Loading...

Online Reviews and a Bunny

Posted 16 March By Hanju LeeOnline ReviewsNo Comments

Online Reviews and a Bunny

My daughter wanted a bunny. Christmas was coming up and she just couldn’t stop talking about it. She was doing some intense research on what type of bunny she wanted and where to get it. We were very hesitant. We didn’t know anything about bunnies and we knew eventually, we’d be taking care of it. So, we acted as though we weren’t interested in getting her a bunny for Christmas. We were so believable that she eventually stopped talking about it and moved on. She was sad.

Well, Christmas came and the last present left under the tree was a large gift bag. My daughter slowly walked over to it in her PJ’s and looked in. She screamed and immediately cried. Tears of joy flowed down her cheeks, she picked up and showed us the most adorable, furry bunny you’ve ever seen. It was a lop-eared bunny that she wanted and she named her…wait for it…Bunny.

I wanted to share that story before I got to what happened next. The Bunny loved our carpet. It had no flavor but she just loved chewing it up. Not sure why – is this what Bunnies do? Well, to make the long story somewhat short, we went online to look for a carpet repair company.

I don’t know about you but I know nothing about carpet repair. I don’t know what it takes, how much it costs and how they even do it. Where do they get the matching carpet to patch? How in the world do they repair what a cute little lop-eared bunny called Bunny has destroyed? So I immediately clicked on different carpet repair companies and started reading the reviews. 

Do you do that too or is it just me? I clicked on companies with the most reviews and somehow felt that they seem to have social proof that they actually know what they are doing and are doing it well. They must be better than others since they have more reviews! Do you think like that too? I know having a lot of reviews doesn’t tell the whole story but they kinda do for me. Also, reading the reviews reveals so much about the company. How they work, their customer service, their culture, punctuality, friendliness, even what types of mistakes they make and what to look out for. Personal, legit reviews that people took time to write gave me enough confidence to make a call for carpet repair.

The company I chose was very responsive to my inquiry and answered all my questions quickly. When the repair was complete, he did something that I’ve never had anyone do. He sent me a before and after photo that he took of the repair. And then, he kindly asked me to write him a review if I was satisfied with his work. I told him Yes, since I am an entrepreneur myself and I know how important Marketing is. Of course, I would!

But then, I forgot. Life got busy and I quickly forgot my assignment. Something I actually would have loved to have done since I know the value of the reviews and that he did a great job…and I wanted to help him grow his business. 

I got a text from him a week later gently reminding me of the review request. It wasn’t annoying, it was actually perfect timing and prompted me to write him an awesome review with the before and after a photo he sent me. 
So, what did I learn? Two very important things about Marketing:

  • Reviews matter. It matters a lot. Social proof is king. In fact, last year, 93% of customer read online reviews before hiring a service or buying a product. I know this is true because I do it myself. And I know you do too.
  • Reviews don’t just happen by chance. There needs to be an internal process and flow that prompts your customers to write and makes it easy for them. If they are like me, they’ll also need to be reminded.

So, back to the Bunny. Was she the cutest bunny ever? Yes. Was my daughter the luckiest and the happiest little girl? Yes. Were we the best parents ever? Yes. Did we end up taking care of the bunny? Yes.

The real moral of my bunny story is, I honestly think this online review thing has got some bite to it. I think if we do it right, it can truly affect the way we engage with customers and exponentially grow our business at the same time. Journey with me with this online review series, I have so much more to share. 

No Comments (0)

Leave a Comment

 Previous  All works Next