Review Requests Should Be Treated Like Customer Service [Data Study]

Want to get rid of that sinking feeling of looking with envy at the high review volumes and star ratings of your top local competitors?

You already know that both review count and ratings are contributing to these brands’ dominance in Google’s Packs and Maps.

Today, I’ll share some good news that could help the local businesses you market catch up and compete.

A major report just published from GatherUp has studied 23,000 locations, and from this, I have three key actionable highlights for you.

My favorite overall takeaway from this interesting study is that improving your review volume, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and ratings may involve a slight adjustment in how your local business thinks about reputation management.

The data indicates that this powerful user-generated content (UGC) in the form of reviews actually belongs in the customer service/customer experience department of your operations.

Read on to see why.

Review Volume As A Customer Service KPI

In the real world, your local business has to invest maximum resources into providing the best customer service in town if you want your reputation to deliver optimum profits.

Everything you can do to provide convenient, memorable, neighborly customer experiences will impact both the offline word-of-mouth recommendations and online reviews you receive.

GatherUp’s new report takes this work ethic a step further, surfacing a striking correlation between your customers’ convenience and your review acquisition success.

Consider the following data:

1. Customers Appreciate Being Invited To Review Your Local Business

Image from GatherUp, September 2024
Key Takeaway: businesses that actively ask customers for reviews have, on average, 122 reviews per location versus just 53 for locations where review requests are absent.

Across multiple industries, the impact of inviting customers to share their sentiments is powerful.

According to the study, 30% of all customers will act on a well-crafted review request.

Just as you greet every person who visits your premises or phones you, it’s time to extend your customer service policy to welcome all patrons to review you.

In this context, your review volume can be seen as a key performance indicator (KPI) of whether your efforts to engage your community are succeeding or need refinement to yield a better rate of response per request.

2. Customers Respond To Your Care For Their Convenience

Image from GatherUp, September 2024
Key Takeaway: Only 6% of surveyed businesses use the magic combination of both SMS + email to request reviews.

A massive opportunity to increase review volume is being left on the table when your customer service policy overlooks the nicety of requesting reviews via customers’ preferred methodologies.

While email remains an excellent choice for communicating more detailed review requests to a wider audience, 48% of customers now prefer text-based review invitations. Texts have the added bonus of open rates as high as 98%.

On average, an email-only methodology delivers 15 reviews per 100 requests, SMS-only delivers 20 reviews per 100 requests, but a combined approach delivers 26 reviews per 100 requests.

These numbers quickly add up, and detailed findings by industry are available in the report.

Just as many local businesses offer indoor versus outdoor dining or in-store shopping versus delivery, you can improve customer experience, convenience, and responsiveness by diversifying your acquisition platforms.

3. Actively Engaged Customers Can Have A Higher Opinion Of Your Local Brand

Image from GatherUp, September 2024
Key Takeaway: Businesses that invest in reputation management software have, on average, a 50% higher NPS than industry peers.

Your NPS is a calculation of how likely it is that existing customers will recommend your local business to others.

Likewise, four of the six industries surveyed experienced a higher average star rating simply because they took the time to engage customers with a review request.

Your overall average Google star rating is widely believed to be a local search ranking factor, and any gains you can make in this regard should positively impact your visibility in Google’s Local Packs, local finders, and Maps.

Merchants have known since the dawn of commerce how engaging a customer underpins sales. In this scenario, the goal of your outreach is earning sentiment rather than transactions, but the principle remains the same.

If your customer service policy is based on ensuring that customers feel recognized, valued, and respected, you have only to extend this mindset to review requests to pursue referrals and review star growth.

Customer Service As The Nexus Of Local Business Success

I recently did an informal study of how the public rushed to the defense of the Ace Hardware franchise when someone criticized it on X (Twitter) for allegedly having higher prices than larger competitors like Lowe’s or Home Depot.

Nearly 4,000 accounts responded, with the overall sentiment of their comments being that they choose to shop at their local Ace branch because of the exceptionally high quality of its customer service.

Every local brand has options when seeking a competitive difference-maker that will help them become a memorable and trusted resource in the community.

Some common considerations include:

Location – like locales with high foot traffic.
Inventory – like a larger or more unusual selection of products.
Price – like lower prices or bulk-buying options.
Guarantees – like a no-questions-asked returns policy.
Deals – like annual sales or bundling offers.
Loyalty programs – like a referral program or birthday club.
Expertise – like the Ace hardware example of having highly knowledgeable staff.
Gimmicks – like an ad campaign that startles or amuses the public.
Convenience – like offering home delivery or curbside pickup.
Mission – like having a business story that strongly resonates with the public.

Each of these elements can contribute to a brand becoming known in a particular locale, but unless such factors are paired with excellent customer service, the business will struggle to earn local loyalty and optimum profits.

For example, warehouse-style brands can have an enormous inventory, but if there isn’t enough staff to help customers navigate the aisles, they can feel lost instead of assisted.

In another example, a business may be well-staffed with experts, but if they are not friendly, customers may feel belittled instead of supported.

Meanwhile, a publicity stunt like the owner of an auto dealership parachuting from a plane may momentarily grab attention on local TV, but if the customer experience feels gimmicky when a potential buyer comes to look at cars, the chance to build a strong reputation for the brand may be lost.