Shout Blog

How to Use Shout to Get Better Customer Feedback and Improve Google Reviews

You work hard to earn prospective customers for your business. And when it comes time to make a sale, you work even harder to deliver the highest quality products and customer service that you possibly can. So why is it so difficult to translate that hard work into meaningful customer feedback and reviews once you’ve closed the deal?

Collecting feedback and generating reviews is vital to your business’ success. Here’s why:

When a consumer is unhappy, there’s a 91% chance they won’t do business with that company again.
Unhappy customers tell anywhere between 9–15 people about their negative experience with a company.
86% of consumers report a single negative experience as the reason to quit doing business with a company.
Good customer experiences lead 42% of consumers to purchase again.

Furthermore, close to 90% of consumers trust Google reviews just as much as personal recommendations and almost all consumers read online reviews before visiting a local business. Not all consumers, however, are as passionate about posting reviews of their own.

So how do you motivate your customers to take the time to tell you how you did instead of only telling their friends? You make it as easy for them as possible. Fortunately, Shout has all the features you need to do just that.

How to Use Shout to Improve Customer Feedback and Get More Reviews

Collecting customer feedback may sound simple but it can actually create major challenges for teams or individuals who don’t have time to contact each customer individually. What’s worse, online platforms that promise to help businesses generate reviews are usually expensive and often aren’t the best tool for generating relevant feedback.

Luckily, Shout makes it simple to engage directly with every customer after you’ve made a sale. Here’s how:

Create a conversation bot. This bot will interact with your customers and perform automated actions based on how they respond. Click here for instructions on how to create a new bot.
Set the bot to send a message to a customer one day after you’ve completed a service or delivered a product. Whether you run a nail salon or sell vintage clothing, asking for feedback in a timely manner is essential. The longer you wait, the less likely your customers are to engage.
Write an initial message asking your customer to rate their experience on a scale of 1–5. (And don’t forget to thank them for their business!) Here’s an example you can copy and paste:
“Hey Mandy! Thank you so much for shopping my story sale last week. I noticed that your t-shirt was delivered yesterday and I wanted to follow up and see how you’re liking it! On a scale of 1–5, how would you rate your order?”
Set your bot to respond to a customer rating of 1–4 with a follow-up question asking them to provide a few more details and give suggestions on how you can improve. This approach meets customers wherever they are and enables them to provide honest feedback in a non-intimidating manner. In turn, you’ll be able to gather important information that could make or break your next sale. Here’s an example you can use:
“Thanks for the feedback! I’m eager to hear how I can improve your experience in the future. What could I have done to help you feel more satisfied?”
Set your bot to respond to a customer rating of 5 with a link to leave a review for your business on Google. This creates a straightforward, seamless experience for satisfied customers who may not otherwise think to leave a review for you on Google. Here’s an example you can use:
“That’s great to hear! I’m working hard to grow my business and a review from you would be incredibly helpful. Could you take 2 minutes to leave me a review on Google? *link*”

David Dance, the owner of Forterra Pest Control in Dallas, Texas, took this approach and increased both the amount and quality of feedback his employees receive after completing a service call.

“Instantly reaching out in a non-invasive way has made it way more likely that we actually receive valuable feedback from customers,” David said.

Before Shout, Forterra only received feedback when customers had major issues or wanted to cancel their service. Now, after setting up a Shout bot, the team is able to immediately address customers’ concerns before they escalate into bigger problems.

“Shout helps us do right by our customers because we can be proactive and get to the bottom of issues,” David said. “It allows us to nip problems in the bud, especially things some customers might not specifically call us about.”

You can take the same approach David did and start getting better customer feedback today. To download and start using Shout, click here.

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