Solutions
Ad conversion
Lead capture
Lead qualification
Appointment scheduling
Retainer signing
Why Blazeo?
Industries
Company
Resources
As of March 2024 we have renamed Apexchat to Blazeo. We are excited to share the next part of our journey with our customers and partners.
The name ApexChat implies that we are primarily a chat company, which is no longer true. Now we have many offerings, such as call center services, AI, Appointment setting, SMS Enablement, Market Automation, and Sales acceleration (Q2 2024), that go beyond chat. The new name will not only allow us to convey the breadth of our offering but will also better convey our company’s mission and values.
Blazeo, which is derived from the word Blaze, evokes a sense of passion, speed, and energy. A “Blaze” is captivating, illuminates, and represents explosive growth. Blazeo encapsulates our mission to ignite such growth for our customers and partners by delivering innovation with passion, speed, and energy.
10 min read
Reviews are a major part of the buying process for the majority of consumers. Because of this businesses should recognize the influence that review channels have over their interactions with customers.
Roughly 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews and 84 percent of people trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations from friends.
However, the process of getting reviews can be tricky. Finding the perfect moment when customers are available and willing can be challenging.
This guide will teach you the best messaging channels your business should consider to reliably get positive reviews. Using the right messaging channels for your business will increase the open rate and response rate of your review requests.
Before we get into the different messaging channels we need to define what a quality customer is for your business.
Quality customers are more likely to give your business a positive review because of past experience with your brand, whether it be through partnerships, sales, marketing or other instances.
Before starting your review campaign, define your target audience using the simple Who, What, When, How, and Why method.
Who are your ideal customers?
What are their main reasons for purchasing your product/service?
When are they most likely respond to your inquiry?
How are they going to contact you?
Why do they buy your product or service?
With that being said, let’s begin with the first messaging channel your business can use to get more positive reviews.
Email is still one of the most used messaging channels available for getting helpful customer feedback, when done correctly. In order to execute your strategy successfully, you need to provide purpose and context. Customers want to feel heard by the businesses they shop from.
They’re more likely to respond to your request if they know why you care about their answers.
Personalization can increase the click-through rate of an email by 14 percent and the conversion by 10 percent. Use the recipient’s name when possible, and once you have more information (the city they live in, company they work for, etc.) try to utilize that as well.
Segmentation allows you to personalize your messaging to ensure every message is on target for each recipient. If you’re selling legal services, for example, you’d want to use different language for the different practice areas you cover. Segmenting your lists allows you to provide a similar looking feedback request with minor edits for each group you target.
Many customers use their phones to respond to emails, so optimizing your campaigns for mobile is crucial. Nearly 53 percent of emails are opened on mobile devices. Check that your links, feedback forms, surveys and messaging are easy to access and navigate from mobile devices.
With roughly 1.3 billion users worldwide, Facebook Messenger is the second largest messaging app in the world behind WhatsApp. The primary user base of Facebook Messenger is millennials, who have different preferences for communication than previous generations. While your business may not be utilizing Facebook Messenger, your target customers and competitors most likely are.
There are a number of different ways to get in contact with users who start a conversation with you via Messenger. The five features you should know are:
This creates an automated greeting that tells customers when to expect a response from you. It covers your business 24/7 – even if you’re not near your smartphone or computer. This message will only show when you aren’t online.
This feature tells customers how quickly to expect a response from you. One thing to remember, Facebook requires you visit your page at least once a week and respond to 90 percent of messages for response time to display on your business page.
This feature generates text that greets the customers using the Messenger app to initiate a conversation with your page. This personalizes the conversation and invites the customer to share their experience with you. This is the first text the user will see when they start a chat with your business.
This powerful feature automatically notifies customers of upcoming appointments with your business. You can customize the message or add dynamic messages based on the user attributes like their name, URL, phone number, or email address. Make sure you ask the user for this information before you set up a reminder!
With this tool you can send customized messages after a set number of days have passed since the customer’s last visit. These messages use the same attributes as Reminders: name, URL, phone number, and email address. Follow-up messages are a great tool to ask for reviews from customers you’ve helped via Facebook Messenger.
Messenger is a great tool to connect with users on your Facebook company page. Learn more about our Facebook Messenger integration here.
Live chat channels are a great resource to get reviews from qualified customers for your business. This feature allows businesses to converse in real time with customers at any time during the day.
Chat operators can identify when they’re speaking with a current customer and qualify the individual for a positive review. This raises the chance of conversing with customers who are more likely to leave your business a positive review.
The best time to ask for a review during a live chat conversation is after you’ve confirmed that the customer received a positive interaction with your business. You’ll only want to suggest a customer to review your business after you’ve given them enough value to warrant a review in the first place.
For example, you could ask for a review after a customer praises your business product or service, after they express gratitude for your help with an issue, or the opportunity comes naturally within the conversation.
For online campaigns, you may direct the customer to a Thank You page after purchase or send them a personalized email message after a job has been completed.
The process of asking for reviews can be intimidating for many businesses. You want to catch the customer at just the right time during the buyer’s journey, but not have it come off as disingenuous towards the customer.
We recommend checking out this helpful guide on how to ask customers for reviews.
While text message marketing is usually reserved for promotions, they are also used to get reviews from customers. Text messages are direct, visual, and easy to answer. Roughly 90 percent of text messages are opened within three seconds after receipt, with a response rate of about 30 percent.
With stats like these it’s no wonder businesses have been adopting this customer feedback collection strategy. Before you text, however, you should consider the following rules.
Similar to how users can opt-in and opt-out of email subscriptions, users should only receive texts from your business if they agree to let you send them information. While you may have collected their phone number or account information through other forms, you need to get the recipients permission to send them any text messages.
Additionally, your texts should give customers the option to opt out. Make sure you have a text message list for customers who have agreed to additional offers or promotions from you.
You’ll want to schedule your text messages during appropriate business hours. Customers don’t want to be woken up by your text late at night, so schedule your messages accordingly and be mindful of what time you are reaching out. If customers want to connect with you after hours, they’ll reach out.
Text messaging is as direct as messaging can get, so you need to be sure the content you send your customers is worth reading. Keep your message concise and relevant to the customer to ensure the conversation is meaningful for both sides.
Some example texts you could send might be one or two questions the recipient can respond directly to, or a link to a more in-depth survey (use a URL shortener to save space when sending text messages).
Social media platforms are great sources to hear and respond to customer feedback in a productive way. It’s easy to monitor your brand online and see what people are saying, respond to feedback (both positive and negative), and start discussions to find out what your audience thinks.
Information you publish on your social media feed never goes away even if you delete it. Before you respond to customers ask yourself, what is the best possible way to reply to their statement?
Whenever you are dealing with private customer data (i.e. account details) you should communicate by email instead of social media. Private conversations run the risk of being posted to public forums by disgruntled customers. Be sure to respond in a calm and professional manner on public posts. Potential customers are watching how your brand responds to questions from customers.
For more ways to improve your social media strategy, check out this article detailing how Cisco achieved a roughly 281% increase in ROI by utilizing social monitoring tools.
One of the best ways to get customer feedback is from online review sites. The top 10 online review sites with the most traffic are:
Google My Business, Facebook, Amazon, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Yellowpages, BBB (Better Business Bureau, Manta, Foursquare & Angies List.
These review sites are important, especially since nearly 90 percent of customers read online reviews before making a purchase. Start by encouraging customer feedback on your website. Featuring these reviews directly on your product and customer service pages will make you appear more trustworthy and help users make their decision quicker.
In fact, customer reviews are nearly 12 times more trusted than manufacturer product descriptions. Make it as easy as possible for customers to share their experience using your products and services.
Negative reviews are inevitable when selling a product or service, but they can also be a useful moment to engage with customers in a meaningful way. You should respond to both negative reviews and questions promptly and in a professional manner. Let everyone know that their grievances will be heard for both public and private feedback.
Once you’ve resolved the issue, be sure to update the customer on it’s progress. Here are some of the best ways to respond to positive and negative reviews.
Customer feedback can serve as a launching pad for your business’ growth. Try these different channels and experiment to find the best ways to connect with your customers. Proactive companies will get more happy customers, have higher retention, and experience higher sales numbers.
Live chat
Voice call centers
Virtual assistant
SMS communication
Blazeo's advantage
Customer stories
Whitepapers
Home services
Lawyers and firms
Medical services
College admissions
Real estate agents
Multi-location
Marketing agencies
Other local businesses
About
Partner program
Careers
Integrations
Blog
FAQs