As an Insurance Agent: When someone leaves a review for your business, it has a positive impact by helping to build your credibility. You can then take these reviews, with the client’s permission, and use them as a marketing tool to build trust with other clients. It can be intimidating to ask for a review, but understanding how to navigate this process is crucial for growing your business. Let’s discuss a few important aspects about reviews, including what to do when you receive a negative one.
The Positive Impact of Reviews
When you’re looking for a new restaurant to try or a hotel to stay at, you typically take a look at its reviews. This helps you make an informed decision and gives insight into what to expect. As a business owner, you want these helpful reviews from others to make your business more attractive to potential clients. Even if a review isn’t one hundred percent positive, you can still take what it says and learn from it, continuing to improve your business.
Builds Trust & Credibility
- When people see a business with a good amount of positive reviews, they are more likely to choose that business than one without reviews. These show that you can be trusted and are a credible source or service. People don’t want to place their financial or health future in untrustworthy hands.
Improves Your Visibility in Local Online Search Rankings:
- Search engines and algorithms will boost a business with more reviews and more positive reviews. This helps you be seen by more online traffic. Similar to SEO, reviews help improve your search rankings. Check out our article on Programmatic SEO for more tips & tricks to boost your website’s online performance.
Social Proof:
- Reviews can have a greater impact on potential clients than traditional advertising and marketing, as they are typically unbiased opinions. People like to see what others like!
Marketing & Social Media
Marketing Positive Review:
- A great way to show these reviews to others and prove that your business is a smart choice is to market with them! Make sure this is conducted compliantly. Keep reading to learn more about that. You can use the reviews to create a flyer, brochure, or even a postcard.
Social Media & Website:
- Another important aspect of this is being active on social media platforms. As an insurance agent, you can encourage others to tag you in their posts. This is especially important for Facebook, as it’s the platform most seniors are using. Facebook is powerful, as every post is public and has the potential to reach a large audience. When you’re tagged in someone’s post, it creates a domino effect since their friends, family, friends of friends, etc, can all see it.
- If you have a website, include a section for client testimonials or reviews, with their consent, of course. Anyone who visits your website will view the positive reviews of your business, which will increase their trust and desire to do business with you.
How to Ask For Reviews
Providing Flyers at Appointments:
- At every appointment, supply a referral flyer to hand out to your client. It could be something as simple as having a QR code leading to where you’d like the review. Here’s an example of a flyer template in the Fidelis Agent Marketing Hub! This hub offers free, customizable, and compliant marketing templates to all Fidelis Agents.
Leveraging Social Media:
- This strategy can also be practiced on social media. Create a post asking to be tagged in a review. With that, include that you’d love to hear from them and about their experience, and if you are given permission, feature this review on your page. If you find the right moment with a client and feel it is appropriate, ask for a review to post along with a photo of them. This really helps build credibility and can be enjoyable for the client as well.
- A huge part of growing your business is putting yourself out there, including maintaining a social media presence. Check out our Social Media Success Guide to level up your skills and all things social media.
Handling Negative Reviews
Most Importantly… Don’t Delete Them:
- Eventually, you may find that you received a negative review. It is essential that you continue to engage positively with it. Do not delete it, as this just makes you look guilty, whether it’s true or not. The best practice here is to acknowledge it and, if possible, try to rectify the situation.
How to Reply:
- Reply to the review respectfully and kindly, focusing on resolving the issue rather than defending yourself. Try taking the conversation offline by reaching out directly to the client and asking how you can make this better, which can potentially encourage them to remove the review. Or they may take it down and post a second review stating that they had an issue, and this agent (you) came back and fixed it promptly.
- Sometimes the client may just be upset, and this cannot be rectified; that’s alright too. Take this as a learning moment, professionally and with grace. At this point, you’ve done what you could and shouldn’t prolong or drag things out. Know that you tried your best and continue to best serve your clients.
Platform & Compliance Considerations
Where should your client write reviews?:
- There are many options for this but three popular platforms are:
- Google: Google is a productive option, as getting reviews can also impact your SEO or search rankings. Set up a Google Business Profile for this process.
- Facebook: Facebook is another great platform. Though it doesn’t impact search rankings, it helps with a social media presence, which is just as important.
- Yelp: Don’t forget about Yelp! Similar to Google, people use Yelp to read reviews about places. It truly can’t hurt to have a few review platforms for your business.
Consent and HIPAA:
- Ensure that you have the client’s consent before using their review on social media, your website, or in any way. You also cannot include any personal information if you were to repurpose their reviews, so you may have to edit them slightly.
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Reviews are important! It’s equally important that you know how to get positive reviews and further support your business with them.
Positive reviews, of course, have a positive impact on your business, but negative reviews can provide an opportunity as well.
Leverage your online presence, whether that be on social media or your website.
Be brave and ask for reviews! If your clients are truly enjoying your services and business, they’ll have no problem leaving a positive review for you.
Lastly, explore the options for review platforms. Understand what could have the most impact on your business and build on that.