Online Reviews from Your Small Business Point-of-Sale
Picture this: customer visits your small business, has a great experience, pays you and leaves.
You ask for the Google Review. “Sure, sure – yes, happy to do that for you.”
Then, nothing.
No reviews, no post, never answers the email.
What’s a Small Business Owner to do?
“Focus on that which you CAN control”
– Tim Tebow
There’s a ka-billion apps that let you solicit an online review – Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor. you can even solicit video testimonials will an app – check out this Review App Market Report for more…
The Review App Market Report shows that, of the 12 review apps looked at, only 2 apps allowed in-person reviews. The other 10 were virtual-only test-based reviews.
But, can you capture that review while the customer is still IN your space?
Yes, and the results are better.
- Professional services, like doctors and lawyers and therapists
- Real estate agents, insurance and financial services
- Plumbers, electricians and HVAC professionals
- Restaurants
All of these venues will benefit from in-person video reviews instead of old-fashioned text reviews.
Table of Contents
- How do you ask for a video review?
- Things to consider when asking for a video review
- Techniques for asking
- As you ask for a testimonial, offer a compliment
- How to get 10 out of 10 people to tell an interesting story on video
How Do You Ask for a Video Review?
There are three ways to ask for a video testimonial:
- directly, face-to-face
- virtually, by text/email
- virtually, by a website display widget
We discuss How to Interview a Customer for a Video Testimonial in a separate blogpost.
Things to consider when asking for an in-person video review
- When your customer is face-to-face, your team will have the opportunity to help the customer prepare for the video testimonial.
- One or more of your team may even interview your customer in the testimonial video.
Techniques for Asking
According to Fast Company.com,
“Less than a third of business owners ask customers for a review, and that’s probably because it feels a little like fishing for compliments – awkward and uncomfortable.”
To overcome the weirdness and avoid awkwardness (what if they say NO?), here are three ways to ask for a testimonial when you are face-to-face with a client.
As You Ask for a Testimonial, Offer a Compliment
We love Chelsei Henderson’s 5 Non-Icky Ways to Ask for Testimonials from the FreshBooks blog – #5 is pure gold,
“Your opinion means the world to me — would you mind sharing your thoughts about the work I did for you?”
Our observation is that this technique would work well for both a direct or a virtual ask (email) strategy.
This request has to be authentic and it may work better for professionals whose services are more relational and personal:
- dental technicians
- hairdressers
- therapists and physicians
…than for professions that are more transactional.
The customer can still say no – the choice is theirs.
You, however have been transparent about the need for a testimonial PLUS you’ve been the first to offer appreciation to the customer.
How to Prompt Your Customer to Tell Your Story
Your customer has agreed to give you a video review. Great!
They get ready, you get ready, everybody is ready.
You point the phone camera at them; “Lights, Camera, Action!”
Nothing; they freeze or, worse, they babble.
Maybe they just lose the thread and you get a 7-minute, unwatchable video.
Best case: 1 in 10 people will tell an interesting story.
How to get 8 out of 10 people to tell an interesting story on video
It’s never 100% – not everybody is ready for video. But, you can get ready for video. And, you can train your customer to tell an interesting story about YOUR business on video.
We’re going to show you how to tell the Worlds’ Simplest Story – we call this the 1-2-3 Story Structure and it goes like this:
- Introduce Your Customer – face the camera and introduce your customer just like you’d introduce a friend.
- Ask About Their Prior State – remember, their prior state just before they met YOU. A good cue is to ask, “How did you come to find us?”
- Ask About Their Current State – how do they feel now? Do they like your product? Did you solve their problem?
Aristotle said every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Humans a hard-wired to LOVE stories and to watch/listen to them until the end.
The 1-2-3 Story Structure guarantees they will watch your testimonial video all the way to the end.
Click the image below to get the 1 hour free Masterclass that gives you greater detail, free downloads, checklists and video tutorials to become great at telling the Worlds’ Simplest Story.
Get the free app – save time and $$
If you are an influencer who deals face-to-face with people, like a dentist or a real estate agent, you can become an online influencer using short, testimonial videos on popular social platforms.
We can show you how.
Do you like all the hosting and posting?
All the hashtags, hypertext links and tech-y stuff?
If not, just let the WOW Promoter app do it for you – for free!
