You can spend hours writing the perfect content for your website, getting the message just right in your ads and creating social posts that get tons of likes and shares, but there’s one type of content that plays a far bigger role than any of these in terms of sales — your reviews.

Let’s face it, what you say about your business matters, but it’s nothing compared to what your customers say about you. Consumers read and trust reviews before visiting a new restaurant, calling a plumber or a roofer, getting their hair cut at a new salon or making an online purchase.

Every business needs reviews. But, the problem is that, unless a customer had a negative experience, the likelihood of getting a review is slim. Most people don’t write reviews on their own unless they’re unhappy, which is why it’s all too easy for a business’s reviews to paint an unfair picture of their work.

However, by taking an active role in getting reviews, you can improve your average star rating across review sites, increase your ranking in Google Maps, build trust with prospective customers and build a reputation that’s more reflective of your service. Here’s how.

Get more reviews in 5 easy steps

Step #1. Ask upfront

While it’s true that, when left to their own devices, most people won’t write reviews. But, the vast majority of people will absolutely write a review if you ask them to. You don’t have to wait until the end of the transaction or service to do so, either.

Ask for a review upfront, before you make a sale or perform a service. This will plant the seed of writing a review in their mind. Plus, it demonstrates that you want genuine feedback, not that you’re asking only customers who have had good experiences.

Simply ask something simple upfront, like, “Hey, we’d love to know how we did. Would you mind leaving us a review when we’re done?”

Step #2. Do a great job!

Not only does asking for reviews upfront help to ensure consistency, but it also helps you hold yourself accountable for the services you provide. You know that your customer is going to share their experience, and you want to make sure it’s a good one.

Asking for reviews is an important part of actually getting reviews, but it won’t do you much good if you get a lot of negative reviews. If you want your reviews to be positive and your average star rating to be high, the very best thing you can do is provide great service to your customers.

Make fantastic customer service the name of the game in your business. Do whatever you can to make sure the job gets done and your customers are happy

Step #3. Ask how you did

Reviews should never be a surprise — at least honest, authentic reviews should never be a surprise. If you’re keeping the pulse on your business and strive to provide great service, you should have a pretty good idea of what kind of service you’re providing.

However, just because your reviews shouldn’t be surprising, it doesn’t mean that you have to wait until there’s a review to gauge the experience from your customer’s point of view. After the job is done, simply ask how you did.

If they were happy with their experience, it’s the perfect time to politely remind them to write a review. If not, ask why not and what you can do to make it right.

Step #4. Make reviews a big deal

When it comes to getting great reviews for your business, you — as the business owner — can only do so much. The fact of the matter is that the front lines of your business are not only responsible for asking for reviews, but also providing five-star-review-worthy service.

It’s important to ensure that your employees know why getting reviews is important and how to ask for them the right way. But, it also helps to create a company culture that celebrates great reviews and the employees behind them.

When one of your employees gets a glowing review, make it a big deal. Recognize employees who get good reviews, and give your other employees a reason to ask for reviews and five-star service.

Step #5. Use reputation management software

A lot of the steps involved in getting more reviews happen in person, when you’re still face to face with your customers. But, having the right ORM (online reputation management) software on your side can go a long way behind the scenes.

With reputation management solutions, like Marketing 360® Reputation, you can send out review requests to your customers, keep track of your reviews from across the web, respond to reviews and even challenge fake reviews.

It’s the software you need to not only get reviews for your business, but also to manage them. It’s a powerful tool for building a strong reputation.

Bonus tip – Don’t worry about bad reviews. Bad reviews are inevitable. You can’t please everyone. And, believe it or not, a few bad reviews here and there will only make you seem more real.

Start getting reviews and building a strong reputation with Marketing 360 Reputation. Learn more, and see our plans and pricing.