Ten years ago, would you have trusted a car ride from a stranger you found on the Internet?
For many consumers, the answer is an easy “no.” Yet, Uber was recently named the world’s highest-valued startup. As technology and social resources evolve, so has a new structure of service delivery among today’s organizations. Frequently called the “sharing economy” or “peer economy,” this structure refers to actions, such as homeowners renting their personal spaces to visitors seeking an alternative to hotels, or property managers renting storage space to customers without the process of using a commercial facility. These business models create opportunities for vendors and end users alike, and increase the impact of customer feedback and reviews. After all, in the sharing economy, the only currency of value is trust, and the best way to prove your customers trust your organization is to hear it from them directly.
Here are four ways to harness the power of reviews and communicate this trust to your customers and end users to amplify your business in the sharing economy.
1. Proactively collect reviews
In a traditional business model, such as a brick-and-mortar retail store, online reviews can certainly boost business – but they’re unlikely to entirely make or break an establishment’s reputation. On the other hand, online businesses, including many of those thriving in the sharing economy, rely on reviews to highlight the customer service, rapid-response times and high-quality deliverables that differentiate them from thousands of other businesses available on the Internet. While these reviews are immensely valuable to prospective customers, they can be even more critical to the success of an online business in the sharing economy.
A recent eMarketer study found that women, especially, rely on a wealth of reviews from users and buyers similar to them. Nearly one half of women preferred to read reviews from users they found similar to themselves, making the case that brands should be proactively reaching out to collect a wealth of reviews.
Many organizations are engaging with transparent third-party solutions to gather customer reviews, and display them on their websites to highlight their value for new prospects. To tap into the power of reviews, organizations need to get proactive about collecting them. Following a sale, or even a case of shopping cart abandonment, reach out to customers with an individualized email to thank them for their interest and request feedback on their experience.
2. Individually serve your audience
Consider an organization that employs couriers and transport drivers to ship large, bulky packages not suited for standard mail, such as furniture, pets, boats or motorcycles. Reviews of this business would have an impact on two major audiences – end users making shipping requests, and drivers participating in the action.
The customers reading your reviews and considering interacting with your business will have different backgrounds, motivators and pain points. Tailor your marketing plan and customer service outreach to show you recognize and address each one.
3. Think outside the box
One of the most attractive qualities of a sharing economy business model is its ability to provide an alternative to the status quo. As you consider third-party partners to help you collect and apply customer review data, consider the benefits of a partner that can integrate with your existing systems using open APIs. For example, one self-storage provider uses Trustpilot’s APIs to create applications and help build the business. The company aligned Trustpilot’s Automatic Feedback Service with its reservation flow to automatically trigger emails and requests for reviews when a customer completes a reservation online or by phone. The API is also used to load review data into its internal databases, drawing relationships between reviews and reservations to create a more detailed view of customer experiences and the impact of review content.
4. Use the data you collect
The last thing your customers want to be is a number in your system. They’re individuals, each with her own habits or his own preferences, and it’s your job to meet their needs. When you’re proactively collecting customer reviews, you help your customers focus on the quality of your service, rather than only on the products or services purchased. Doing so creates a wealth of information about what customers want from their overall experience with a company. This data can be used to learn what customers want and build lasting relationships between the customer and a brand. For example, if your company’s data shows an increase in shipping complaints, respond to them and fix the problem. A recent study praised fast customer service, with 69 percent of consumers attributing quick resolutions of problems as the best part of an experience with a brand.
The growth of the sharing economy is defining a new status quo for customer service and creating a dialog between customer and service provider. Customer reviews will help you remain ahead of the curve and in customers’ good graces. All you need to do is find a partner to help you tap into the insights you need to highlight your transparency, enhance customer interactions and grow your business.
Jonathan Hinz is director of strategic partnerships and business development at Trustpilot, which helps companies proactively collect reviews and get real insight straight from the people who matter most, their customers. He is a veteran in the customer service industry, joining Trustpilot after more than 13 years leading customer relation and business development teams at Verizon.
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