It means more when *you* say it

Hi everyone,

How important is trust when it comes to what you do?

A lot, right?

Most companies (whether you sell goods or services) rely on reputation and trust.

It is the invisible guarantee that tells people that they know you can deliver on your promise.

Time and time again (and it's what keeps people coming back!)

Take McDonald's, for example.

Whether you like or loathe it you know that every time you go you're going to get the same thing.

In many ways, that's the true appeal of those golden arches.

 

Reputation

As a law firm, we're a bit different, but we do live or die by our reputation.

Of course, no business is perfect and it's impossible to please everyone. 

Again, this is especially so for a law firm - in many instances, we tend to get involved when things go wrong. Some cases can be a damage limitation exercise that leaves a bad taste in the best of circumstances.

Regardless, we strive to make the process as stress-free, effortless and rewarding - as we can. 

We're lucky that 99 times out of 100 - our clients and contacts agree with us. This can be seen in our reviews and testimonials.

In turn, these reviews vouch for us to new clients who want to be sure that they're instructing the right lawyer.

 

Importance of closing the loop

For a lot of businesses, getting reviews is incidental.

They tend to be something that pops up from time to time and are a nice surprise.

Despite this, it's important to approach review collection as a critical marketing exercise.

There are many reasons. Here are three of the main ones.
 

Number 1. You get an SEO boost. Reviews from good platforms are a strong signal to search engines that you are an excellent operator. Result? You will appear higher in search and to more prospective customers and clients. Who doesn't want that?
 

Number 2. It shows you care. Review collection is a crucial part of the customer service process. It helps you understand what you're good at. And sometimes, it gives you an early indication of things you can improve. By showing that you care about each customer - you let prospects know that they'll be treated with the same level of care.
 

Number 3. It's not about what you think. Customers care more about what other customers think about you than your opinion of yourself! Reviews confirmed to be from customers are simply more convincing in the purchasing decision.
 

In essence, this is digital "word of mouth", and the more reviews you have (and the more detailed they are) - the better.

Having a solid system for review capture may well be a missing link in your marketing.

 

Taking it to the next level

But it's not always easy.

Did you know, for example only around 20% of people have a Google account? This means that 4/5 people will have difficulty leaving a review on the main platform.

I'll be straight with you. In the past, we've sometimes struggled to get reviews on a consistent "tick", because of this.

With trust being such an important part of what we do...

What we needed was an elegant solution for review capture that would tick all the boxes above.

And I think we've found it.

Last week we partnered with ReviewSolicitors, and now have their ratings here on our site.

ReviewSolicitors is a 3rd party trusted review platform that focuses on solicitors specifically. They work alongside the SRA to ensure those looking for legal help can find the right team.

What's better is that it doesn't ask for a Google account to leave a review. This means it will be easier for us to gather these testimonials that matter so much to us.

Incidentally, if we've helped you in any way in the past, and you haven't left a review, please do! This, by far, has the biggest impact for us than anything else - bar referring work to us directly.

Click here to visit our ReviewSolicitors page to leave a review if you feel like it - it really helps!

 

Wrapping up

I like to wrap these pieces up with some actionable thoughts.

With that in mind, I have a few questions for you.

Is trust important to what you do, how important?

Does what you say about yourself align with what your clients/customers say about you?

Do you have a repeatable system in place to collect and act upon reviews?

How do you feel when you see a business that has 10, 25, 50, and 100 reviews?

Food for thought. 

If you're looking for a bit of help with this, contact Dr Martin who is currently looking after this for us. He'd be happy to tell you a bit more about how we're going about it.

Hope you have a fantastic week.
 

Liz

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