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Before settling on a product or service, consumers typically spend at least 13 minutes reading customer reviews. Sites like G2, Capterra, and SalesApp Exchange now hold more power over purchasing decisions than ever before. In short, people aren’t spending their hard-earned money without reading reviews.
Keep reading to learn how to leverage the role online reviews play in the customer journey.
- 90% of customers read reviews before buying
- Reviews generate awareness
- Reviews add credibility
- Reviews influence purchases
- Reviews drive opportunities
- Getting the right reviews
90% of consumers read customer reviews before buying
When customers talk, potential buyers listen. Sure, a sales pitch can get your foot in the door, but customer reviews are what’s closing the deal.
Consumers trust online reviews because they come from real people that have experience with your product or service. In fact, 9 out of 10 people say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Needless to say, it’s not your employees driving purchasing decisions — it’s your customers.
Reviews generate awareness
According to Moz, customer reviews account for 15.44% of Google ranking factors when determining the order of search results. Companies listed in the top 3 positions of Google’s local results have an average of 47 reviews, and more mentions on review sites will contribute to your search position. The more reviews and mentions your business has, the more your search engine rank will improve.
Reviews add credibility
The buying process no longer exists without online reviews. Consumers use reviews to decide whether or not they can trust a new brand or product. Although 73% of people say they trust a business more after reading positive reviews, they need more than a handful of testimonials to feel secure about spending money. Most people who make a purchase read between 11-50 reviews.
Even one negative review is enough to convince 35% of people not to buy a product or service. Regardless of how scathing the review is, customer feedback is too valuable to ignore. Companies that respond to reviews can increase consumer trust by 30%. Responding with a genuine apology and follow-up questions shows customers you appreciate their feedback and will work to improve their experience.
Reviews influence purchases
Reviews can serve as the final nudge to convert prospects into paying customers. Having as few as 5 reviews can increase conversions by 270%. These rates can reach 380% by simply displaying reviews for higher-priced items. If those reviews are from verified buyers, the likelihood of a purchase goes up another 15%. When customers see positive reviews, they’re also willing to spend up to 31% more on a product or service.
The proof is in the pudding — or in this case, your profits.
Reviews drive opportunities
Online reviews contain valuable insights that guide business development, identify selling opportunities, and improve customer experience. These golden nuggets of wisdom reveal your edge against the competition and how your business has successfully helped others overcome a challenge or accomplish a specific goal.
At Introhive, we’re extremely fortunate to have customers and partners who are not only seeing success with our customer intelligence platform, but are willing to share their experience with others. These honest and balanced reviews turned into multiple G2 Summer Badges, recognizing our impact in Data Quality, AI Sales Assistant, Sales Intelligence, and Sales Analytics categories.
Game Changer in Relationship Management
“Not only has the software been an absolute game-changer in how we work, but we received excellent support. From the setup and onboarding right through to the customer relationship stages, Introhive has always accommodated our needs. Without Introhive it would be near impossible to understand which of our colleagues are talking to potential clients across our business on a day-to-day level. Our internal users can now see who-knows-who from a few simple clicks, saving them a huge amount of time and effort. Implementing Introhive has also helped drive Salesforce adoption within the wider business.” – Financial Services
Exceptional Customer Service & Support
“Introhive is helping our team uncover hidden relationships in a fully automated way. It painlessly captures contact information without any manual data entry. More importantly, it shows customer relationship strength, which was previously unknown to us. It also makes synchronizing the information to our CRM really easy. But the best part of our experience with Introhive has been the service we’ve received. From the initial sales demo, through the onboarding and training process, and now from our customer success manager and the support team. Nothing is too much trouble, and no question is too difficult to answer. The team at Introhive have been a real pleasure to deal with every step of the way.” – Legal Services
To read more about Introhive and our customer intelligence platform, head to G2 Crowd.
Getting the right reviews
The easiest way to get customer reviews is to ask for them. Be sure to time your request with the customer journey. For example, when a customer re-orders a product or reaches a project milestone, this would be a good time to share their experience with a review.
Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by sending a link to your business listing on third-party review sites. The best customer review sites are G2, Google, Capterra, and the SalesApp Exchange.
Are you already a raving fan and customer of Introhive? Click here to write an honest and balanced review. In return, you’ll receive a $50 Amazon gift card for your time and support.
