Two outstanding examples - but with very different stories (and experiences)

First let's look at a business that every single adult in the UK has used at one time or another: estate agency. 

This client had no reviews on it's own website when it joined, and this is what it looked like on Google...

Now? On its own website...

Nearly 700 reviews

And on Google...

One short of 500!

Now a very different kind of business: medical (women's health).

On joining HelpHound:

No Google reviews.

Today...

Both of these businesses, in their own ways, demonstrate success with reviews. 

Estate agency

Property transactions can often be fraught with so many complications. We all know the saying 'Next to death and divorce, moving house...'. And guess who, sometimes rightly and sometimes wrongly, gets the blame? That's right. In the heat of the moment, it's 'I don't care who caused the [insert problem causing blood pressure to rise] I'm blaming the agent'. 

This means that sensible estate agents need an independent agency such as HelpHound to moderate their reviews, otherwise, to be absolutely candid, they are not going to invite reviews at all, or they are going to flout the law and only ask 'dead cert' happy clients to post a review.

With HelpHound in place (intervening - moderating - pre-publication if someone posts a factually inaccurate or potentially misleading review), Winkworth Kingsbury has had the confidence to invite all its clients to post a review. And the results are there for all to see.

They have proven - in spades - that professional service businesses can compliantly engage with reviews, especially Google reviews, and their example should be followed by any service or professional business.

Medical

If you think there are confidentiality issues surrounding property transactions, you would be right. But how about women's health? When this clinic approached us their first question was 'How do you suppose our patients will react to being asked for a review?' Our answer was slightly more nuanced than our usual 'Most [customers/clients] welcome the opportunity, as long as the invitation email is carefully worded'. 

We stressed that the key was going to be to make sure...

• that patients understood from the outset that the request to write a review of the clinic was entirely optional

• having reassured them as to that 'optionality', to remind them just how helpful they had found the clinic's reviews when they were seeking medical advice about their own condition

We recommend you read this recent review, because it sends out such a strong message: the key points, as far as we are concerned, are...

• the reviewer has used their 'real' name. This gives reviews so much more credibility in the eyes of the reader
• interestingly the reviewer is a 'Google review novice', the only previous review (their first) was for an osteopath
• how reassuring would you find such a review if you were searching for this kind of service? 
• it is precisely the kind of thing that people rely very heavily on Google reviews for: intensely personal and private services
• it contains much useful detail - it's not the less helpful 'Great business' kind of review one gets when inviting reviewers by text rather than email

We reassured the practice that they did not need to ask every patient for a review, and that it would comply with the CMA regulations as long as their website allowed any patient to write a review.

Similarities - and the key difference

Let us first examine the similarities between these two businesses:

1. They are both professional service businesses
2. They both offer potentially life-changing services
3. They are both high value - in terms of both fees and potential impact - services

Now the key difference:

• While many - most - people are happy to discuss their property transactions with friends and colleagues, few are as willing to discuss or expose their most intimate medical experiences

This last point explains the difference in absolute number of reviews for the two services. The estate agency has proved year after year that our 50%/50% rule is achievable - that is: at least half of most professional and service business clients will write a review to that business's website and at least half of those will be willing to copy that review across to Google. 

In the case of the womens' health clinic those numbers are far lower, and understandably so. Still, the fact that they have accumulated over 40 reviews similar in tone and content to the one shown above proves the concept: a steady flow of great reviews, no matter how few, is achievable with sensitive professional review management and a partner such as HelpHound.

Conclusion

You will have come to your own, but if we may be so bold (and add our decade-plus of experience into the mix) we would suggest that these two examples show just how that experience adds value for each individual client.

The solution to reviews and review management can appear, to the outsider, to be one-size-fits-all, but it is far from it if it is to succeed over the long term.

Every business needs professional guidance to...

• decide the ideal time to approach customers for a review
• help draft the crucial email(s) inviting the review - not always as straightforward as may first appear
• ensure the correct links are used (and maintained) that enable the reviewer to go directly to write a review
• set achievable targets for its management and staff
• post the most effective responses to reviews (again, not always straightforward)
• enable HelpHound to mediate between the business and its customers in moderation
• sustain momentum in review gathering
• advise on the correct procedure should the business have occasion to appeal against a Google review

It is the Google schema that results in the business's score (and the 5 gold stars) being pulled directly from the business's own website into the business's search result in Google local search. Here it is working for a client - we know just how valuable this is in prompting clicks and calls because the link very occasionally fails for one or more clients and, believe us, they don't wait until 10 a.m. to call us!

• advise on the correct implementation and maintenance of the Google schema (see above)
• provide ongoing advice and training to our clients as and when required, including...
• staying abreast of UK legislation (the CMA's regulations and action against wrongdoers)
• staying abreast of Google's terms of service and its action against contravening businesses regarding reviews
• ensuring that clients' websites are optimised so Google 'sees' the reviews they host on their own websites