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If you doubt the power a great review can have on your business, I have a story for you

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Ever questioned the value of a testimonial? I’m going to show you the power a single testimonial can have in your business based on my own experience.

One Monday afternoon I noticed a spike in orders of my book, Marketing to Mums, on my website. I wondered what had happened for such a sales lift to occur. A few hours later I was contacted by a friend of friend who explained it all.

Apparently Mums with Hustle, an online platform that supports mum-led businesses with more than 6500 members, had featured a review written by one of their members, Annalise Skaroupka from Print & Party who had written this:

“I finished reading this book this weekend and highly recommend it for businesses targeting Aussie Mums. Really great ideas and I’ve written myself a list of about 40 things to action from it!
Side note- I read the book on my plane trip from Canberra to Brisbane which caught the attention of the passenger next to me and he excitedly told me his daughter ran her own jewellery business! We chatted a bit more and I couldn’t believe the coincidence that I’d been seated next to Trinket Poppy- Clare’s dad!!! 😂
Such a small world! ”

A flurry of comments from members of the group followed. This included other business owners who had the read the book supporting Annalise’s testimonial and one post letting people know they could purchase the book from Booktopia and provided the link.

And the chain reaction began…

First thing Tuesday morning I received a call from my book distributor asking what promotion I had engaged in as they were now completely out of stock of my book and could I “desperately” deliver another 300 copies. I obliged that afternoon.

On Wednesday I was accepted into the closed Mums with Hustle Facebook group and thanked their community for the wonderful support and subsequent spike in sales. This thank you post received 200 likes, 55 comments and, unexpectedly, more orders.

Imagine my surprise when my book reached No. 1 on Booktopia’s Business Bestseller list the next morning. It had outsold the likes of Simon Sinek, Timothy Ferriss and Sophie Amoruso. It has remained No. 1 on and off all week.

This entire chain of events can be attributed to that one review done by a mum in business who did not know me. It was a genuine review from someone who wanted to help other women in business. This is particularly pertinent as it supports our Marketing to Mums Survey of more than 1800 Australian mums which reports that reviews, testimonials and ratings are the number one influencing factor in mums purchasing your product or services.

How to get more reviews for your business

Whilst there was some timing and serendipity in my recent experience, there are things you can be doing to encourage testimonials in your business. Here are five things to consider:

1. Turn on ratings and reviews on your business Facebook page.

2. Regularly encourage your community to share their experience working with you. Make sure you take the time to thank those who have invested their time in writing a review for you.

3. Set up a system so that you automatically ask for feedback or a review after delivery of the product or service (once it is part of your customer process it becomes easier to ask). Remember to thank them for sharing their feedback.

4. If you run events consider filming testimonials from participants straight after each event. These can be candid and done on your phone.

5. Show that you value testimonials in your business.  Make sure you promote all third party endorsements including awards, testimonials, ratings and reviews by including them on all your marketing materials including website, social media, brochures and posters.

Don’t be shy. Ask for reviews, as people might just need a little reminder to say how great their experience of your business, service or book was. You never know, one review could shoot you to success. And while you’re thinking about it, how about thinking about writing a great review for someone else. You never know how much it could help them.

Katrina McCarter is Founder of Marketing to Mums. She is a marketing strategist who assists businesses to sell more to Australia’s most powerful consumer. Katrina is the author of Marketing to Mums. She is a mum of three and has worked with over one hundred small businesses both in Australia and overseas. Katrina has won awards for Best Social Media, Best Customer Service and Best Boss and has featured on Today Tonight, Channel 7, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Anthill Online.

Katrina McCarter
Katrina McCarter