.
And honest reviews are important, it is feedback that not only will generate a domino effect as described. But some can provide important feedback to how we can change and develop our businesses for the better. Whether that is a slight change to a product or service to better solve the problem and the reason why the client was interested in the first place or an additional opportunity to sell that may have been missed.
So as a business owner, what tools do we use to help remind clients and customers to take a few minutes of their time to express their honest opinion, and where is the best platform to collect those reviews on?
Do we perhaps follow up with an email, a prompt card with the product purchased? Or do you add a note to the bottom of your receipt? Alternatively, there is an app available to assist called “Chalkboard” which I would highly recommend to streamline the process. However, you decide to achieve this, it is definitely worth reviewing your review collecting strategy.
You might want to ensure your latest reviews are available on your website so that it reaches potential new clients looking at your online store. Some of you may even have some software directly on your website that collects reviews. But certainly, Google My Business and Facebook are the most popular review hungry platforms where huge opportunities of influence are.
I’m very conscious of the importance of reviews and I’ve seen first-hand how in 5 minutes we can support a local business today so that we can retain that personal service and dedication for tomorrow. Let’s all take the time, to support our local businesses through the power of the review.
If you’ve enjoyed our article why not follow us on Facebook for more regular business tips and motivational messages. Alternatively explore our other articles here.
