Aim High With Your Google Star Rating

In our last Ireview post, we conveyed the importance of having a 4.5-star rating. Here we continue the compelling argument.

According to Google, 76% of local internet searches result in a store visit, and 28% of the searches end in a store purchase. This means potential customers that are making internet searches are keen to make purchases. Whether or not their purchase is; in your store mostly depends on your star ranking.  Just to be considered as purchase worthy, you’ve got to be around 4-star. For each 0.1-star increase, your business will experience 25% more foot traffic. The amount of traffic rises even further, +25% when you get your organization's rating above 4.5 stars. Peak sales result at 4.9-star, believe it or not, a perfect 5-star rating yields less traffic and sales than a 4.9-star rating, probably because a perfect score is perceived to be corrupted with biased/fake reviews from family and friends, and not genuine customer feedback.  The goal of your company should be to provide such a high level of value, that you achieve a 4.9 rating backed by a lot of reviews. To obtain 4.9 however requires a lot of effort, beginning with a high-quality product or service, a nice atmosphere, and on top of it all, the same level of customer service must be delivered every day, no matter how you or the employees feel that day. Reaching a 4.9-star rating will seem impossible to a business owner down at the 3.7-4.2 range. Businesses in this range might have grown weary of their customers, and prejudice may have set in against those whom the owner or manager believes will leave them a 1 or 2-star review. Fear, not the customer, if a low star rating occurs, know that a swift response where you accept responsibility for faults goes a long way to attracting new potential customers that have Google searched your listing.

Customers want to be recognized when they leave a review regardless of whether it’s good or bad. Over 50% of customers that post a review expect a reply. According to a recent study, businesses that responded to just 32% of reviews enjoyed an 80% higher conversion rate than companies that responded to just 10% of reviews. Notice how businesses don’t even need to respond to all reviews to enjoy higher conversion rates.  Perhaps the study focused on companies replying to anything under a 5-star review, the minority.  For redundancy, Ireview believes businesses should respond to all reviews, it will work wonders on your happiest customers rewarding you with repeat business, also from their friends and family.

So, how are you going to begin accruing way more reviews so as to raise your Google star rating, also giving you the opportunity to reply to customers? You're going to use a project management system like Ireview. What's the difference vs just asking each of your customers to leave a review? Ireview makes it convenient and effortless for your customers to leave a review, we provide QR code fobs to be placed next to the register or on your eCommerce checkout page as well as on the customer receipt. This way, while the customer is happiest about your brand, the moment they purchase your product or service, they will have the spare time and satisfactory compliance factor to leave your business a 5-star review.  You could also entice customers by offering a further -15% discount provided they leave your business a review.

Using a reputation management system will improve your Google star rating, it is not a waste of money. In fact, if the software saves your company from just one bad review, it will probably pay for a software subscription for the month. A bad review really does do that much damage to thwart potential customers.

Stop allowing competitors to outperform you, stop dragging your business along with a low star rating. Begin using a reputation management system today and get the rating and sales you deserve!