Why Your Google Reviews Are Not Showing Up

by | May 6, 2020 | Review Rules, Reviews

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Why Your Google Reviews Are Not Showing Up

We occasionally receive calls from business owners telling us that their Google reviews are not showing up. Most of these calls are from businesses that are not using the Five Star Review System to generate Google reviews, but found us on the Internet.

This is usually a temporary issue and seems to correspond to times when Google makes updates to their own system. Reviews generally show up within a few days. Google typically shows reviews immediately.

Why Aren’t My Google Reviews Showing Up?

It’s frustrating to get a notification from the system indicating that one of your customers clicked on your Google link, only to discover when you go there, that you can’t find their review. Here are the top four reasons why you may not see a review on Google:

Your Customer Did Not Write A Review

Don’t assume that when a customer goes to Google from the system that they actually wrote a review. The system shows you what review site link they clicked on, but it can’t tell you if they actually wrote a review or not.

If you don’t see a review, the most likely scenario was that your customer didn’t have a Google account and was immediately confronted with a request to set one up. Most non-Google users stop right there, not because creating a Google account is hard to do, because it’s not. They don’t create a Google account because they don’t want to provide Google with their date of birth, gender and other information that is required to create an account. The single biggest reason you will not see a review on Google is because your customer never wrote it.

If you’re seeing a lot of people going to Google from the system and very few reviews showing up, it’s generally an indication that someone in your office is asking customers to write reviews on Google specifically, rather than allowing them to choose the review site from your list. You can stop this by not trying to direct people to any one specific site.

Your Customer Used Bad Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Content, etc.

Google filters a small percentage of reviews based on things like grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. If you want to learn more about this, please read my article entitled Another Reason Google Filters Reviews. I’ll show you why Google filtered three of my reviews and what I had to do to get them to show up publicly. The only people able to see filtered reviews are the Google users who wrote them. Google does not show the business owner filtered reviews.

If you’re completely persuaded that your customer wrote a review and you can’t see it, you can ask your customer to go to their personal Google Plus account (where they will be able to see their review if they actually wrote it) and make the necessary content changes to their review so that Google will release if for public viewing.

Your Customer Wrote A Review But Google Is Delaying Showing It

Google has been known to delay showing a review for up to three days. An indication that a review is being delayed is text on your Google Plus page that indicates that you have 8 reviews but you only see 7 of them. Often the 8th review will show up in a few days.

I have no idea why Google delays some reviews and shows other immediately. It happens, but not very often.

How Do You Know If A Customer Actually Wrote A Review On Google?

Most of us want to believe that our customer took the time to write a review for us (because they told us they would) and we blame Google for filtering it. But that’s usually not the case. It is true that Google does filter reviews for the reasons listed above but in most cases your customer just decided that the process of leaving a review was too difficult.

The Businesses With The Most Reviews Have These 7 Things In Common

1

They provide service worthy of a 5-star review.

2

They verbally ask their customers if they will write a review.

3

The person with the most intimate relationship with the customer is the person who asks for the review.

4

They make it easy for their customers to find their review websites.

5

They provide multiple review websites to choose from and never send customers to any one particular review site.

6

They send their review request while their customer is is with them and watching them send it.

7

They send an Off-The-Hook Review Reminder to their customers who did not write a review.

Getting Google Reviews – Best Practices

by | Feb 27, 2020 | Reviews

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Getting Google Reviews – Best Practices

After sending millions of review requests via text and email, we’ve made some very interesting discoveries about the businesses that have gathered hundreds and even thousands of Google reviews and referrals through the Five Star Review System. Here are the 8 most important things you can do to get reviews and referrals for your business.

Ask a lot of customers to write reviews and ask at the peak of their happiness

If you’re waiting for your customers to express their happiness before you ask them to write a review, you’re missing out. Take initiative and ask when they’re at the peak of their happiness.

If you’re unsure about how happy your customers are with your service, ask: “How did everything go today?”, “Were you happy with how everything was handled?”, or “Is there anything else I can do for you before you go?”. There are hundreds of different ways to discover if your customer is happy with your service.

The more cutstomers you ask to write a review, the more reviews you’re going to get.

Make sure that the person who asks for the review is likable and confident

Attitude is everything. If your customers don’t like you or see you as indifferent, they are highly unlikely to write a 5-star review for you. On the other hand, if they like you because you made them feel: comfortable, listened to, important, smart, and worthy of your time and attention, they’ll go out of their way to write a 5-star review for you.

Don’t just ask. Ask like you mean it. When your customer knows how important their publicly visible, honest and genuine assessment of your business is to you, they are far more likely to honor your request. If you ask like you don’t really care one way or the other, your customer won’t care either.

Attitude is everything. If your customers don’t like you or see you as indifferent, they are highly unlikely to write a 5-star review for you. On the other hand, if they like you because you made them feel: comfortable, listened to, important, smart, and worthy of your time and attention, they’ll go out of their way to write a 5-star review for you.

Don’t just ask. Ask like you mean it. When your customer knows how important their publicly visible, honest and genuine assessment of your business is to you, they are far more likely to honor your request. If you ask like you don’t really care one way or the other, your customer won’t care either.

Ask for reviews on Google specifically…and explain why you’re asking

The Five Star Review System allows you to send your customers to any review site you want (excluding Yelp due to their review policy). If you provide customers with multiple review site choices, like Facebook or Direct To Us, they may attempt to review you on those sites rather than on Google. You need to make it clear that you would like for them to review you on Google.

It’s a great idea to have additional review sites available for customers who can’t or don’t want to write a Google review. Your goal is to get everyone to try to write a review on Google rather than leaving a review on another site. If your customer likes you and knows that writing a review on Google is important to you, they’ll take the time and make the effort to review you on Google.

And here’s a bonus tip. If you explain why you’re asking your customer to write a review for you on Google, no matter what the reason, they’re up to 30% more likely to do so. “The reason I ask, is because when you write a review on Google, it gives others an opportunity to learn about our business through your experience.”

Let customers know that you’re looking forward to reading their comments

This is probably the easiest thing you can do to increase your reviews by 20% and it only takes 4 seconds. When a customer knows that you (or your boss) are looking forward to reading their comments, they’re far more likely to write a review because they don’t want to let you down.

“Thank you for offering to write a review for us on Google Gary. I’m really looking forward to reading your comments and I know the owner is too.”

ALWAYS send the review request by email…and sometimes by text too

You’ll find the reason for this fascinating. You may have read the headline above and thought it was written 10 years ago, but here we are, in the year 2018 and email is still king when it comes to getting Google reviews. How can I make this statement with such confidence? Because I see the results of our subscribers, who have sent millions of both email and text requests.

The Five Star Review System allows you to send a review request to your customer by text, email or both.

You’ll find the reason for this fascinating. You may have read the headline above and thought it was written 10 years ago, but here we are, in the year 2018 and email is still king when it comes to getting Google reviews. How can I make this statement with such confidence? Because I see the results of our subscribers, who have sent millions of both email and text requests.

The Five Star Review System allows you to send a review request to your customer by text, email or both.

When you send a request by text, your customer will immediately get your text message. Unfortunately, even though almost everyone will open your text message right away, they’ll probably not be in a position to write a review…and many customers will not remember to come back to your text when they have the time to respond. This is why we call texting One-And-Done. You usually get only one shot at a review when you send a request via text only.

 

When you send a request by email, you immediately have a huge advantage. The vast majority of your customers will get your email just as quickly on their phones, and they’ll also be able to open it on their computers, where it’s even easier to write a review.

However, as with a text message, not everyone will be in a position to write a review as soon as they open your email. But there’s one big, review-getting difference when you send your request by email (or email and text) and your customer does not respond immediately. The system will send them an email reminder which generates 30% more reviews.

The reminder is not sent when you send a request by text only and that will reduce your Google reviews by 30%. This is a BIG deal.

The best and most effective way to get Google reviews is to ALWAYS get verbal permission to send the request by email and then (and only then) say: “I can send the request to you by text too. Would you like for me to do that?”

Never assume that it’s OK to text everyone. Some customers consider texting private and will view unsolicited texts as pushy or intrusive.

The second reason to send your request by email has to do with your flyer. To take advantage of this wonderful referral tool, you must send your review request by email (or email and text). The system does not send marketing materials to your customers by text as that is still considered bad form. Your customer will only receive your digital flyer, to share it with family and friends, if you email the request.

To get the most Google reviews and referrals, ALWAYS send your request by email and include a text request only if your customer does not have an email address or if he/she indicates that they want it by text too.

Send requests while your customer is with you

ALWAYS send a review request while your customer is standing in front of you or while you’re on the phone with them. Nothing will have a bigger impact on the number of Google reviews you generate than this one tip. Send your requests while you’re engaged with your customers and they are 4 times more likely to write a review. Let that number sink in for just a minute. It will increase the number of customers who will leave a Google review by 400%!

ALWAYS send a review request while your customer is standing in front of you or while you’re on the phone with them. Nothing will have a bigger impact on the number of Google reviews you generate than this one tip. Send your requests while you’re engaged with your customers and they are 4 times more likely to write a review. Let that number sink in for just a minute. It will increase the number of customers who will leave a Google review by 400%!

The people getting the most “Referrals” ask for them

The Five Star Review System does an amazing job of helping you generate reviews on sites like Google but its ability to acquire referrals is even more impressive.

If you want to take full advantage of your system, take an extra 10 seconds to ask your customer if you can send them your digital flyer to share with their family and friends. You’re not going to ask everyone, but you certainly want to ask any customer who is gaga over your service.

Once you start using the referral tool properly, you’ll quickly discover that it’s way more valuable in terms of generating new business than even Google reviews.

Call customers immediately to thank them for writing a review

If you really want to supercharge the sharing of your flyer and convert your fans into Raving Fans, make the effort to immediately call your customer and say “thank you” for writing a review. Not only will the call will be deeply appreciated but your customers will be far more likely to share your flyer.

Nothing you can do, including sending handwritten notes or texts, will have the same impact as calling them personally. If they’re not available when you call, leave a message. The goal is to thank them immediately and in a manner that makes them feel special.

The Psychology of a Google Review Request

If you want to see and hear how the businesses with the most Google reviews and referrals are asking their customers to write a review and refer them to their friends, click on the link below. This script has been tested and proven to generate the most Google reviews and referrals and it will give you insight into the psychology of an effective review request.

How To Ask For A Google Review Script

Google’s New No Gating Policy – What You Need To Know

by | Sep 21, 2018 | Reviews

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Google’s New No Gating Policy – What You Need To Know

Now that Google no longer allows “gating,” (sending only happy customers to your Google review site) here’s a review strategy you might want to consider when asking customers to write a review for your business.

The average review rating for all of our subscribers after the first two days was 97.4% and that number is just going to get better as everyone pays more attention to the entire customer service/review effectiveness process.

92% 5-star reviews
4% 4-star reviews
2% 3-star reviews
2% 1-star reviews

The key to getting outstanding results when it comes to getting both reviews and referrals with the Five Star Review System still includes:

1) Providing exceptional service and fixing problems as soon as they arise.

2) Verbally asking all of your customers if they will write a review and/or refer you to their family and friends when they are at the peak of their happiness.

It’s foolish to randomly send an automated review or referral request to a customer without asking. It is also counterproductive to ask for a review in the middle of a transaction, before your customer has fully experienced your service or before you’ve had an opportunity to identify and address their concerns? Ask everyone to write a review, but wait until they’ve fully experienced your service.

3) The single most important thing you can do to get your customers to write a review and refer you to their family and friends is to send them your review/referral request while they’re with you. Not two seconds or two hours after they leave your presence. This one thing will increase your reviews by 400%.

Remember you’re not asking your customers to write the review while they’re with you. That’s pushy and may make your customers feel uncomfortable. You’re just sending them the review request while they’re with you.

If you provide great service, not having a gating feature is of no consequence. So ask all of your customers to review you after they’ve fully experienced your amazing service.

How To Remove A Google Review That You’ve Written

by | Mar 7, 2018 | Review Rules, Reviews

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How To Remove A Google Review That You’ve Written

Google is very clear about not writing a review for your own company. You can read their review Guidelines with respect to this under the Conflict of Interest section. This video will show you how to remove a Google review that you’ve written.

How To Ask For A Google Review Script

by | Mar 2, 2018 | Reviews

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How To Ask For A Google Review Script

This script (in blue) has been tested and proven to be the most effective way to generate Google reviews and referrals with the Five Star Review System. It’s short and easy to remember. Don’t try to memorize the script word for word. Just take a moment to understand the flow and reasoning behind your request and then make it your own.

The audio recording will help you understand the psychology of a review request and give you the tools you need to get outstanding results.

Note: The example used in this audio was for the medical industry. You can adapt the principles taught to your industry by simply substituting “Customer” or “Client” for “Patient”.

How To Ask For A Google Review

by Bob Sommers

Script

Later today or tonight or whenever you get a chance, would you mind taking a few minutes to write a review for us on Google?

(Optional) The reason I ask is because when you do, it helps others learn about our business through your experience with us.)

In order to make this as easy as possible, I’d like to send you an email (before you go) with a link in it to where you can write your review, and I want you to know that we’re all really looking forward to reading your comments. Thank you.

At this point, you’ll walk your customer over to your computer, iPad or mobile phone and fill out the Review Request Form in front of them. If your customer is not engaged with you when you fill out the form, they are much less likely to write a review. Sending the request while your customer is with you will increase the number of Google reviews you’ll receive by 400%. It’s the single most important thing you can do to get Google reviews.

Save Time

You can save time by filling out as much of the information as possible before you ask your customer to write a review. This can include their First Name, Last Name and Email Address.

Once you get their email address, you have the option of sending your customer the request by text also. Do not send the request by text unless your customer gives you verbal permission to do so. You always want to send an email or an email and a text but only when the customer indicates that they would like it sent by text too.

The least effective way to get Google reviews is to send the request by text message only. (The audio above explains why that’s the case.)

If you’d like, I can send the request to you by text too. Would you like for me to do that?

If they say “yes,” go ahead and add their text number to the Request Review form. If you don’t ask or if they say “no,” do not send them a text message. Sending a text review request when your customer has not given you permission to do so will hurt your ability to get Google reviews and upset some of your customers.

At this point, you have an opportunity to generate referrals from the Coupon/Flyer/Thank you/Redirect feature. If you feel your customer is a good referral source, you can ask them the following question and then select the appropriate coupon or flyer from the form field.

If it’s OK, I’d like to send along a digital flyer about our business and ask if you wouldn’t mind sharing it with your family and friends that may be interested in our service. May I sent it along?

Depending on their answer you will either select the default “thank you message” or the appropriate coupon or flyer from the drop down menu. Then you will click on the Submit Request button and send them the request while they are watching. It’s that easy.

Note: If you don’t ask or if they say “no” to your request, do not send the flyer. It will be considered spam and your customer will not share it.

The entire process should not take more than 2 minutes when you first start using the system and once you’re familiar with it, you’ll be able to accomplish this task in less than a minute.

My Strong Recommendation:

If you’ve not listened to the audio yet, please do so now. It will explain WHY verbally asking for a review and engaging with your customer when you send the review request is so effective and important to your success.

And finally, if you liked the article and you think your friends can benefit from it, will you please share it on one of the social networking sites below? Thank you.