Don’t Turn a Positive Experience Negative by Asking for Reviews
I recently used the services of an email list cleansing company. No sooner had I done so than they began hounding me for a review on Trustpilot.
I’d only used their services one time so it’s not like they had a relationship with me. Rather than making me feel good about the company, it made me feel annoyed and irritated.
I ignored their ‘review begging’ emails assuming they’d desist.
As this company didn’t have a relationship with me, nor I with them, I didn’t feel invested so I found this easy to do.
Bombarded with begging emails
I was bombarded daily with emails offering a financial incentive to review this company’s service.
I eventually relented - not because of the financial incentive but:
to get them off my back
because I work in marketing and empathise with the importance of reviews. However, I was feeling considerably irritated by this stage and had lost respect for the company.
I wrote a brief review and gave a mark of 4 out of 5 stars (5 stars is the maximum score on Trustpilot). Although the service I’d received from the company was good, it wasn’t excellent so I based my score on that – and the subsequent bombardment!
I thought that would be the end of it, but no. That same day, I received an email from someone in the company’s marketing department asking why I’d not given them a 5-star review.
I was told my review wasn’t good enough
They pointed out that even though I’d said the service was fine, I’d not given a perfect score, Why?. They then asked what they could do to change my mind and demanded I log back in to Trustpilot and change my score.
I replied thus:
“Emails like this are counter-productive. It makes me feel I’m being cajoled into giving you a 5-star review when I’ve not been given or allowed to enjoy a five-star service. This suggests you care more about your company’s reputation than you do about me - your customer!
I’m an experienced marketing communications practitioner (been in the job over 30 years) and I know this to be a poor strategy. It just makes me feel bad about [your company].
I used your services and paid handsomely for that (which ought to be enough in its own right). Now I’ve gone to the trouble of leaving a review and instead of thanking me, you tell me it’s not good enough!
The reason I didn't give a 5-star score is because your service wasn’t perfect because of the persistent hounding afterwards to give your company a review!!
Having received your email I’d be happy to log back in to Trustpilot and change my score to a 1!!!”
I didn’t change my review score, and to be fair, the person replied and apologised.
This redeemed the situation a little but by then the damage had been done. I am unlikely to use or recommend the company again.
There are way more effective ways to get good reviews
It may seem harsh, everyone deserves a second chance right!? Wrong, not in business. When customers’ time is so scarce and your competitors are a mere click away, guaranteeing 5-star reviews without soliciting them is essential, so how do you that without begging, hounding, cajoling or incentivising?
Read 10 tips (and one rule) that will guarantee 5-star reviews online here….
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