How Champion Gets More 5 Star Reviews & Why Google Cares
Champion Power Equipment is a well established entry level brand in the tools and machinery space with an excellent online reputation from thousands of reviewers. Their products are sold in stores like Canadian Tire across the country.
I have purchased Champion products, which is how I was introduced to their digital marketing strategy. It starts with a free gift t-shirt with the purchase of one of their machines. To get the free T-shirt you have to do a review of the machine you purchased. This works for the company on many levels. The person in the T-shirt is now a walking billboard and spokesperson for the company in real life. Online, that review is noticed by Google and other search engines. Google cares about reviews because they demonstrate your authority in that space.
I have more than one champion shirt, and I am happy to wear them because I am satisfied with the product it is associated with. I wouldn’t have bothered to get the shirt if I thought the product was bad and went to leave a bad review. That is how Champion gets more 5 star reviews to outnumber negative reviews.
What If Campion Gets An Organic Negative Review?
They respond to the review with actually helpful assistance, and an offer to see what they can do to fix the problem. This helps to mitigate any issues from the negativity by showing your responsiveness and willingness to help. It is the perfect opportunity to show off technical prowess. In the best case scenario, you may just get them to change their review and instead write about their excellent service and technical assistance when they had a small issue.
Who knows, maybe in the future companies will dedicate more resources to assisting reviewers online with their issues than they do on traditional technical assistance over the phone.
After all, the loud online complainer does more to damage the brand than a customer who silently returns a product they didn’t like.
Be More Like Champion & Get More 5 Star Reviews?
Respond to Reviews On Your Website Or Google My Business.
If the review is positive thank them using their first name, tell them you also had a great experience as a service professional, then mention the product, or another product they may like. This gives search engines some material to work with.
If the review is negative, try to assist them with fixing the issue, or connecting them to someone who can. If they do work through the issue, ensure you follow up to ask them to change the review to something more positive about the customer assistance.
Of course, you could always buy a bunch of custom t-shirts and create an incentive program like Champion has- but it is not needed. Simply asking happy customers to review your business on Google and following up with a thank you there will have a big impact.
For real estate professionals that may look like following up after move in day with an email, asking how things went, and including a link to the google reviews area.
Business that sell products may likewise send an email to purchasers after delivery asking for a product review. A request could also be included inside every shipping box with the shipping information.
