Discovering a new company has never been easier. When researching an idea or looking for inspiration, my first stop is Google search. More often than not, I find plenty of guidance from those who’ve gone before. Plenty of suggestions, warnings, and opinions — albeit from complete strangers — are always close at hand. This has become such a reliable method that it doesn’t matter if I’m looking for hotel recommendations, recipes, or “do-it-yourself” projects. And it turns out that I’m not alone. A BrightLocal survey found that “88% of consumers say that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”

Personally, I want to feel comfortable with a brand before purchasing and that is easy when they have a good reputation. I enjoy reading product reviews from other people and I’m rarely disappointed when I go through with a purchase that was recommended. Having happy, satisfied customers review your company and its products can have an enormous impact on business. In fact, “customers spend 31% more with a business that has ‘excellent’ reviews.”

Building up positive online reviews from your customers takes effort but Sogolytics can make it easy. The first step is setting up a process to identify people who’ve had a positive experience with your company. Start by identifying the best time to reach out to your customers — perhaps it’s right after they receive their purchase or interact with a member of your phone support team. You could send them a one question Net Promoter Score survey. The benefit of using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is that you can quickly capture data and identify which category your customer falls into based on their selection on a 0 to 10 scale.

Responses to a NPS question categorize customers as follows:

• Detractors: Customers who provide responses from 0 to 6. These respondents are less satisfied and are unlikely to have a positive impact on your organization. They are unlikely to recommend you and in some cases may even generate negative publicity about you.
• Passives: Customers who choose 7 or 8. These are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers. They may defect to competitors if they see any available benefits.
• Promoters: Customers who pick 9 or 10. These are your brand ambassadors, those you can consider your most loyal and satisfied customers. They are most likely to demonstrate positive behavior like referring new customers and spending more themselves.

When you use Sogolytics, you can set an alert to trigger based on a particular score. For example, if a participant scores as a Promoter, you might have the system send them an Instant Thanks email that asks them to write an online review, participate in a case study, or give a testimonial. Automating this process not only saves you time but also lets you catch customers in the perfect moment when they’re thinking good things about your brand.

The same workflow can apply to anyone who gives you a low score. For example, a Detractor (someone giving a 6 or below), might have an unresolved issue or negative experience with your company. Setting this alert lets you reach out to Detractors immediately, creating the opportunity to resolve their issues and potentially prevent them from writing a negative review or switching to your competitor.

Collecting this type of feedback and prioritizing customer reviews can have a significant effect on your brand’s reputation and how potential customers view your company. Use Sogolytics to identify smart shoppers and turn them into brand ambassadors. Schedule time with a survey expert and we’ll show you how to use NPS to help your company!