As a business owner, you know that customer reviews are essential. They help to increase trust and credibility for your business, and they can help attract new customers. But customer review management can be time-consuming – especially if you have many customers and reviews to track. 

That’s where software comes in to automate the process and make it easier for you. 

We’ll discuss why customer reviews are essential, what is customer review management, how software helps automate the process, and seven criteria to look for when choosing customer review management software.

Key takeaways:

• Customer reviews are valuable for businesses since they provide social proof, improve their search engine ranking, and offer insights into the company.
• Customer review management is the process of monitoring, sorting, and responding to customer reviews
• There are a few things that customer review management software automates, including monitoring sites for new reviews, notifying you when there’s a new review, and calculating your overall rating.
• Deciding when it’s time to invest in customer review management software depends on your company size, how many reviews customers leave each month, and how many sites customers can leave reviews for your business.
• The right customer review management software should be user intuitive, have the fundamental features and easily integrate with other business applications.

How Customer Reviews Affect Your Business

As mentioned, customer reviews are vital because they help increase your business’s trust and credibility. How do they do that? Here are three ways:

1. Customer Reviews Provide Social Proof

When potential customers see that other people have had positive experiences with your business, they are more likely to trust and do business with you. This confirmation is called social proof, and it’s a powerful thing. 

2. Customer Reviews Improve Your Search Engine Ranking

Another way customer reviews help your business is by improving your search engine ranking. When you have a lot of positive customer reviews, it signals to Google that your business is relevant and trustworthy. In turn, it will help you rank higher in search results, which means more people will see your company when searching for what you offer. 

3. Customer Reviews Give You Insights Into Your Business

Finally, customer reviews give you valuable insights into your business. You can use them to see what people appreciate about your business and what they don’t. You can use this information to improve your business, leading to more positive customer reviews.

What Is Customer Review Management?

Now that we’ve discussed why customer reviews are critical, let’s discuss customer review management. Customer review management is the process of monitoring, sorting, and responding to customer reviews, including things like:

• Monitoring sites where customers can leave reviews (such as Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.)
• Reading customer reviews and responding to them
• Asking customers for reviews

There are a few reasons why you would want to do this. First, staying on top of what people say about your business is vital. Second, responding to customer reviews shows that you care about your customers and their experience with your business. Eighty-nine percent of shoppers are more inclined to buy from a company that responds to its online reviews. Finally, asking customers for reviews can help you get more of them.

NOTE: Customer review management differs from reputation management in that reputation management also includes things like monitoring and responding to negative press, managing your online presence, and more.

Source: embedsocial

How Does Software Help Automate Customer Review Management?

Customer review management software helps automate the process of monitoring and responding to customer reviews, saving you time and resources. 

There are a few different things that customer review management software can do, such as:

• Monitoring sites for new reviews
• Notifying you when there’s a new review
• Calculating your overall rating 
• Responding to reviews
• Asking customers for reviews

When It’s Time to Invest in Review Management Software

At what point does your business need to automate review management? The response depends on a few factors, such as:

• The size of your business – If you have a small business, you might be able to handle managing reviews manually. But it’s probably impossible to do everything if you have a large company. In this case, review management software can help you scale. 
• The number of reviews you get – If you only get a little feedback per month, you might be able to manage them manually. But if you’re getting dozens or hundreds of reviews, it’s probably time to invest in review management software. 
• The number of sites where customers can leave reviews – If customers can only leave reviews on one or two websites, you might get away with managing them manually. But if customers can leave reviews on dozens of different sites, review management software can assist you in keeping track of everything in one place.

Source: author

Seven criteria to look for in customer review management software

When choosing customer review management software, it would help to consider several things. Here are seven criteria to look for:

• Ease of use – The solution should be easy to use to save time and start quickly. Look for reputation management software that admins and consumers can navigate easily.

• Features – The software should have the needed elements, such as monitoring multiple sites, responding to reviews, and tracking your rating. 

• Integrations – A robust customer review management software should integrate easily with other business solutions like customer relationship management (CRM) or a content management system (CMS).

• Price – The solution should be affordable so it doesn’t break the bank. 

• Customer support – The software should have good customer support if you encounter any problems. 

• Reviews – Ironically, the software should have positive reviews to ensure it’s a good investment. 

• Free trial – The software should offer a free trial before buying it. 

Customer Review Management and Your Business

Many great resources are available for those who want to automate their customer review management. At mXtr Automation, we work with you to develop a well-rounded approach to marketing—including customer review management. 

Contact us today to schedule a consult at no cost.

 

Featured Image:  istockphoto