Earlier this month, my wife and I traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where we stayed at Casa Amorita, a charming little bed & breakfast in the historic downtown. Owner Rita Love is doing an outstanding job building her business through word of mouth marketing. If you want to create buzz for your business, there are lessons that you can learn from Rita and other savvy business owners who have discovered valuable ways to leverage customer testimonials.
Rita understands that the cornerstone of positive buzz is delivering a stellar customer experience. From the initial email communication to checkout, we felt as if she treated us like family. When we arrived, Rita offered us complimentary drinks and spent 30 minutes explaining all the nearby restaurants, sights, and excursions. Our room was spotless with beautiful ocean and town views. The common areas were immaculately swept and Rita's team of young employees delivered stellar service better than some luxury hotels where we've stayed. When we checked out, Rita made a point of saying goodbye to us personally.
Inflatable Toddler Travel Bed
Rita's three best sources of business are people who have stayed with her before, their referrals, and Internet users. She tells every guest upon checkout that Casa Amorita depends upon referrals from satisfied guests and asks them to post a review of her property on Trip Advisor which more than 20 million travelers use every month.
On my Buzz Builder Blog, I explain how my wife and I depend on online reviews to select where we'll stay. Since we started using these three years ago, we have never stayed in a bad hotel. In our opinion, online hotel reviews are better than travel books since they are more reliable - many travel books are not updated regularly and multiple opinions are better than one. It should be standard practice for all hoteliers to ask satisfied guests to submit Trip Advisor reviews upon checkout. Even better, why not print this request on the receipt or submit it with an online questionnaire sent to guests after their stay?
As I write this newsletter, there is a landscaper in my front yard carving out a spot for a spring flowers. I found him through Angie's List, one of the nation's leading home service review websites with more than 500,000 members in over 124 U.S. cities. He's doing a great job, but I'm not surprised. Over the past year, I've hired an electrician, sprinkler installer, plumber, and heater repairman relying solely on Angie's List referrals, and I've been very pleased with the quality and affordability of work.
The concept behind Angie's List is surprisingly simple. People trust word of mouth referrals more than advertisements. Yet, oftentimes we have nowhere to go when we need a referral because our friends haven't experienced the service we require. Or, we simply want to cast a wider net since our friends may not have any good referrals.
Both Trip Advisor and Angie's List work hard to maintain the integrity of their lists. Last week, I wrote a review of Casa Amorita on Trip Advisor yet it still hasn't posted since somebody must review it and make sure that it presents useful information and isn't from the establishment itself or one of its competitors.
Similarly, I was the first person to review a tree trimming company for Angie's List two weeks ago. I contacted a customer service representative to ask why my listing had not yet posted and he said that they were still reviewing the business which includes checking out the Better Business Bureau, customer opinions on the Internet, and the state licensing board. Also, like Trip Advisor, Angie's List will not post a review until it has been verified that the review is from a real member and not a business trying to pass off a phony review.
What sort of reviews are customers finding about your business when they go online? Two good places to check out are Google Local and Yahoo! Local, which control almost 75% of the Internet search market. Also, ask your customers what sort of customer review websites they frequent. A good way to discover this is via a free or low-cost online survey - my favorite for ease-of-use is SurveyMonkey.
The best place to direct customers to post online reviews will vary greatly from business to business but it's worth discovering since it's one of the most effective and least expensive ways to increase your credibility, visibility, and sales.