For Referrals and Reviews, Rewards Come to Those Who Ask

This week, when I was picking up our dog Bella at Dogs in the City in Portland, OR, a dog daycare business that we've been happily using for four years, I noticed a request on the dry erase bulletin board asking for reviews on Yelp, a customer review website. While there is a proliferation of review websites, Yelp is particularly important in Portland for restaurants, retail shops, and many service providers.

I asked the owner about her request, and she sheepishly asked whether I thought she was being too brazen asking for reviews. Definitely not!

One of the biggest laments I hear from business owners is that they don't get as many referrals or positive online reviews as they feel that they deserve based on the quality of their products and services. I puzzled over this for many years until I heard a professor from Northeastern University talk about referrals at a Word of Mouth Marketing Association Conference four years ago. Although I can’t remember his name, one of his statistics was seared into my memory. He said that 50% of all people need to be specifically asked for a referral in order to make one. He said that this occurs for two primary reasons:

• Many are so busy that they simply don’t remember to refer their friends and colleagues to businesses that they like.
• A significant number of people believe that a business that provides a quality product or service doesn’t need referrals because it likely has a good customer base.

If more businesses knew that one of the biggest secrets of getting referrals and mentions on influential customer review websites is simply to ask for them, there would be a lot less frustration. If you’re a skeptic, try it for your business and see what happens. In less than a month of asking for reviews, I’m happy to say that Dogs in the City has gone from having only one review on Yelp to four. And, as long as the owner of Dogs in the City keeps delivering a quality service and asking for referrals, she'll see her word of mouth and business boom.

Do you ask customers for referrals and online reviews? How's that working out for you?

Comments

[Tim Fahndrich]

Asking for referrals and reviews is a great way to build buzz. Being proactive about getting online reviews can also make a huge difference in where you show up in Google Places and other local search results.

We've been building a "review engine" to help small business owners maximize their review and SEO results. I'll have to show it to you.

Have a great day Patrick.

[Patrick Galvin]

Hi Tim, thanks for your comment.I'm excited to see your "review engine" and how it works. Sounds like a great idea!