How to get good customer reviews (for course creators)

Have you ever asked customers for a review of your product and got something that sounded like a greeting card: "Really nice, thank you."

Or worse, wanted to ask for a review, only to back out because it feels awkward?

Sometimes it feels icky to ask for reviews. The customer already parted with their hard-earned money for your product, now you're asking them for nice words about you, too?

Here's the thing: good reviews increase conversion rate by up to 60%. If you aren't doing the math, that amounts to a lot of dollars. So maybe don't sleep on asking for them, OK?

I recently took a copywriting course (that wasn't very helpful, ha!), and about a week later, I got an email asking for for reviews in a way that didn't feel invasive or like the teacher was fishing for compliments. I was like "ohhhhhhh, that's how these people get such good reviews!"

I started implementing a few different automations and mindset shifts in my own business and just like magic, started getting great reviews, which lead to more sales!

Here's a few tips to get you started:

ask specific questions.

Don't lead with wringing your hands and saying "Hey, if you have time maybe leave me a review, but if not that's ok too." People don't want to come up with words. And if they do, they probably aren't the words you want to put on your website.

Asking specific questions relieves the burden of them having to come up with things to say, and it guides the conversation so you get answers that are actually helpful. Win-win!

Here are a few examples:

1. What was your biggest takeaway from my {name of course}?

2. What is the biggest change you are creating as a result of this class?

3. What part of the course did you find most helpful?

4. How has this course impacted your growth/success/etc?
   

Pick 1-2 questions to ask. Any more than that and it's cumbersome. Keep it fast!

what about negative reviews?

Asking specific questions (like the ones above) based on a positive outcome will lead to FAR fewer complaints in your inbox!

And if you do get a negative review, it gives you more information about your business, your product, or your client. Remember that sometimes negative reviews come from someone investing in your product when it wasn't right for them, which means your messaging is off.

It can also just be that they're having a bad day!

But honestly, using these prompts for getting reviews has been a game changer. I haven't had a single bad review since I started. People who need help email me for customer service instead of leaving a nasty review.

offer them something in exchange

Bribery works, ok?

When I launched my first course, I offered a free quilt pattern in exchange for the first ten reviews. I ended up giving away far more than that because I forgot to turn off the automated emails, but that's fine! I had plenty to choose from.

Which leads me to this:

automate, automate, automate.

Set up an automated welcome sequence when people buy your course. The first email should be a welcome/info email, then about a week later another email goes out asking for a review. Use zapier if you have to. I mostly use the free plan, but upgrade to the paid one during launches (it's how I run most of my business, to be honest. It keeps overhead down!).

now it's your turn!

Go set up an automation to ask for reviews. And if you have an established product, don't be shy about asking your existing customer for a review. It might even remind them that they bought your course and loved it, and bring them back into your digital space!

Need help setting up your automations? Check out my services page!