If you’re one of the companies that’s already out there setting the standard for great customer service, it’s time to ensure that your happy customers who sing your praises can do so publicly. Never underestimate the power of these testimonials to both build your brand and bring in new customers. Here are a few easy ways to capitalize on your team’s excellent work.
On your site
When new prospects visit your website, are they greeted by any of the rave reviews of your current customers? By selecting customers who are speaking directly to your company’s strongest selling points, and placing their words on your homepage (or another straightforward place within your site), your prospects’ confidence in your offering will be boosted. Add as much information as is necessary to give your prospective customers ways to relate to your current, happy customers. Similarly, if any of your current happy clients are also important to your industry or generally recognizable to your prospects, don’t underestimate the power of seeking and publicizing their love for your company. Little is as powerful as the endorsement of people who are in the know or have every option at their disposal – but pick your company.
Social media
You can take a page from Pinellas County in Florida and encourage your customers to utilize social media for their reviews of your company. By creating a hashtag for your customers’ experiences, you can easily navigate realtime reviews, reaching out to customers who need your help to resolve experiences that slipped through the cracks, thanking happy customers, and thinking up new ways to publicly wow others with a bit of “renegade” customer service.
Another great way to engage with current customers, while simultaneously reaching out to new ones, is to highlight the unsolicited praises left on your company Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc pages. Don’t stop at simply replying to their kind remarks, retweet and share these testimonials so that they may reach a larger audience and make that particular customer feel special and valued.
Get visual
Do you sell a tangible product? Engage your customer base while advertising to prospects by encouraging your happy customers provide you with digital media of your products in action along with a statement of why they love it or how they use it. Companies in the baby gear world are already excellent at capitalizing on this approach, frequently asking customers to send in snapshots of their children enjoying the companies’ products, which in turn become part of the marketing strategy of the companies. This approach is so organic and effective, that it really ought to be consistently used by companies in other spaces.
By pointing a spotlight on your customers’ gushing reviews, you will easily support your brand message, encourage new customers to join you, and positively reinforce the engagement you obtain with your customers by recognizing their wonderful reviews. Start seizing the opportunity to give your customers a bigger platform from which to shout your praises!