Customer reviews

People read reviews before they choose a tradesperson, a dentist or an accountant. The reviews on your Google Business Profile appear right in search and on the map, so they are often the first thing a new customer sees of you. They are also the most common form of social proof.

What the rules say

The guidance on user reviews from Forbrukertilsynet, the Norwegian Consumer Authority (in Norwegian), is clear. Only real customers may write reviews. You cannot write them yourself or have employees or anyone else do it for you. You cannot delete negative reviews and publish only the positive ones, and showing only the positive ones can be misleading.

You may ask for reviews, but the request must be neutral, and you cannot ask only the people you expect to be especially happy. Rewards are trickier than they look. Under the guidance, a review only counts as an ordinary one when the incentive is small and offered to everyone, whether the review is positive or negative. Otherwise it can become advertising, which must be clearly labelled, kept apart from ordinary reviews and left out of the star rating. Google prohibits rewards for reviews altogether. The simplest approach is to ask every customer the same way and give nothing in return.

Answer the sour ones

A calm, factual reply to a bad review is read by everyone who comes after. Thank them for the feedback, say what you are doing about it, and offer to talk it through offline.

Do this today

In Google Business Profile you will find a link for asking for reviews. Copy it and send it to every customer from the past month, not only the happy ones.