Here’s how many days you should wait before asking customers for reviews

The lost and confused-looking “Where’s my dad?” kid is eating up TikTok with three angelically-sung lines from his “Finding Nemo: The Musical” performance. If you ask us, he looks like it’s his first day on the job and they gave him zero instructions (AKA, no Trainual). *Sips tea.

Hot off the SMB press this week:

• The Insider Summit is two weeks away! Save your spot.
• Four strategies to present ideas in a way that’ll resonate with your team.
• How soon you can ask for those five-star customer reviews.
• A process template that outlines how to respond to customer reviews.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Documenting everything yourself? Find help at Insider Summit!                                    

Would you believe us if we told you that you didn’t actually have to do all your business documentation by yourself? We’re not saying you don’t have to do it (we will go into another lecture about the importance of documentation), but there is a way to get your documentation done faster than ever.

Say hello to the power of AI. With the right prompt and a little bit of editing, you can get your team up to speed on your latest processes and policies faster than ever.

Not convinced? Let us prove it to you — we’ve got a whole session dedicated to the power of AI in process documentation at our Trainual customer conference Insider Summit!

Learn how Trainual AI documents your business playbook for you — and be sure to stick around for the other sessions we’ve got planned!

Plus, the event is totally digital and absolutely free. And it’s all happening August 17, 2023 starting at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT).

So what are you waiting for? Register now! (And if you can’t make it, register anyway — we’ll send you a recording of our awesome session on AI, along with anything else you miss!)

ROUGH LANDING

Do your ideas resonate with your team? Make sure with these 4 strategies.

Gee, that’s a good question. How can I be sure?
You have some killer ideas and you’re ready to make them happen. But have you ever felt like your team simply lets your plans fall stagnant (even though it seemed like they were listening), or what you share with them just isn’t landing?

Chances are good the issue isn’t your ideas — it’s your delivery. When you communicate your ideas effectively, it sparks understanding, motivation, and action in your team. Getting you one big step closer to bringing your ideas to life.

Here are four strategies that’ll help you present your ideas in a way that’ll resonate with your team:

1. Stick to one idea at a time.
Just like you, your teammates have a lot on their plates. So you don’t want to come at them with a laundry list of ideas you’ve been building over several weeks. That’s just overwhelming.

Instead, ask yourself: “What is one idea that I can sell to my team in our next meeting?” You should communicate it in a way that’s clear, to the point, and focused on a single solution or concept. Meaning, you should be able to…

2. Share your idea in ten minutes or less.
If you come prepared with a lengthy PowerPoint presentation to back your idea, odds are it won’t be well-received. (Ain’t nobody got time for that.)

Rather, break your idea down into a few different parts. First, create a headline that describes your pitch. Then, outline a few supporting points. This will help you present your idea clearly and concisely. Bonus points if you include hard evidence and data.

👉 See the last two strategies.

FIVE STARS

When’s the best time to ask for customer reviews?

How soon can I ask for those five stars?
On average, 10 days.

Why wait? I could ask my customers immediately.
You could — but you’d dramatically decrease your chances of actually getting a response.

According to studies, consumers are more likely to leave reviews when businesses wait to prompt them. Two of these experiments were recently conducted in South Korea — one for a travel agency, the other for a major clothing marketplace.

They compared the response rate for customers who were prompted for reviews versus those who weren’t asked at all. Comparatively, both businesses received similar or reduced responses from customers who were asked for reviews immediately — and they received significantly more reviews from customers who were asked after the 13- to 14-day mark.

So, you’re saying it’s better to wait.
Most of the time, yes! But it really depends on the type of business you have and the relationships you maintain with your customers.

Keep in mind that these experiments were conducted for online businesses. In-person stores and service businesses have different dynamics, as customers tend to get more personalized help. And the right timing for you depends on how long it takes for your customers to truly evaluate and process the experience of purchasing from your business.

If you truly want an answer, you’ll need to conduct a few experiments of your own. Try asking different groups of customers for reviews at different times — immediately, one week out, two weeks out, and so on. This will give you a better idea as to when your customer base is most comfortable being asked for reviews. Just be ready to take their feedback to heart!

👉 Learn more about the review experiments.

STARTER PACK

Template of the week: Customer Review Response Process

Ah, the customer review. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these reviews are crucial to your business’ success. All it takes is one glowing review from a moderately popular influencer to flood your business with new customers — and one scathing review to leave your email inbox a little emptier than the day before.

If you don’t have a review request process in place, you may want to consider running quarterly campaigns. We’re entering the second half of the year, so it’s a good time to focus on what your customers are really telling you about your products and services. What do they like? What don’t they like? And what’s the best way to respond to customers — especially when they don’t have much positive stuff to say?

👉 We outline the best way to approach review campaigns with our Customer Review Response Process template. Use this template as a jumping point for your step-by-step guide to responding to reviews — no matter what the customer has to say.

And while this template is specifically geared toward G2 reviews, you can still add it to your Trainual account and apply these tips to any review site — Yelp, Google Business, Facebook, the world is your oyster! ‍

Want more templates to help you build your business playbook? Check out our entire template archive of free, multimedia-enhanced, and customizable policy, process, and role starters. New to Trainual? Try for free.

TL;DR

This week's highlight reel

• Pay me, pal. The Venmo Small Business Grant is back! Offering those with a Venmo business account, less than 50K in annual revenue, and less than ten employees a chance at $10K. Be sure to apply by Aug 7.‍
• Bed Bath & Back From the Dead. Rumor has it the overpriced bankrupt home goods store was bought out by Overstock.com — who plans to merge the two business models, merchandise categories, and product offerings into a “bigger, better beyond.” We’re getting flashbacks of Adam Sandler waking up on a display mattress.‍
• Three-quarters. That’s how much of seller earnings Etsy is holding for 45 days after orders are placed. This steep withholding period is forcing some sellers to put their shops on vacation, and others to shut down completely. Maybe Etsy has it, but we don’t want it from ‘em anymore if they’re going to do our fellow small business peeps like that.‍
• Trouble in paradise? You’re not alone. Small business optimism is below average for the 18th consecutive month. The biggest reason: A jarring 92% of SMBs can’t find the workers they need. Need help luring in more applicants? Create a stand-out interview process that’s better than other hiring companies.