Asking for reviews.

and giving incentives?

[jake66]

A lot of the popular review sites frown upon paying for positive reviews; which is understandable.

But what about giving incentives (like free shipping) for them to write a review WITHOUT pushing them for a positive? (Something like 'review us and get free shipping for your next order'... no "gimmie a positive" pitch at all)

I'm having a hard time getting my customers to want to write a review about my site, because they are lazy or don't want to register to these review sites.

What's the best way to get someone (other than those that are upset with you, of course) to review your shop?

[JoGonRu]

I like your idea for free shipping and most importantly, not asking for a postive response. As you are finding, whenever something goes wrong, a customer will tell 10 people. If something goes as expected, they will most likely not say anything. Usually, it is only when expectations are surpassed, that the customer will leave a testimonial, or refer a friend.

Perhaps you can include a promotion code for free shipping or a discount on their next order, with the item receipt, along with a link to the review site (or yours if you have that functionality built in).

Thank them for their business and then add "the kindness of a short review of our store/site is the best compliment you can give"

[QualityNonsense]

I've had a similar dilemma recently: how to prompt honest reviews. I'm still finding my feet here, but have started pointing out in black and white what I am looking for.

In my case, that means explaining we want honest reviews, not merely compliments, and spelling out what is useful information for other users - as well as explaining that positive/negative comments are only valuable if you can elaborate *why* you love/hate a product or service.

[jake66]

Do any of you think that offering a coupon code for a review (no pushing for positives) could be considered a pay off to these review sites?

I've checked their TOS & FAQ, they're all pretty vague about this aspect.

I just don't want my site ending up plastered all over the web as somebody that "pays for" reviews, like what happened to that cellphone place recently.

[QualityNonsense]

I was about to start offering gift cards for every published review, positive or negative. I don't see why anyone could take issue with that. Interested to hear what I am missing :)

[jake66]

QualityNonsense, I was thinking about offering incentives too.. but that article about the cellphone place pretty much stopped me dead in my tracks.
That's certainly NOT the type of publicity I want for my shop.

Let me know what you think of it!

[QualityNonsense]

Having read the two case studies you describe, I have no reservations offering incentives for reviews.

These companies appear to be nakedly manipulating others' review systems (eg, bribing for good Amazon reviews).

Whereas I believe we are discussing legitmately encouraging users to dedicate their time to writing reviews.

I think the answer to doing so without giving the appearance of impropriety is to be open with users about what you are doing and why, and spelling out what is and isnt acceptable (ie, negative reviews are fine, defamatory reviews are not fine).

I'm going ahead with my plans to incentavize users later this month. I'll let you know how I get on.

Doubtless I'll know soon enough is I have misjudged!

[edited by: QualityNonsense at 7:13 am (utc) on April 9, 2009]

[JoGonRu]

I think you both will be just fine offering an incentive for a review, so long as they are free to review as they wish.

Good Luck!

[jake66]

Thanks for the inputs guys, I'm going to ahead and offer incentives too, without trying to sway their review content one way or the other.

[dickbaker]

As I mentioned in another thread on this forum, I send an email to every customer after he/she places an order, thanking them for their order and letting them know when it will ship and when they can expect it. I follow that up with an email after the delivery asking them if everything arrived as expected, and if they're happy with the product. I also ask them to email me back if possible.

I they do email me back, I send them an email in which I ask them to submit a review of my store to reselerratings. I don't ask them to submit a positive review, but I do offer them 5% off any future purchase just for submitting a review.

I've had customers who had backordered products or problems with deliveries post reviews. The reviews weren't negative about me, though, as they were impressed with the attention I gave the problem.

Long story short, I don't see incentives as an issue as long as you're not asking them to only write a positive review.

[jake66]

dickbaker, how do you avoid the spam filters by emailing every customer? Do you limit the messages per hour or customize them in some fashion?

In the past, just by sending newsletters to my opt-in customer I ended up hitting the auto-filters on some major ISPs (hotmail, most notably).

[dickbaker]

jake66, I don't get dozens of sales per day, so there's not enough emails going out to trip spam filters. It does happen every so often, though, and the customer emails me with a "why haven't you contacted me yet?" question. I then call the customer, read the email I sent him, and he sheepishly says, "oh, yeah. The email is here in my spam box."