How to Get More Google Reviews using Neuroscience

Jul 6, 2018

Your business’s Google rating can make or break your business. Of all the business reputation indicators it’s the most visible – often displaying before ads and web pages in search. This makes it the most important reputation score.

Follow the process below, and you’ll get more Google reviews, and more customers as a result.

Identify Your Happiest Customers

The best way is through an online survey.

Survey Email Subject Line: [Company Name] – Your Opinion Matters!

This subject line outperformed all others in terms of open rate.

Using “you” or “your” instead of impersonal pronouns can create a stronger emotional reaction.

Survey Email Body:

Hello! Your opinion matters to us, and I was hoping you would complete this short survey about your recent [visit, appointment, purchase] – it should take less than 2 minutes to complete. Thank you for your input!

– Radek

This email copy outperformed all others, with up to 41% survey response rates.

Why?

Using “your” again.
Reducing perceived friction by keeping the email request brief.
Reducing real friction by keeping the survey under 2 minutes.
Saying “thank you” shows gratitude which can increase willingness to respond.
Conversational style with personal signature can create a better ‘liking’ effect than a blatant mass email.
Personalizing the email would probably even more powerful (e.g. Hi, Brian!), but this can be burdensome if you have a lot of customers and don’t use email software that makes personalization easy.

Survey Questions:

You need to keep the survey under two minutes (as promised). This means including fewer than 10 questions and using multiple choice answers. The two questions you must include are:

Based on your overall experience…how satisfied are you with [Business Name]?

(Completely Satisfied, Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Somewhat Satisfied, Not At All Satisfied)

Based on your overall experience…how likely are you to are you to recommend [Business Name]?

(Definitely Would, Probably Would, Maybe, Probably Not, Definitely Not)

These questions allow you to find customers who are completely satisfied and would definitely recommend your business. It also sets the stage for next step, which leverages cognitive biases to increase engagement.

How to Request Reviews

Review Request Email:

Hi there – can I ask you for a favor?

In your survey (thank you!) you said you were happy overall and that you would definitely recommend [Business Name].

Would you mind sharing your experience in an online review? It would be really helpful to other customers (or patients/clients/etc.).

The best site for this is Google: [Direct Link to Google review box]

Thanks in advance!

– Radek

Reasons:

Research shows us that asking for one favor first can greatly increase the probability of success with the second favor. In this case, the first favor is the survey.
Saying “Thank You” shows gratitude, and can increase response rate.
Reminding them they were happy and would definitely recommend invokes Cialdini’s principle of consistency and commitment. This principle says we feel obligated to align our actions with what we’ve committed to do.
Describing the helpfulness of reviews for other customers can motivate some who tend to be altruistic.
A direct link to the Google review box eliminates friction.
“Thanks in advance!” – Another expression of gratitude, but this simple phrase topped the results in a study of response rates.
Conversational, short, and from a person. It feels like a direct request rather than an automated response.

Conclusion

Once you receive reviews, it’s a good practice to respond to the review publicly and thank the customer. When potential customers see engagement from a business along with positive reviews, it helps build trust and likability.

After accumulating about 5 reviews, Google will display your star listing next to your business.

And then… keep testing.

Everyone’s business and customers are unique. Use this guide as a starting point, but try making a few enhancements and use A/B testing to find the sweet-spot for your business.