5 Ways To Use Online Reviews to Catapult Your New Client Acquisition

Online customer reviews for your fitness business can be extremely valuable AND stressful at the same time, leaving many owners conflicted about the best way to maneuver through this marketing minefield. With 87% of consumers reading reviews for local businesses, this online feedback is an ideal way for shoppers to weigh their expansive list of health and fitness options in order to purchase a service that ideally matches their exact needs.

How do you ask for customer reviews through Yelp, Google, or otherwise, to grow your business?

Consider the following five points when making your decisions around claiming your business on review websites and the best business practices to follow for making the most of these powerful social media channels.

A GIVEN

I shouldn’t even have to mention this, but I will just in case.

The golden rule for mastering the online reviews game is to provide an exceptional level product and service with a professional, polished customer experience that far exceeds the expectations of your customer in every way. The tips below are worthless without following this basic premise.

1. SURVEY YOUR CLIENTS

Before wasting your time gathering reviews on any specific site, survey your current and ideal client population with the question, “If you did not currently have my business to provide your health and fitness needs, which review website(s) would you use to locate my services?”

Every city and every market will have its own unique set of popular review sites. According to a 2021 ReviewTrackers customer survey, Google reviews top the list of most frequently used with customers looking to Google 65% of the time. Yelp is second on the list at 45%. At DIAKADI in San Francisco, our two leading review sites have followed this trend with Google My Business and Yelp. Focus your work on developing the most popular site(s) for your business, in order to guarantee that your ideal clients will find your reviews.

2. CLAIM YOUR BUSINESS

I find that MOST fitness business owners have not claimed their business through Google. Your first step is to claim your business page on each review site and brand your business profile with your marketing text (your mission, purpose, etc), business basics (contact, hours, etc), and business photographs and graphics. Every one of your social media and review profiles should have the same consistent look and feel for your customer.

3. REQUEST REVIEWS

Fitness business owners should actively request reviews from their repeat clients. One of the best times to ask for a review is directly after a client has achieved a goal or reached a milestone. Inviting them to share their experience can be an ideal way for them to brag about their achievement while also expressing their LOVE for you and your practice. I recommend making the review process as simple as possible for clients. With my review requests, I include the following list of thought-inspiring questions to help in gathering their thoughts and to guarantee that their reviews will cover the subjects that you are hoping they will address.

SAMPLE REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How would you describe your overall experience with *insert your business name*, from our initial communication through our work today?

2. What were the personal goals that led you to want to work with me/us?

3. What successes, achievements, upgrades, or improvements in your health, body or life have you had since working with me/us?

4. Who would you recommend would enjoy working with *insert your business name*?

4. KEEPING YELP REVIEWS VISIBLE

Yelp has a STRICT algorithm it follows in determining if each review on a business’s page is a ‘recommended review’ which remains on their main profile homepage or if the review is ‘not recommended’ and becomes hidden from the main homepage. In no way do I claim to fully understand their ‘secret code’, but based on our experiences, if you have clients reviewing you on Yelp, we recommend the following:

1. Yelp is looking to reward their truly active ‘Yelpers’, so be sure that your clients review other businesses and link to other friend’s profiles. If Yelp feels like your client built a profile simply to review you and your business, they will actually hide this ‘not recommended’ review from being seen on the homepage of your profile.

2. Yelp is also looking for organic reviews for businesses as opposed to reviews requested by business owners. If Yelp sees a large number of reviews suddenly appear on your profile (perhaps in response to a group email request you sent you ALL of your clients), this is possibly a red flag in their eyes, which may again lead to reviews being hidden and ‘not recommended’. If you are requesting reviews, I recommend doing these individually.

5. BE SOCIAL AND GRATEFUL

I will be honest, this is not something we did very well from day one of opening DIAKADI Fitness. Early on, as clients would review us on Yelp or Google, we would reach out to each of them directly through email to thank them, but we did not actually post a thank you message on Yelp or Google. Recently, while working with our interns, we had a realization that the whole point of social media was to connect with our followers on these sites, just as we would on Facebook or Instagram. Consequently, we now take the time to post a personalized response to every online review we receive. Our clients have appreciated the ‘shout out’ and I believe it shows our commitment to connecting with our customers in every way possible. We are always thankful to receive the feedback and greatly appreciate when a client takes the time to share their feedback about our business.