One of the things I do every so often to keep myself motivated in sales is to read through my customer reviews. I have been in sales for 16 years now and the best feeling for me as a professional salesperson is to receive a genuine, positive customer review. Of course the relationship you build with your clients is rewarding, as is closing the sale and knowing they now own your product, and that they were willing to put their trust in you. However, when someone takes the time out of their busy lives to write a review for you, to me that's really special!

Recently my wife and I purchased a home and I had the opportunity to be on the other side of the sales process for once. As a salesperson I am usually the one following up with my customers to make sure they are happy with their decision and asking for a review. I learned a number of things while in the shoes of the customer that will really help me increase my personal reviews, and I now have an even greater appreciation for customer reviews.

Our Customers are busy but they want to write Us a Review!

I was very happy with how our Agent and Mortgage Planner handled everything during the entire process. The individual and personalized service they offered along the way, and the attentiveness and availability they offered was excellent. For me writing a positive review for both of them was a no brainah!

But I just moved into a new home and I was BUSY!

Of course I got around to leaving both of these professionals a Positive, Genuine, Thoughtful Review on the platform of their choice, Zillow. But it took me about a week or more to find the time to really sit down and give each review some thought, and then compose it in a way that reflected our feelings to someone else who would eventually be reading it.

Here's a couple points I took away from this process...

1. I was a week or so out from the purchase day, but still close enough where things were still exciting and fun so the timing for a positive review was still very good!
2. I received an email asking for a review, which made it easy for me to click a link and go right to a review page... no hunting around on my own.
3. Because I received what I believed was great service and my wife and I were happy with our new home, I felt Obligated to write a review and it stayed on my mind until completed.

So salespeople, be sure to send out an email reminder to your customer post sale, or if you have their permission text them a link to your review page and make it easy for them to do this for you. Customers do want to leave reviews about their positive experience with you, they just get busy with life like we do and procrastinate! Be sure to follow up, it's estimated that 92% of consumers now read online reviews and 68% of consumers say positive reviews make them trust a business more!

Source: Article by Khusbu Shrestha on Vendetta.com

Let your customers know where you want the Review left, and make it Easy!

As I mentioned above it was easy for me to leave a review because I received an email with a link taking me right to a review page on Zillow. This was clearly where my Agent and Mortgage Planner wanted their reviews left so I didn't have to ask them. Remember, most customers aren't even going to think about asking and probably will leave you a great review but on a platform that gets little exposure or has much less impact.

I'm assuming a Facebook post tagging them or a Google + review wouldn't have been as beneficial to these ladies as a review on Zillow was. It's no different for you or me, for instance being in the car business myself there are certain review sites that are more helpful to receive reviews on than others.

BUT don't get me wrong, I love ALL reviews no matter where they come from!

So make sure you take the responsibility for this and not leave it up to your customer, they have enough to worry about. Make it easy not only for your customer to write a review, but ensure it's written on the platform that benefits you the most for what you sell!

When customers have a great experience they write Raving Reviews!

The last point I want to make and probably what I took away most from the whole customer experience was very simply that if you create a great experience for people they will write raving reviews about you. You can always tell whether someone is just writing a review because they were asked, or because they are genuinely happy to express their appreciation for the experience and service they received.

Focus on bringing more value to the table than expected, this is something that both our Agent and Mortgage Planner did. Whether it was giving us more information than we asked for to ensure we were comfortable, or making unusual hours or days for showings possible to accommodate our schedules, they created an awesome experience by bringing massive value to the table in the form of service.

As Grant Cardone say, "Give, Give, Give!"

So be sure to focus on the experience you create for your customers and the level of service you offer them. Look to bring a ton of value, more than expected. Over promise and Over deliver! Ask for reviews with every single customer and remember that people are busy just like you and I, so make it easy and follow up.

Keep these points in mind and you'll have Raving Fans writing you some awesome reviews!