In today’s digital economy, potential customers want credibility about your business before making a buying decision. Social proof or online customer reviews help potential customers 
with their decisions. What if you are short on time or are overwhelmed by the process of getting good customer reviews? Can you outsource this business function?
Yes, there are service providers and third party people who can do online customer reviews for your business. In this post, I will explore the pluses and minuses of using third party resources.
The Pluses of Outsourcing Your Customer Reviews
Time Well Spent
Many small business owners are “jacks of all trades” in their businesses. They simply don’t have enough time to do everything. They would rather focus on sales or marketing. Outsourcing customer reviews can save time.
Some Reviews Count More
Each of us has personally experienced situations where we needed expert help. Let’s say we are looking for an attorney to help with bankruptcy. Whose review would carry more weight with you? The review of a tax professional reviewing a bankruptcy attorney or the review of a customer reviewing the same bankruptcy attorney? Some reviews count more than others.
There is even some evidence that Google pays more attention to power reviewers, those who make multiple reviews. A Better Business Bureau review carries more weight with Google. (Some BBB’s are now allowing customer to provide online reviews about businesses in their organization. See article)
Objectivity
As customer reviews become more common, people ask more questions about their objectivity. Are customer reviews being manipulated by a business? At one point in our carpet business, we experimented with having our installers invite customers to complete an evaluation (a form of customer review) while the installers were at the customer’s home. The installers felt uncomfortable. The customers felt more uncomfortable telling the installer what they really thought. We dropped this experiment in favor of a more objective process.
A “trusted reviews manifesto” and logo has been created by social commerce company Reevoo to counter allegations of fake reviews, paid-for reviews and selective display of only positive reviews that some businesses are now using.
The Minuses of Outsourcing Your Customer Reviews
Customer Loyalty Issues
Outsourcing your customer review process may affect customer loyalty issues. “A consumer survey shows that 70 percent say they would appreciate being asked to write a review by a local business owner while only six percent say they would rather not be asked according to RatePoint, an online reputation management firm.” RatePoint Survey.
Working directly with customers to get reviews builds champions for your business. Customers, who proudly provide a good review, will do more than reviews. They feel honored to help you and others. They will become a champion for your business telling many others. A third party may not have the same relationship with your customers.
Costs
Small business budgets are tight. Using a third party to outsource customer reviews will require additional expenses.
Conclusion
Every customer review option has pluses and minuses. Recognizing that online customer reviews improve your credibility, you need to decide whether outsourcing the customer reviews process is right for your business. In the next post, I will show several outsourcing options you can use.
Share your comments about outsourcing in the Reply Section below. Thank you.
