How & When To Get The Best Customer Reviews
Think about the last time you were looking for a service provider, maybe a branding designer or social media manager. Or even looking up travel towels on Amazon.
Did you check their reviews?
Did it sway your decision making process?
Did it lead you to purchase?
If it’s applicable, think about your own wedding, or when you’re hunting new vendors for wedding planning clients… Did you read reviews when considering wedding professionals?
See where I’m going with this?
Reviews and testimonial are essential for wedding businesses to grow their business and build credibility when attracting new customers. And if you’ve been doing any research or reading on marketing to Gen Z, you know trust is growing as an important factor in their buying habits, for businesses large and small.
Client quotes — more commonly called testimonials — are really important social proof from your past clients. You’re going to want to take the time to gather those quotes to share how much they loved working with you, how helpful you were, and that the finished product or service was well worth it.
Social proof is key.
Kind words from past clients are an essential part of compelling new clients to reach out and book you, beyond having pretty pictures in your wedding portfolio. Not just on review sites like The Knot or Wedding Wire, or Google.
They belong on your website too. You can even sprinkle them in your proposals and welcome guides to help alleviate buyer’s remorse.
You can turn one online review in to multiple sources of social proof to grow your wedding business, including images with text, star ratings, blog posts, even videos! You could take this a step further by following up with your clients for quick soundbites to turn in to reels, highlights and more. Sprinkle that social proof like confetti all over your marketing, website, and social media.
Getting reviews can be tricky sometimes, and something that we as wedding pros and planners put off, but it’s an important step of wrapping up with your wedding clients, in order to meet new ones and gain referrals as well. Not only that, those reviews can help you tweak and better your services for future clients.
Here’s how to get the best customer reviews and when to ask for them:
WHEN YOU ASK
You want to reach out at just the right time. When the awesome results you provided — AKA most amazing wedding ever, couldn’t have done it with out you, totally saved the day — are still fresh in their mind. But, when it comes to weddings, you don’t want to reach out too soon. Particularly, right after the wedding when they’re still hungover. Entertaining out-of-town guests. Or when they’re on their honeymoon and barely paying attention to emails.
In addition, some of us have more work to do after wedding day, like photographers and videographers who have a mountain of editing to complete before they can deliver their finished product that is really up for review. In that case, you could ask after you send sneak peeks, or (more likely) the final gallery.
So depending on your service, I suggest reaching out a about two to three weeks after the wedding or after delivery of your finished product. While everything is still fresh in their mind, is the key to success. For sure before a month has passed. But see the paragraph below about when to wait.
Having said that, it’s never too late. If you’ve been through a hell of a season and just now coming up for air, ask away! Ideally though, you want to touch base for reviews when your clients are ready and available. If you know your clients are jetting off on their honeymoon immediately, or perhaps moving in together and setting up house, or swamped back at work. Keep that in mind when it comes to the timing of your ask.
It’s not enough to screenshot their day-after “thank you, you were amazing” email or text and post that to your Instagram stories.
You need something a little more formal to share again and again.
Don’t put it off! Get those testimonials.
WHAT YOU ASK
Happy clients write happy reviews, but prompted clients write amazing reviews.
At the beginning of my wedding planning business, I used to send clients straight to Wedding Wire to gather their reviews and then I would reuse those for my website. Later I would ask them to copy and paste those to Google. But there was an important step missing from those single box nearly blank forms: prompts.
I use specific questions to guide clients in what they say and how they say it.
These will speak better to what my future clients reading those words on my website want to hear. Including the confusion and stress they’re experiencing right now as they plan their wedding and consider different wedding vendors. You want those potential clients nodding their head as they read along on your website, both in your web copy and your client testimonials. Thinking to themselves, “We need this!”
So what do I ask? Questions like, “How did you feel before we worked together?” Or “What would you say to a friend who wants to hire me?”
Don’t make this too crazy long. If it feels like homework, they’ll avoid it. Three to five questions is the sweet spot.
Anyone can say the “service was great, they were super happy with it, thanks a million.” But getting in to specifics is incredibly helpful for your potential wedding clients to better consider.
The more specific social proof the better.
Once you have their response by email, format it for your website, ask them to copy and paste it on Google reviews, and other listing sites like the ones I mentioned previously. And of course you’ll want to blast it on social media as well in static grid posts, highlights, stories and reels.
HOW YOU ASK
You can simply email them with your prompt questions. Or, if you’re using a CRM like (my fave) Dubsado, I’d encourage you to automate the process and send it as a form. Then it’s one less step for you to think about when you’re wrapping up a client file. Personally, I have the form as a Questionnaire in my Dubsado templates, and none of my clients get archived until the review is completed. So that’s my reminder to send the form. I even have a “status” set for this in Dubsado.
Make it easy for them.
A form to fill out with prompt questions is much simpler, and will start them off like a Q&A. A lot less intimidating than them writing from scratch, staring at the blank Google review form box. Because most of us don’t feel like great writers. And when you give them zero questions to start with, you can often expect the most basic and boring reviews. Not bad, but they won’t have the big impact you’ll really want.
HOW OFTEN TO ASK
This is a pretty common question in my coaching sessions. How often should I be asking my clients for a review, if they’re not responding?
First, if clients aren’t leaving a review (or responding to your asking for one) I would first consider if there was some reason they might be unsatisfied. If that’s the case, they might feel its more polite to say nothing at all. Rather than embarrass you or be confrontational.
I would say most often, it’s simply a case of them being busy and not prioritizing it. So once again, following the advice above, make it easy for them and ask at the right time.
I would follow up about a week after my first ask, then another two weeks after that. Beyond three asks, up to you if you want to try one more time, or call it a day.
IN CONCLUSION
Following up for reviews is something a lot of wedding pros tend to procrastinate on. But I urge you to have a simple routine to reach out for them, follow up, and a protocol for what to do with the completed reviews.
The more you slack on this process, the longer you’re lacking in new social proof that could have a positive impact on your wedding biz. Like compelling new clients to work with you. Or at the very least, adding new tidbits to your website, that will have a positive impact on your SEO. Plus, more reviews on Google can be helpful for your ranking as well.
