How to turn happy customers into reviews, referrals and recommendations

I think most of us realise that one of the best people to promote your business isn’t you, it’s a happy customer.

You can tell people how good your products or services are, but it’s naturally more convincing when somebody who has actually bought from you says it.

Reviews, recommendations and referrals can help potential customers trust you before they’ve even spoken to you – and they don’t necessarily cost anything.

Annoyingly though, even very happy customers won’t always think to tell other people about you unless you make it easy for them.

Here are some things you can do to encourage them.

1. Give people something worth recommending

This sounds obvious, but customer recommendations start with the experience you give them. Doing a good job is important, but think about the things people particularly remember.

It might be how quickly you responded, how clearly you explained something, solving a problem they weren’t expecting you to solve, meeting a tight deadline or just making the whole process easier than they expected.

Those are often the things people mention when they recommend a business to somebody else.

Think about what you’d like customers to say about you – then make sure their experience gives them a reason to say it.

2. Ask for reviews

If a customer tells you they’re pleased with what you’ve done, that’s a very good time to ask if they’d mind leaving you a review.

Google reviews can mean potential customers can see them when they find your business in Google Search or Google Maps.

Depending on your type of business, reviews on Facebook, industry websites or other relevant websites can be good too.

You can make it easier by sending the customer a direct link to the place where you’d like them to leave the review.

A brief message such as this can be enough “I’m really pleased you’re happy with it. If you have a couple of minutes, would you mind leaving me a Google review? It really helps.”

3. Don’t tell people what to write

You want genuine reviews, not a collection of suspiciously similar five-star comments. Let customers use their own words.

If somebody doesn’t know what to say, you can give them a little guidance by suggesting they mention things such as what you helped them with, what the experience was like and the difference it made.

Specific reviews are generally much more useful to potential customers than a boring “Great service!”.

4. Use your reviews on your own website

Don’t leave all those lovely comments sitting on Google, add them to your website too.

You might include:

• a selection of reviews on your homepage
• relevant testimonials on individual service pages
• reviews alongside examples of your work
• a dedicated reviews or testimonials page

Think about where somebody might need reassurance rather than simply putting every testimonial in one place.

For example, a testimonial from somebody who used your website design service is useful on your website design page.

5. Turn good results into case studies

A testimonial tells somebody that a customer was happy, but a case study can show them why.

It doesn’t have to be several pages long, it could just explain:

• who the customer was
• what they needed help with
• what you did
• what changed as a result
• what the customer said about it

If you have measurable results, that’s even better!

Case studies are particularly useful because potential customers can recognise situations similar to their own.

6. Make it easy for people to recommend you

People often recommend businesses in conversations that you’re never going to see.

Someone asks a friend, colleague or business contact: “Do you know anyone who can help me with…?”

You want your name to come to mind. That’s another reason to be clear about what you do. If customers don’t fully understand the range of services you provide, they may not realise when there’s an opportunity to recommend you.

Keep in touch occasionally and remind existing customers what you can help with – but don’t constantly try to sell to them.

7. Ask for referrals when the time is right

There’s nothing wrong with asking a happy customer if they know somebody else who might benefit from what you do. The timing matters though.

It’s much easier and more natural after you’ve delivered something they’re genuinely pleased with than appearing out of nowhere and asking them to find you some business.

You don’t need an elaborate referral scheme either. Saying something like “If you know anyone else who needs help with this, I’d really appreciate you passing my details on” is enough.

8. Stay in touch after the work is finished

One of the easiest ways to miss referrals and repeat business is to disappear as soon as you’ve finished the job.

Depending on your business, you could keep in touch through:

• an occasional email newsletter
• LinkedIn
• social media
• inviting them to relevant events

The aim isn’t to bombard people with marketing – it’s to stay in their minds so that when they – or somebody they know – need what you offer, they remember you.

9. Give customers something useful to share

Recommendations don’t always have to be a direct “You should use this company”.

Useful content can give customers and contacts another reason to mention or share your business. That could be a helpful blog article, checklist, guide, video, template or piece of advice.

If somebody sends one of your downloads to a colleague, your business has just been introduced to a potential new customer without you having to approach them.

That’s one of the reasons I think genuinely useful website content is still so valuable.

10. Share what your customers say about you

Reviews and testimonials can also provide useful content for social media. Rather than just creating a graphic containing five stars and a quote, you can sometimes give the comment a bit of context.

What did you help the customer with – what problem were they having and what was the result?

This turns the review into a small example of the work you do rather than just you telling everybody somebody said something nice about you.

11. Don’t forget existing customers when you’re looking for new ones

It’s very easy to concentrate all your marketing effort on finding people who have never heard of you. Meanwhile, you may already have a group of customers who know you, trust you and would happily use you again or recommend you.

So when you’re thinking about where your next customer might come from, don’t automatically assume you need another advertising campaign, more social media followers or more website traffic. Sometimes the best place to start is with the people you’ve already done a good job for.

Make it part of your marketing

Reviews, referrals and recommendations can easily become something you think about occasionally rather than an actual part of your marketing. But it helps to build a simple process.

Something like this:

• finish the work
• check that the customer is happy
• ask for a review
• ask permission to use particularly useful feedback
• consider whether the work would make a good case study
• stay in touch afterwards

None of this needs to be pushy. If you’ve done a good job, you’re just making it easier for happy customers to help other people find you.