Online reviews are one of the best ways for your business to increase trust with potential customers and show that your company is legitimate and worthy of a customer’s hard-earned money. Studies have shown that over 80% of retail shoppers conduct research online before they buy a product, stressing the importance of online reviews.

Unfortunately, many businesses struggle with encouraging customers to leave online reviews once a purchase has been made. It’s common for customers to move on after a purchase has been made, forcing businesses to get creative when it comes to engaging buyers to leave positive reviews. Thankfully, online solutions have made it easier for businesses to get customer reviews on Google, Facebook, and other platforms.

**The importance of online reviews for your business
**In order for your business to stand out from the crowd and appear as a viable alternative to competitors, it’s important that you be able to show that customers have been satisfied with your services in the past. Online reviews are the most direct way to show this level of satisfaction to potential buyers. Many customers use reviews from other people as one of the primary factors in their purchase decision.

Having many positive reviews can show that customers have been extremely satisfied by a business’s offerings, thereby increasing their chances of also being satisfied by your offerings. The opposite is true with businesses with many negative reviews (or no reviews at all), making customers feel as if they can’t trust the business in question, warning them that their chances of being satisfied with purchase are very low. In order to reduce the chances of a potential customer giving their business to a competitor, your online reviews need to show customers that they can, and should, trust you.

**Get customer reviews and stand out from the crowd
**Even the smallest increase in positive reviews on Google can put you at the top of the list when potential customers are searching for a business that meets their needs. While you likely know that your business needs reviews to succeed, you probably don’t know to get them quickly and consistently. That’s where Podium comes in. Podium is an interaction management solution for local businesses that makes improving your online reputation easy, helping you request and receive customer feedback and reviews like never before.

Getting reviews with Podium is as simple as sending a text, letting you instantly request a quick review from your customer – all a customer has to do is accept your request and write a review. If you don’t want to text, you can use email, although Podium’s research shows that texts have a much better uptake. With these simple steps, you can sit back and start watching the reviews roll in on the platforms that matter most to you. In no time, your business will be at the top of search engine results, having easily gained positive reviews without inconveniencing your customers. Higher listings mean more traffic to your website, calls to your customer service team, and increased revenue for your business. It’s that simple. Podium can also be integrated with Zoho, letting you know every time a customer leaves a review and assigning it to their unique customer record.

**Zoho One makes customer satisfaction easier than ever before
**In order for your business to stay on top of customer satisfaction and more effectively encourage reviews, you need to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. The key to avoiding negative reviews is to communicate with your customers – when you see trouble on the horizon, the best way to tackle it head-on. Unsatisfied customers will generally attempt to email, call, or contact you on social media prior to leaving a review – it’s crucial that you’re able to communicate with them effectively to avoid these bad reviews. For that to happen, you need to stay ahead of social media channels and interactions with customers.

Zoho One keeps you in the loop so you can keep customers satisfied and avoid letting things slip through the cracks. Using Zoho CRM, your business can easily create custom rules that assign customer emails to the right representative, allowing your team to address concerns head-on with a focus on resolving issues and avoiding bad reviews. A Zoho Advanced Partner like ion8 can help you automate workflows to ensure that customers in your CRM are automatically asked for reviews, increasing the chances that satisfied customers give you their feedback. Integrations with social media platforms also mean that your team can handle interactions from the comfort of their CRM.

Zoho Social can be used to monitor every social media interaction your business has with customers and potential buyers, offering a savvy monitoring dashboard to keep you up to date on every interaction customers have with your brand, ensuring that nothing is missed. Social can be used to create meaningful relationships between your company and its customers, letting your team address concerns as soon as they’re expressed by customers.

ion8 is a Zoho Advanced Partner with a full team of business technology experts who are ready to help your business stand out from the crowd and thrive. For more information on everything that ion8 can do for your business, including Zoho and Podium, contact us today.