My coaching clients have been getting really great results off the back of Google Reviews.
The most measurable outcome of prioritising these has been more website traffic and leads, but many businesses also say their conversion rate has increased since generating more reviews, not to mention getting more referrals from clients and referral partners (for this last one, it seems that this extra layer of validation has been giving people the confidence to act on a recommendation).
The main reasons I REALLY like Google reviews for advisers are:
- It helps you rank higher on Google for the search string ‘Financial Adviser and <YOUR LOCATION’ (i.e. you’ll rise up the Google ranks for people who are actively looking for someone like you).
- Most advisers haven’t cottoned onto this yet, so you probably have a ‘first-mover opportunity’ in your local area.
- In general, most people don’t really know what advisers do and many advisers find it hard to explain it to them. Google Reviews help people who’ve never worked with an adviser before to fully understand the difference you’re able to make in easily relatable terms.
If you’re keen to prioritise this, let me shortcut your next steps. Through a lot of trial and error, here are my best tips for getting as many ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Google Reviews as possible:
- If you’re feeling weird about asking for them, I’d like you to consider:
- That your happy clients want to support you and say thanks for changing their life
- How you would feel if a prospective client went and worked with an inferior competitor. If you’re great at what you do (which I assume you are) consider Google reviews as fulfilling BID for a prospect
- That this will help your team connect with the difference you’re making. There’s nothing more motivating than your team knowing all their hard work is making a tangible difference to clients.
- When asking for reviews, make the initial request in person, on the phone or at the end of a meeting, then follow up with an email or SMS. It’s too easy for a client to ignore an unsolicited email or SMS asking for a review.
- To remove friction, create a hyperlink that takes people straight to the review page (this link is available in your Google My Business – hit me up if you need help finding it).
- Don’t just limit Google review requests to your clients. There are a bunch of people who can vouch for your awesomeness including product providers, referral partners & people in their teams, other advisers and industry friends, former clients and people you have done favours or pro-bono work for (e.g. children of clients).
- Get your team involved in prioritising this. Running a team-wide competition will go a long way to getting your team interested in this project.
- For people who say they’ll leave a review but don’t follow through, don’t be afraid to ask multiple times. People are busy and don’t mind being reminded to do things that they have already agreed to do (obviously wait a few weeks or months so you don’t look too ‘intense’)
I hope these tips help you leverage the great work you have already done, so more people can benefit from your wisdom and awesomeness.
If you have any other tips for getting Google Reviews, I’d love to hear them in the comments below ✌️
