B2B Sellers - B2B buyers are hardly interested in talking to your sales reps.
Why, you may ask?
Well, think of a writer who toots her own horn. Tell me, who'd be interested in listening to her? No one would believe in her talent unless one of her clients puts in a positive word for her.
Likewise, a sales guy talking about a product would typically come across as absolutely biased and, more likely, brainwashed to deliver only positive views about the business/product he's selling.
I know what you are thinking:
"If not the sales reps, then who should the B2B buyers check in with about the quality of a product or service?"
Simple! Get your happy customers talking for you - on your website, B2B review sites, social media handles, and more. Yes, it would do a world of good to your business if you could get your happy customers talking and leave reviews on your website and on customer review sites such as GoodFirms, Clutch, G2 and their like.
Gartner has reported that 44% of millennial B2B buyers "avoid" talking to sales representatives while making purchases.
And, if your customers are ready to praise you - left, right, and center - on an online customer review platforms specifically, then nothing like it….your job is done. Your sales are sure to skyrocket!
You bet! Happy customers are the best promoters of your product or service.
This blog highlights the importance of B2B Customer Review Platforms for B2B sellers and some top-class formulas to drive reviews on the same.
Okay! Before we move on to the crucial parts of the blog, glance at top digital marketing agencies on GoodFirms first. These firms are fully equipped to help you find quick ways to generate more reviews. But then, after a quick glance, do get back here and finish reading this blog because we've shared a couple of unique ideas you won't find elsewhere.
So, let's start.
The Rise and Rise of Customer Review Sites
The B2B industry has witnessed a dramatic rise in customer review platforms in the last few years.
GoodFirms, G2, Clutch, 99Firms, Manifest, Goodtal, and more are among today's top customer review platforms that have captured the imagination of the B2B masses.
In fact, 85% of B2B software buyers trust online reviews and spend nearly 50% of their time consulting Independent third-party sources, including credible customer review sites, before making any purchases.
Source: https://www.gartner.com
The single most reason that could be cited for the rising popularity of customer review platforms is the legitimacy of the reviews showcased on these sites. In other words, reviews on these sites are construed as fair and credible compared to reviews on business websites.
This means in little to no time, B2B sellers would have little or no influence on B2B buyers' purchase decisions as the latter would come to rely totally on customer reviews for their purchases.
Bottom line: B2B sellers need singularly focus on driving online reviews on online review platforms and even their websites if they want buyers to line up at their online doorstep.
Perhaps, the question that's popping up in your mind right now is: "Besides offering legit reviews, in what other ways a customer review platform could profit B2B businesses?"
Fair enough! Let us shed more light on how b2b review sites benefit B2B sellers.
5 Ways Customer Review Platforms Benefit B2B Sellers
As mentioned above, B2B buyers are increasingly willing to trust customer review sites, otherwise known as third-party sites, and add them to the information mix they gather before they make any purchases, mainly because they are legit reviews and enable experiencing the products or services second-hand through the eyes of other customers.
This and many other benefits drive B2B buyers to customer review platforms and, more importantly, incentivize sellers to build their brand presence. Without much ado, let's start with the benefits.
#1. Customer Review Platforms Cater to the Experience Economy
"Experience Economy?"
Now, what's that?
Well, it's said that the online information age has given rise to the experience economy. And as the name suggests, an experience economy focuses on 'selling experiences more than selling services.' The operative word here is: "selling experiences."
The fact is, these days, B2B buyers tend to gather selling experiences through a plethora of online customer reviews, which helps them uncover critical bits of information, which, in turn, enables them to make informed purchase decisions.
Agreed, things are no different in the B2C arena. B2C customer review platforms such as Amazon, Tripadvisor, Yelp, and more aid B2C buyers similarly.
However, it's not always the same case. Unlike B2B buyers, B2C buyers can base their buying decisions on firsthand experiences, as products and services are generally cheaper, enabling them to experience them firsthand.
The problem with B2B products and services is that they require huge capital investment, which prevents experiencing the product firsthand and thus makes the buying process complicated and cumbersome.
The best way, or perhaps the only way out for B2B buyers, is to experience the product through the eyes and views of other customers - that is, through first-party site reviews and third-party review sites, also called customer review platforms.
Additionally, these sites offer efficient and quick research; almost 55% of the B2B buyers utilize them religiously for research purposes.
So, interested in generating more traffic and leads? Consult Indian companies to build a solid base of reviews on third-party sites to accelerate your lead rates.
#2. Building a Growing, Global Customer Base
Getting your business featured in multiple customer reviews sites such as GoodFirms, Goodtal, Clutch, Design Rush, G2, and more would give your company incredible reach and a relevant audience on a global scale and not just at the local level.
Key decision-makers from top companies would be reading your reviews, thus boosting your global presence.
In fact, our GoodFirms' in-house researchers, over the years, have found a direct connection between reviews and traffic. In their words, more customer reviews mean more traffic, they say. So, if you have reviews on multiple websites, rest assured you'll attract traffic in thousandfolds.
The best part: Google very often ranks B2B review sites above vendor sites. If your company is featured on GoodFirms as a top mobile app development company, along with 5-10 positive reviews, your presence here will indeed tilt the scale in your website's favor.
Top software companies listed on GoodFirms, such as Cubix, OpenXcell, and Utility, among many others, rely on the GoodFirms platform for quality lead generation.
#3. Strengthens Your Offsite SEO
Google values offsite signals and uses them to evaluate a brand's relevancy, authority, and trustworthiness.
According to Moz.com, offsite SEO carries 50% ranking weight, including accumulating reviews on third-party sites such as Clutch, GoodFirms, and more. And given that Google views B2B review sites highly means, the reviews appearing on such sites can easily be found by buyers during their Google research about the company. So, having a reasonable number of studies on third-party sites will dramatically help boost your company's SEO.
If these weren't enough, the B2B review sites create and distribute online news about top companies in popular categories, enabling sellers to expand their reach and helping buyers find the right sellers in a fraction of the time.
#4. Google's Quality Raters Look For Authentic Reviews on Third-Party Sites
Even Google's Quality Raters keep nosing around for authentic reviews to match searchers' intent. So it is no surprise that they keep an eye on third-party review sites such as Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, Amazon, Google Shopping, and more to understand what customers think about a particular company. So, it's no different for B2B customer review platforms, GoodFirms or Clutch.
But then, if you think happy customers leaving happy reviews on third-party sites will help your B2B website climb in Google rankings…then no, it doesn't work that way. It is just that Google crawls them to show relevant reviews when a buyer is looking for them with zero intention of helping businesses in their SERPs.
What's more, don't forget to include the bad reviews. Don't worry! It won't show your company in a bad light unless customers leave more and more bad reviews about you. If the rate of negative reviews is more than positive reviews, it's sure to affect Google's assessment of your site.
A few things to consider, as mentioned in the QRG:
- If your competitors have more reviews than you, then it stands to reason that they are highly recognized and are an authority in the field.
- Check the positive reviews count. Do competitors have more positive reviews than you do?
- What's the overall sentiment of your reviews - positive or negative?
#5. One-Stop-Shop for Online Reputation Management
If building an online reputation is on your mind, then customer review sites are the best place to start.
So, keep driving more and more customers to review sites, and make them your centralized space for tracking your online reputation. In fact, these review sites could help you handle negative reviews. Responding positively to negative reviews ensures quick damage control, which could significantly improve your impression in front of your customers.
Not to mention, it will shine a light on your customer service team for their dedication and highlight their customer-friendly face.
Needless to say, getting your site listed on a customer review site works like a magic charm. The question now is which platforms you should zero down on to accumulate reviews. The tips listed below will help you get started.
Here's a 4-Step-Drill to Identify Third-Party Reviews Platforms For B2B Software and Service Sellers
There's no denying that there are a dime a dozen customer review platforms. Some are very general, catering to all types of products and services. Some customer review platforms are particular and cater to particular types of industries. For instance, Yelp is mainly used for local restaurant reviews, while Getapp and Capterra are referred to for software reviews.
Also, there are sites just meant for physical product reviews. The point is to whittle down to a third-party site(s) that aligns with your business and helps you take advantage of reviews to grow your customer base.
So how do you determine which B2B review sites are more effective because it's not easier for businesses to persuade their customers to share reviews on dozens of different sites?
Here are a few things B2B sellers need to consider while identifying third-party sites for driving reviews. If you need help, you can consult UK-based digital marketing companies for their specialized advice.
Track Competitors: Check competitors' presence on different customer review platforms and then take your business there.
Track Traffic: Check how much traffic these online review sites generally generate. Why? Because the more traffic, the more the chances of customers checking out reviews of your business. However, don't compare dogs with donkeys. To put it another way, industry-specific sites shouldn't be compared with general sites when judging traffic. Generally speaking, traffic would be low on industry-centric sites versus general sites.
Track reviews: Check out your relevant category pages and competitors on different customer review platforms. It has been observed that sites with more reviews are generally high-traffic generators.
Track Top Rankers: B2B sellers do their research and figure out top-ranking customer review platforms in their respective categories. Then they get listed themselves there. Repeat the same drill for listing your website as well. Why? Because all your customers are also visiting these sites as they rank high on Google searches.
Once you have identified B2B review sites that could fetch you more traffic and business, your next step is to set up your profile on all the relevant platforms. Include a Facebook business page and Google My Business in that mix.
Moving on, let's now talk about a few strategies you could use to drive more reviews on customer review platforms.
How to Turn Customer Review Platforms You Are Collaborating with Into a Review-Generating Machine
Once you identified the ideal review platform(s) to partner with, the next best step that you can take as B2B sellers are to help them drive more reviews for your businesses.
Let's see how!
#1. Chat with Happy Customers
Happy customers leave happy reviews. So, tell me, how many satisfied customers do you have on your side?
Once you have narrowed them down, you'll have to reach out to them and request them to leave reviews on multiple review platforms. Why, you may ask? Simply because, more often than not, they won't be eager to write reviews, let alone leave reviews on multiple platforms.
Let's face it! Writing reviews is a boring and tedious exercise unless, of course, customers are unhappy with the product and want five more people to know about their misery.
Nonetheless, the best part of soliciting customers for reviews is that it helps you have more "verified" reviews, not anonymous reviews, coupled with 5-star ratings.
Now, how do you get your customers to your third-party review pages?
Allow me to explain with an example.
How GoodFirms Helps You to TouchBase with Your Happy Customers
Step 1: Log in to Your Vendor Profile on GoodFirms.
Step 2: Click the Review Button given in the left-hand corner.
Step 3: Fill in the empty fields, such as client name, email address, and phone number.
Done? GoodFirms Team will take over from here and contact the clients by shooting them a review form.
#2. Include Customer Review Platforms' Link in Confirmation Emails
Whenever a customer buys a product or service from your site, you immediately send him an order confirmation email, right? So now you could place the review site link right below the order confirmation email along with a message saying," Leave a Review," which might compel customers to act on your statement.
Okay, explaining with a GoodFirms example.
How to include GoodFirms Widgets in your Confirmation Emails?
No, you don't have to add "Review Links" in your confirmation emails. Use GoodBox widgets instead to drive customers to our review page. It's placed right below the review button. Found it? Okay, now click on it. Multiple review widgets will pop up. Copy and paste their code into your emails, and the widget will magically appear. When clicking these widgets, your clients will be automatically directed to our review forms.
More to the point, you can add these widgets on your website homepage as well, from where clients would be directed to our review form.
GTELocalize.com, for instance, shares GoodBox widget in their hero image (plus, they have logos of other top review sites to highlight their growing social proof).
#3. Send Request Reviews at a Delayed Pace
In the ecommerce arena, customers are sent review requests after a week or so, so that customers get to experience the product before sharing candid feedback.
However, in the B2B arena, review requests should be sent a bit late, generally between 3-6 months, so buyers can experience the software or service properly before discussing the positives and negatives.
However, one thing to keep in mind while sending review requests is that you need to keep the survey forms short. Long survey forms turn off the customers.
Or you can remind them of the purchase through an email and leave a widget there to drive them to our platform.
For sending review requests to clients, you can use our "Send Request Emails" and "GoodBoxes Widget."
#4. Build "Uncopyable Attachments" with your customers
Answer this: What would make a customer attached to you so much that they would think twice before engaging with other B2B sellers?
Steve Miller answers this question in his incredible book" Uncopyable Attachments."
He says whatever service, product, or price you are offering if your competitors can easily copy it, they'll have one-upmanship on you in no time. Meaning, your business stands to lose in the long run.
With uncopyable attachments, you will have a considerable leg-up over your competitors. Now, what do you mean by uncopyable attachments?
According to Miller, it could be forming unique relationships with your customers just like humans do. Simply put, your customer experience approach could be one uncopyable feature that could help brands build strong customer loyalty and keep competition at bay.
"Competition breeds conformity', Miller shares, so stop looking at what the competition is doing and instead focus on building long-lasting customer relationships.
How do I go about that? If you offer services to businesses, your customer team can double down on providing friendly services 24/7. If you are into selling software, you can offer the first few maintenance services free of cost and constantly communicate with the customers to tackle every small and big issue head-on. That shows you care!
"Cubix's collaboration and support are phenomenal" - A client review on GoodFirms.
The Result: More favorable reviews for your business on both your site and custom review sites. And positive reviews propel 91% of consumers to buy from your company.
B2B Review Platforms Could Be Your Most Powerful Marketing Channel
Beyond their websites, businesses shouldn't shy from rallying reviews for customer review sites, too, as it's crucial and lends businesses a definite edge. For one, you will enjoy a global customer base. Another thing is it lends SEO advantages as well as Google ranks B2B review sites above business websites. Long story short, get your site up there, along with a mind-boggling number of customer reviews. Google is sure to notice it and appear in search results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1. What are B2B Service Review Platforms?
B2B Service Review Platforms are third-party review sites hosting verified customer reviews of reputable B2B sellers, helping potential B2B buyers make informed purchasing decisions. Reviews posted here are considered to be legit, credible, and unbiased.
Q.2. Why do customers use review sites?
Potential B2B buyers check for product or service quality and credibility by studying reviews on review sites. The review sites help them uncover critical bits of information known to only those who have used the product or service. In short, B2B buyers can weigh the pros and cons of a given product or service via positive and negative reviews on review sites helping them make informed purchase decisions.
Q.3. Are review sites trustworthy?
Reviews help potential B2B buyers experience the product or service second-hand through the lens of an experienced customer. This helps makes them foolproof purchase decisions to a significantly greater extent. However, we cannot deny the rising instances of fake reviews. But, thankfully, it's easier to spot a fake review from a distance these days. Red flags in the form of hastily written short reviews that scratches the surface of a product or service and shows too much exaggeration and enthusiasm with unnecessary typos make them an eyesore in a customer's eyes.
Q.4. What are the best customer review platforms?
- Clutch
- G2
- GoodFirms
- Trustpilot
- Trustradius
Q.5. How do I ask for a review on GoodFirms
It's easier to drive your customers to leave their reviews on GoodFirms. All you must do is 1) Log in to your vendor profile on GoodFirms, 2) Click on the review button, 3) Fill in the required fields. That's about it. An automated review form will directly reach your client to be filled up by them.
