When it comes to making decisions, we humans aren't ever independent thinkers. From buying our morning coffee to big-ticket items like a new car, nosotros depend on our network's opinions, communication, or perspectives for making the correct decision.

With the internet, those networks become style, way bigger. Nosotros're no longer confined to just friends, family, and coworkers—we tin can come across what people all around the world think with just a quick Google search.

And these customer reviews hold serious weight with shoppers. Online reviews—either positive or negative—tin can impact over 93% of consumers' decisions .one

While reviews can accrue on their ain, they shouldn't be in a vacuum. Knowing how to ask for reviews, leverage them to get more than concern, and respond to less-than-favorable client testimonials can better your business image and land yous more long-lasting customers.

Proceed reading to larn about:

  • Why customer reviews are so important
  • ix types of reviews and how to get more than of them
  • How to respond to positive and negative customer reviews

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 Want to get more customer reviews for your concern? Use these outreach templates (and DIY client review architect!) to assist your customers give y'all the all-time review possible.


Why are customer reviews so important?

Customer reviews build something known as social proof, a phenomenon that states people are influenced by those around them. This might include friends and family, industry experts and influencers, or fifty-fifty internet strangers.

Social proof tin push customers who are on the argue well-nigh ownership a product to brand a purchase (or consider other alternatives). While there are many unlike forms of social proof (like influencer campaigns and company partnerships), customer reviews accept a special place in shoppers' hearts.

Retrieve about the last fourth dimension you tried a new restaurant. Or bought a vacuum. You lot probably looked for reviews online first, right? When because a purchase, people want first-hand perspectives from other people simply like them. While a famous influencer might catch their attention, experiences from peers are also important if you desire to convince them to buy .

Depending on the industry your business organization is in, client reviews might be peculiarly important because they help starting time a generally negative view of certain industries. For example, if you work in advertising, y'all've got a fleck of an uphill battle—only 23% of respondents surveyed in the Customer Communications Review said that ad agencies provided "very good" or "pretty expert" service, and advertisement agencies rank expressionless last in comparison to other major industries:

industry rankings customer service

9 customer review examples (and how to get more reviews)

Customer reviews come in many different forms. Including a few proficient ones on your website tin can improve your chances of winning more customers—who doesn't want that?

And anything you can do to get in as like shooting fish in a barrel for your happy customers to write those reviews for you will assist. For example, hither's a handy Mad-Libs-mode client review builder that you tin attach to your message or email to the client when yous're asking if they can write a review or testimonial for you:

DIY customer review builder

You tin can download this customer review template, along with examples of outreach communications, to help yous save a ton of time as you're gathering customer reviews 👇

Let'southward walk through the different kinds of customer reviews, starting with the easiest ones to collect.

i. Quotes

Testimonials or quotes from your customers are one of the almost common forms of customer reviews. You're virtually probable to find them on a company website, typically on the homepage, or in their marketing materials.

Here's an example of a quote testimonial from WordPress :

Quote testimonial from WordPress

These short (typically just one to two sentence) overviews of how your product or service impacted a company helps requite your make credibility. With quote testimonials, those impressive claims you're making actually sound believable considering they're backed upward by someone who'southward, well, not you lot.

We list customer quotes equally the easiest type of review to get because they involve very petty effort for you and your client. Considering you lot're in control of adding them to your website, all you need to exercise is ask your customers to share their experience in an email, in person, or over the phone.

Quotes also allow y'all to choose the neat customer service stories, perspectives, or opinions that y'all think are almost valuable. You can highlight your loftier-profile clients—and who says you take to apply the less-than-favorable reviews?

How to get a quote review:

Inquire for it. Call upwards your long-term customers and inquire if they'd be willing to share a testimonial or a scrap about their experience working with you lot to display on your website.

Or look for positive words of encouragement in e-mail and social media responses or everyday conversations. If a customer gives you a great quote, enquire if you tin can showcase it on your website.

You lot might be on multiple social media platforms, so how can you go on track of all these letters? If y'all're providing omnichannel client service, you lot might already be using a tool that can consolidate all your customer conversations and advice channels into one handy dashboard. Like this:

💡 Pro-tip:

To get awesome customer reviews, you need to provide awesome customer service, whether that's past focusing on proactive or agile customer service.

2. Peer review sites

Peer review sites are probably what you think of when you think of customer reviews. These include Google reviews, Facebook reviews, Yelp, Amazon, or G2 Oversupply (if yous're a software company).

You've probably encountered these kinds of reviews while you lot were deciding whether or not to endeavour a local business organisation for the start time:

Review about Kalaya Thai Kitchen

Reviews on peer-to-peer sites can happen organically, oft removing the company from the review procedure entirely. (This can be a nightmare if you're managing a small concern, since one bad review can have a huge bear upon, but this also makes the reviews seem more than authentic.) Customers don't need to worry well-nigh if companies have edited them to be more favorable (or deleted reviews they didn't agree with).

However, this also means you're not every bit in control of these kinds of reviews.

Simply that doesn't mean you lot can't practise anything at all. These peer-to-peer review sites are often ane of the first places a potential customer looks when considering a purchase, so ensuring you take some positive reviews on each is important.

How to get a review on a peer review site:

Once again, the best way to practise this is to ask. Ship an e-mail, ask in person, or add links to your website that get in easy for customers to leave their opinion.

three. Social media

Social media is condign simply as much a resource for businesses that want to build brand sensation equally it is for people who are interested in connecting with brands. But don't just your social media campaigns to become prospects. Not only are customers turning to social media to ask brands questions or learn about their services, they're also using their accounts to share opinions and reviews.

Hither'southward an instance from American Eagle'southward spin-off vesture line Aerie:

Customer asking a question through social media

Like peer-to-peer review sites, the company normally isn't involved in the review process—making them feel more than transparent and honest. But one of the biggest benefits of having reviews on social networks is that prospective customers can become a experience for who the customer is in means they can't with testimonials or peer-to-peer review sites.

How to go social media reviews:

Encourage client reviews on social media by creating communities where customers are empowered to share their experiences or purchases. For example, Aerie uses the hashtag #AerieReal to make it easy to meet how customers are styling their items in real life:

Customer reviews of Aerie using the hashtag #AerieReal

Create a unique hashtag to compile your client reviews in ane place.

4. Case studies

Instance studies dive deep into customer results and are specially useful for businesses selling to businesses (aka the B2B space).

Here'south an example of a case written report from RingCentral and our client Box :

RingCentral case study about Box

Example studies—unlike traditional client reviews—are written from the perspective of the company doing the work or providing the production. Rather than the customer explaining how they helped, the visitor walks through what they did to help their customer reach their goals.

This perspective gives potential customers an thought of how your team works. It gives you a gamble to show off your problem-solving skills and attention to particular, and it allows your potential client to envision how you might assistance them.

How to get case report reviews:

Write your ain! Exist sure to mix in quotes, results, and info from your customer to dorsum upwards your claims. Each example study should read like a partnership—not just a one-sided perspective.

5. Customer stories and interviews

Nosotros all love a proficient story—and that's probably clear in the review types that we've listed and then far. Customers want to see themselves in the people your company has already helped; they want to know what your customer feel is similar. One way to do this is through customer stories and interviews.

Squarespace is ane company that does this well:

Squarespace Stories and Interviews

Through stories and interviews, Squarespace shares who their customers are, what the vision or mission of their website is, and how Squarespace provides them with the platform to reach those goals.

For Squarespace, they get an opportunity to showcase how diverse their customer puddle is. But it gives customers an opportunity to connect with each other too. Similar to instance studies, stories and interviews pigment a larger picture of what the customer is hoping to accomplish—merely you have to be less self-centered here and make sure your client is the star of the story.

How to get client story-style reviews:

Stories and interviews give a more than personal perspective. Instead of hearing from your company, they're hearing stories straight from the customer. So, to get those stories, transport customers a questionnaire or old in-person interviews.

Give your customers an opportunity to share their stories, then focus on filling in the residue of the narrative with images, videos, and other content.

6. Blog posts

Blog post reviews requite your potential customer an opportunity to actually dig in deep into your product or service, and even your brand and culture every bit a visitor. Rather than simply a sentence or two like a customer might find on your website or a few hundred words displayed on a peer-to-peer review page, blog posts can exist thousands of words, complete with step-by-step instructions with images that thoroughly explain a process or perspective.

This is a great instance of a blog post review on Warby Parker :

Blog post review on Warby Parker

These kinds of reviews tin typically answer more complicated questions that crave more than space and time—something that isn't actually possible with traditional reviews.

But one of the biggest benefits of blog post reviews is the SEO value, meaning you tin can get these pages to prove upwards on Google when people are searching for reviews of your business organization. If you've ever searched for "[product] review," y'all've probably encountered a post like this before. Because these posts tend to exist descriptive, long-grade, and useful, they tin can rank pretty highly.

How to get blog post reviews:

Getting reviews like this one can be a little hard. After all, not anybody has a web log to write on. You lot tin can increment your chances by offering a complimentary sample or trial of your products or other goodies to industry influencers and experts who run popular blogs.

7. Videos

Consumers like videos. This isn't anything new. In fact, 85% of internet users in the Us say they watch video content—making it a strong contender as an outlet for your customer reviews2.

Shopify is one example of a visitor using video testimonials:

Shopify video testimonials

Video reviews can requite potential buyers something near written reviews tin can't: emotion.

Viewers can come across the difference your products or services have made. They can build a stronger connexion with your customers, making information technology easier to put themselves in their shoes. These deeper connections can spark more sales.

Creating videos doesn't need to be complicated. Customers sharing selfie-fashion videos talking nigh what your product has washed, or just stationed in front of a camera, can become the same message across.

While you want the image and audio to be articulate in the videos y'all share, the quality of the message is more important. If you have a customer willing to hash out on camera how you've helped them, this tin go a long fashion.

Here's some other video review of Shopify, this time from YouTube :

This one doesn't involve a lot of coin or production—just a user sitting in front end of his calculator camera giving his opinion of the tool. And it still has over 15,000 views.

How to get more video reviews:

If you have the budget for larger production projects you desire to feature on your website (similar our beginning example), attain out to the customers you think take the best story or video presence. If you're spending the coin, you're in control of the story.

However, to get more than reviews similar the second, treat it the same as web log postal service reviews. Reach out to industry experts who have big YouTube followings and offering free trials or discounted products in exchange for an honest review.

8. User-generated content

User-generated content includes social media posts, videos, images, audio, or other kinds of content created by—you guessed it—a user of your products or services. Some of the review types we've already covered would fall into this category (like social media posts or customer videos).

But user-generated content isn't only an online review or a customer sharing an image with your hashtag. That'due south just the start. Yous then need to take that content and apply it in a bigger, coordinated way.

Here'southward an example of how direct-to-consumer mattress brand Casper does information technology:

Casper User-generated Content

Similar the Aerie instance, Casper encourages users to share pictures using their products (in this case, sleeping on their mattresses) on social media. When someone tags Casper in their post, the prototype is added to a reel on their website.

They too share client posts on their own Instagram feed:

Casper's Instagram Feed

Dogs and babies do well on Instagram, haven't you heard?

User-generated content puts your customers' experiences front end and center. Although they're not exactly traditional reviews, prospective customers tin run across how happy others are with your products. Information technology helps build authenticity— something millennials love .

How to go more user-generated content:

This 1 follows the same tips equally social media reviews. Encourage your audience to share their experiences by creating a unique hashtag or tell them to tag y'all in their posts.

Then outset commenting, sharing, and engaging with your own audience. When your audition sees you showcasing other users' experiences or getting into conversations, they'll leap to get involved.

9. Brand ambassadors

Retrieve of make ambassadors equally an external sales squad. They're loyal customers who love your brand or product and then much they're willing to recommend your products or services to their own networks. The bonus with having brand ambassadors is that they're commonly seriously obsessed fans—and are probably more familiar with your product than even your own squad.

Brand ambassadors don't need to have large followings. In fact, anyone can be a make ambassador. You lot probably have brand ambassadors without even knowing information technology.

One of the best examples of brand ambassadors online is for the budgeting software, You Need a Upkeep (YNAB). Users are agile on platforms like Reddit , sharing communication on how the platform has changed their life for the ameliorate:

You Need a Budget (YNAB) online brand ambassadors

How to get more than brand ambassadors:

While you could pay for make ambassadors, you're better off creating them organically. In YNAB'south case, they did so by providing a unique spin to traditional budgeting software. Past helping customers who otherwise would have slipped through the cracks, they've created a loyal fan base.

It takes more than time to build make ambassadors naturally, simply this is a high-reward review since their advocacy will exist much, much stronger, directed, and in-depth than your boilerplate Yelp review.

How to respond to customer reviews

We've said it before and we'll say information technology again—your client reviews shouldn't exist in a vacuum.

If you're simply allowing customers to go out reviews on peer-to-peer pages, social media, or their own blogs without acknowledging them or responding to them, you're not making apply of powerful content that has been known to convert leads.

But your response procedure should expect different depending on if the review is positive or not.

How to respond to a positive review

Congrats! A client left you lot a positive review. Time to pop the champagne—and write a response.

Responding to a positive review is a lot less stressful than responding to something negative but just as important. Letting your happy customers know you've seen their kind words and you appreciate their feedback can encourage them to go on singing your praises.

Here's how to respond to positive reviews:

  1. Make your message personalized. Customers will quickly realize if you're just copying and pasting letters to all your reviews. Instead of giving a generic "Cheers!" have the time to write a idea-out, personalized message.
  2. Respond in a day or two. Fast responses show yous're paying attention. While y'all're non expected to drop everything to respond to reviews, a quick response—particularly on social media—can proceed customers engaged with your brand. Reduce your response time by integrating your social media apps with your cloud-based communications system. RingCentral connects with top social platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, then you can easily respond without needing to switch platforms.
  3. Show your personality. This is your hazard to engage straight with a happy customer, and so make the nigh of information technology. Answer with some personality—sense of humor, kindness, wit, y'all get the idea—to really connect with your client. Regardless of your make's personality, be authentic. Your audition volition exist able to tell if you're not.
  4. Give a recommendation. Now is a great fourth dimension to point your client in the direction of another production, a piece of content, or something related to their review. (This is a great manner to personalize your response!) For example, if they say they enjoyed a product, recommend they look into a supplementary project, or suggest they check out a blog mail service that tells them how to make the most of their purchase. Your primary goal is to keep them engaged!
  5. Enquire if you can showcase their review. If someone leaves you a particularly stellar or unique testimonial, ask for permission to share it! Display it on your website, show it off on social media, or create user-generated content out of it. Showing off the kind words of your happy customers is more than powerful than just telling people how awesome you are.

How to respond to a negative review

Negative reviews are much less heady than positive reviews. They can exist stressful, and responding can experience like a lost cause. But even the well-nigh unhappy customer can alter their opinion with the correct encouragement.

Responding to a negative review is a little less "just exist yourself" and a little more strategic:

  • Respond promptly. Again, yous may not demand to drop everything y'all're doing to answer, only it's more of import to get to negative reviews quickly than positive reviews. If a negative review is posted for also long without a response, not only is it frustrating for the unhappy customer, but it can also exit a bad taste in prospective customers' mouths. Do your best to go to negative responses in just a few hours.
  • Put the customer commencement. Yous may non concord with what the client is saying, but that doesn't mean you should be on the defensive. Instead, listen and come across where the customer is coming from—y'all have to identify where their frustration lies. Think about the response yous would want in their shoes and try and find a solution.
  • Reply publicly, but push the conversation to a private channel. Y'all don't want to become into a debate with an unhappy customer on Yelp, only y'all also don't desire it to seem like you're non acknowledging negative reviews. Respond to unhappy customers on the platform they've left the review on, but encourage them to continue the conversation through a individual message on social media, e-mail, or phone call.

If you lot have a phone or communications tool, information technology can make this part easier. For example, RingCentral integrates with other popular social media apps to allow you switch betwixt platforms while keeping the integrity of your conversations:

answering customer questions through RingCentral Engage Digital

(When frustrated customers don't have to repeat their bug over and over, it might assist soothe them a fleck and give y'all a meliorate shot at turning the interaction around.)

  • Follow through. Don't simply apologize and call it settled. In order to modify your customer's opinion, you need to discover a solution to their problem and follow through on information technology. Work with the customer to discover what volition change their opinion—and follow upward later to run into if y'all've been successful.
  • Don't get information technology taken downward. It can be tempting to go a negative review removed, simply it can hurt the trust yous've built with other customers—especially if that unhappy customer realizes they've been silenced. If yous respond the correct way, leaving the review up also proves to prospective customers that you care most your customers' opinions. Sometimes, an unhappy customer will even write a positive follow-upward review to show people that you actually turned things around for them:

Positive follow-up review from a customer

Replying to reviews (both positive and negative) appropriately means having open communication with your customers. Bringing reviews in equally part of your customer feedback cycle can help you place communication gaps or other areas where you're not meeting expectations.

What can you acquire from these customer review examples?

Asking your audition to buy from you lot without whatsoever reinforcement from other customers is an uphill battle. Without any reviews or social proof, y'all're expecting them to invest solely on bullheaded trust—and information technology doesn't work well.

Rather than making your job more hard, make the most of the happy experiences your customers choose to share. From peer-to-peer pages to your own website and social media accounts, showcasing positive reviews—and responding to negative reviews the correct fashion—can help you state more customers.


ithedrum.com/news/2017/03/27/online-reviews-touch on-purchasing-decisions-over-93-consumers-written report-suggests

twostatista.com/statistics/272835/share-of-internet-users-who-watch-online-videos

Originally published Feb 19, 2020, updated Feb 07, 2022