January 3, 2018

How to Harness the Power of Google Reviews

Our society thrives and functions on giving and reading reviews — from choosing a restaurant for a night on the town, to finding a dentist for emergency repair, to selecting an attorney to represent our families.

The Power of Positive Reviews

A business, large or small, can no longer operate successfully and to their highest potential without positive reviews. A positive review can:

1. Boost retention of clients who consulted with more than one attorney
   • Up to 10 percent increase in retention is seen by one positive review
2. Replace a portion of your marketing budget
   • Reviews beget reviews from other satisfied clients
   • Give life to your SEO campaign, and help your site soar in rankings (ensuring your firm is visible on Google before other sites and firms)
   • Improve client loyalty and referrals, by giving a home and voice to your clients

The system of getting reviews can appear daunting, and yet with a few key steps and strategies, reviews can become the lifeblood of any business without creating extra obstacles for the team. The setup can become the networking backbone of a powerful ranking system to benefit your firm and its growth. Most client cases are complicated, and it can be very difficult to know when or how to request a review from a client. It takes thinking ahead, emotional sensitivity, and a structured approach. Most people need steps to be simple, laid-out, and explained if they are going to do anything for someone else. If the effort feels complicated, they won’t do it. Answers to the “it’s complicated” roadblock:

1. Remove the feeling of it’s complicated
   • Show them how simple it can be
   • Step-by-step instructions are below
2. Have a personal and human interaction
   • Genuinely ask for the review

Simple Instructions on How to Write a Google Review

1. From a laptop, desktop, or mobile device
2. Open Google maps
   • Check that you’re signed in to Google
3. Search for a location (your law firm)
4. On the left side under the location information
   • Scroll down to “Write a Review”
   • Select the stars you give out of five
   • Write the review: a sentence, a paragraph, or a page
   • Attach images (if necessary)
   • Click “Post”
   • DONE
   • The review is now public and can be seen by those searching for that location (your law office)

How to Find Great Google Reviews

As we speak about seeking out or soliciting reviews, we will only be discussing Google reviews, where it is a permitted and acceptable practice. Please note that eliciting reviews is against Yelp’s user policy; we will not be discussing Yelp.

Direct Contact with Existing Clients

You know your clients — how they feel about their cases, and how they feel about you. Emotion is the drive for most reviews: unhappy clients race to leave a horrifying review, and happy clients may or may not leave a review on their own — you must make that extension of emotional connection with them to cement the review into reality. 

List the Happy Clients

When a client is prompted for a review, the impact of a result (getting a positive review actually posted) is doubled and sometimes tripled when the client is asked by someone who has helped them in their process versus an email from the firm representative. The result of a favorable outcome of a positive review being posted goes up even farther when the client receives a phone call or is in person with that person who helped them.

Make Your List

Begin by making a list of all the satisfied and happy clients your firm has. Ask the team members who engaged with the clients to give more details about what made the clients happy.

1. The person who was in contact the most with your happy clients should reach out to them for the review
2. Ask the happy client to leave a review for the firm
   • Contact the client: first by a phone call, then by email as a follow-up thank you (reminder) for their review 

Steps to Ask for a Review in Person

1. Remind the client you want to help others as you helped them
2. Thank them for their review, as it has been an honor working with them
3. Mention three main victories (if possible) that you are proud of for their case
   • This will also stir their memory for the amazing work your firm has done for them
4. Have the client leave a review from their own device
   • Don’t set up a computer or tablet in your office where your clients could leave a review as this device might be flagged as spam or locked out of leaving reviews

Settled Cases 

If there is a need to deliver a check to the client, you can ask the happy client in person to leave a review for your firm:

• With a check in hand, they are the happiest and eager to tell others
• They can easily do it from home or on their mobile devices

Get Your Employees Excited

Your employees are on the frontlines of speaking with your clients, and your clients see your employees as the face of your firm. Creating monetary incentives for employees is a great way to multiply the responsive interaction of clients to positive reviews. Create an employee performance incentive plan

• The most positive reviews
• Monetary incentive (the monetary incentive is not for the person who leaves the review, but for the employee who elicited the review)
• Have your employees communicate with the client
  • Part of their performance is judged by their review scores
  • This allows an emotional bond to help aid the positive review

Software for Case Management

If you already work with a service to auto-email clients, you can sign up for a service. This will auto-email your clients, which does eliminate the in-person feel that creates the emotional bond needed to glue the review. It has its benefits though:

• You can email clients after their cases are closed
• The client can give you a rating from 1 to 10
• The ones who give a high rating will be prompted to leave a Google review
  • You create the guidelines & limits of a high rating (example: rating 8 to 10)

Special Services & Professionals

If you use service professionals like investigators, process servers, or experts, they too can be a place for reviews — and yet we want to caution that you use this reservoir infrequently. You also want to know the rules behind them leaving you a review. The depth of your reviews needs to come from happy and satisfied clients.

Harnessing the Power of Positive Reviews

Once you have a stream of positive reviews on Google... Now what? It is time to find a professional team to build a strategized Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaign for you and your firm. Attorney Marketing Network will help you build a strategized SEO campaign to:

• Harness the power of your Google reviews
• Raise your firm through the rankings on Google
• Draw new and engaging contacts and clients

Let our team strategize and mobilize the power behind your online reviews and launch your firm onto the search results of clients looking for you. Schedule to speak with one of our experts today.