Think about it; when you are getting ready to make a purchase, what is one thing that makes a big impact on your decision? Answer: What other customers have to say about the product or service, whether it be through word of mouth or online reviews. Sure, you may look at specifications or product descriptions and details, but positive comments from others who have already bought a product or used a service are going to be really convincing. The fact is, customer testimonials and reviews are marketing gold. And you need this kind of content to make it easier to convince new customers to do business with your pallet company.
The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey Data has consistently shown that people trust the opinions of other consumers more so than what a company or brand says about itself. So, whether it’s an online review or a strong testimonial, potential customers for your pallet business will put a lot of weight in what your existing customers say about you.
Once you know how important this kind of content is, the question is how do you go about getting more of this kind of content to include on your website and in your marketing materials? Here are few methods you can use to get reviews and testimonials:
• Email customers and ask for testimonials – Perhaps once or twice a year, send a well-crafted email to your customer list asking them if they could give you a testimonial or act as a reference. A certain percentage of your customers will be kind enough to help you out. Undoubtedly some of them understand how important this is and will step up to help your pallet business with a few positive sentences about their experience doing business with you.
• Request reviews on Facebook or Google My Business – If your business happens to have a Google My Business listing or Facebook page, you can ask or prompt your customers to give you a review. Again, some will be glad to help you out.
• Survey your customers – Another approach that can work really well is to build a customer survey in a free survey service like Survey Monkey and send it out to your customer list periodically. Make sure the survey has a question like “Describe your experience working with Company X.” The survey could also be used to gather valuable information on what you can do to improve your business.
• Customer satisfaction interviews – You can do this yourself or, even better, hire someone outside your company to do the job. You pick a few of your better customers and interview them about your company. A call is scheduled and conducted on a service like FreeConferenceCall.com so you can record the call for later transcription. You then ask the customer a series questions about what they did before working with you, how your business has helped them, and so on. If they have said some good things about your pallet business, you simply ask if it would be ok if you used some of their comments in your marketing materials or on your website.
Some companies also hire a videographer to record interviews with customers. Although this is great content, the process can be a little pricey to produce. Along the same lines, some companies get customers to create short videos for them with little more than the camera on a smart phone. This is worth a shot if you think your customers will be able to do this with adequate quality.
While asking for reviews, you may also get some negative reviews. The best thing to do if this happens is to respond promptly and show that you are willing to address issues and complaints. This can actually be good and make your review content more believable because potential customers will see that you address problems when they arise.
