Are Reviews Really That Important?
When business owners ask me that question, I think back to when they were not as important as they are now. Those were the days when we hadn’t figured out what social proof was, let alone how to actually make it work for us. We were still scratching our heads asking questions like “How can I stand out from the rest of the competition?” Those day have long gone. With more than 72% of those searching for a business like yours relying on reviews to make a decision about who to pick, the evidence is compelling. Yet the mindset of thinking reviews are not important among business owners still lingers.
Today, the reality of fierce competition on the internet has highlighted the need to understand and master the art of getting as many reviews as possible. And not just any reviews, but 5-star reviews. These days we not only are pre-judged by how many reviews we have posted online, but how many 5-star reviews. And it gets better. How many recent 5-star reviews do we have? No one cares that someone 4 years ago said you were great – they want to know if people think you were great this month, this week or yesterday.
So now that we know it’s paramount to have recent 5-star reviews, many are left wondering how to do this. How to I get my customers to leave me reviews? How do I get their attention?