Customer reviews and testimonials can do wonders for your business. They can enhance your online reputation, boost credibility, provide the kind of social proof needed to influence consumer behavior and even improve your search engine rankings. However, when it comes to asking customers for reviews, most people don’t know how to properly go about it. Here are a few tried and true ways to ask for (and get) customer reviews.

1. Ask in Response to Praise

Soliciting for customer reviews isn’t always an easy task, but if a customer has approached you with unsolicited praise, that’s a golden opportunity to ask for a review.

You can say something like, “That’s great to hear. We take pride in providing quality services to all our customers, and your happiness is our top priority. If you don’t mind posting what you just said in a quick review on [platform of choice], that would be awesome.”

2. Leverage Review Software

The best way to encourage customers to write reviews on your website is by making the process to leave reviews as simple as possible. One way to do that is to integrate review software into your website. The best online review software automates customer feedback with a one-click process, making the process efficient, fluid, and straightforward.

Another benefit to having review software on your site is that it enables you to collect more online customer reviews. And if you have more reviews, Google may translate that your website is relevant and trustworthy, hence rank it higher in SERPs.

3. Offer Corporate Gifts

Often times, customers may need a little nudge before they can take any action. An incentive, such as a corporate gift can give them a reason to leave a review.

When you offer a quality incentive like an umbrella or coffee mug, your customer will want to reciprocate that love. You can then take that opportunity to request them for a review and they will be more than happy to do so.

4. Create Opportunities with Conversation

Sitting back just waiting and hoping reviews will come will not work. You need to devise ways to solicit for those reviews. Be smart and create opportunities for reviews with conversations.

Such a conversation would aim at how customers feel about your product, after which you would gauge their trust, confidence, and satisfaction level. Once you’re certain that the customer is truly pleased with your product or service, you can the go ahead and ask them for an honest review.