How To Make A
Restaurant Review Machine:
3 Secret Hacks For 'Turning On The Tap' Of A Flood Of Positive Google Reviews.
By Phil Wilson
(5 Minute Read)
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How To Make A
Restaurant Review Machine:
3 Secret Hacks For 'Turning On The Tap' Of A Flood Of Positive Google Reviews.
By Phil Wilson
(5 Minute Read)
Welcome, Restaurant Managers!
My name is Phil Wilson and I'm excited that you've found your way to this blog post. It seems to me that this post has blown up in recent months and I wanted to make sure I updated the head to introduce myself to all the new folks finding this post.
I run a marketing agency that specializes in Digital Marketing and today I'm excited to walk you through something that has been working really well to get our clients a lot of new business coming through the door.
The strategy involves building a "Restaurant Review Machine".
Let's dive in and talk about how it all works.
What We're Going To Cover In This Post
(click to skip to any section)
1. Why Google Reviews Are The Smart Thing To Focus On For Growth.
2. The 7 Insider Secrets For Growing Your Restaurant Through Google Reviews.
3. The "3 Ingenious Hacks" To Create A Google Review Machine For Your Restaurant.
4. How To Double Your Business In The Next 3 Months By Putting Your Google Review Machine To Work.
Let's Get Started...
Part 1:
Why Google Reviews Are The Smart Thing To Focus On For Growth.
All the statistics show that online reviews are a crucial factor in how consumers make choices. I won't bore you with listing all the studies on this. But let me just remind you of the logic of it before we get into the good stuff and show you how to create a reliable flood of reviews for your business. It comes down to two powerful reasons.
A) People Love Reviews!
You've done it, I've done it. We consult reviews before we commit to a restaurant or other service. Increasingly, we also look for signs of authenticity as we know it's perhaps possible that some businesses could produce fake positive reviews for themselves.
We know that businesses can make themselves look pretty with fancy websites and appealing images. But the real issue is, have other people actually found them to be good? If there are lots of authentic positive reviews which are also recent, then that is a powerful motivator to entrust myself to a business.
Conversely, a lack of reviews—or worse, an abundance of negative feedback— is going to leave me in doubt. Someone else can take the gamble on trying you out. I'm going to go with the tried and tested options.
Very often, people will consult reviews as the number one factor in their decision about whether to choose your services or not.
B) Google Loves Reviews!
Google Reviews are a significant factor in local search engine optimization (SEO). When users search for businesses or services in their area, Google takes into account both the quantity and quality of reviews.
Businesses with more positive reviews are more likely to rank higher in local search results and appear in the coveted "Local 3-Pack" that appears at the top of search pages. This increased visibility can lead to more website traffic, foot traffic, and ultimately, more customers. For small businesses, competing with bigger brands can be challenging, but Google Reviews offer a way to stand out in local searches by enhancing SEO efforts without significant investment.
Attracting More Google Reviews Are The Most Efficient Method To Grow Your Restaurant.
There are other ways to drive traffic to your restaurant. You could run ads on facebook or in your local newspaper. Let's hope the ads work because they can very quickly become very expensive. Sometimes to do this well, you might have to offer a deal which might make you appear a bit desparate for business and also can cut into your profits from people only coming to score a deal. If your deal is too good, you may actually get too many new customers that you can deal with at once.
By all means, try advertising a special deal if you like, but a more reliable and sustainable method of growth is to establish a powerful routine for regularly attracting positive Google reviews every week.
So, Google Reviews are crucial for attracting new customers.
Before I describe three ingenious hacks for collecting a consistent flood of reviews on autopilot, let’s just review seven basic principles which are the foundations for what your Google Review Machine is going to need to work.
Part 2:
The 7 Insider Secrets For Growing Your Restaurant Through Google Reviews.
1. Wow Your Customers.
People are much more likely to leave a review if they have an experience which is in some way exceptionally unique and worth talking about.
So ask yourself, is there anything you can do which sets you apart from every other restaurant in the way you operate and what you offer? You want to make a huge first impression and come across as classy, fun, and unique.
2. Ask Your Customers For Reviews (and do it several times).
Leaving a review is rarely a top priority in most people’s minds. If you want reviews, you will intentionally need to put the thought into their minds. The trick is to do it in a way that doesn’t make you seem like you’re begging for it and that doesn't take a lot of effort from you.
The more you can subtly put a request before them for a review, the higher the chance they will respond. So we suggest you ask them at least three times for a review in a way that is subtle but clear (see below for how we do this).
3. Make It Easy For Them.
Give them a link which takes them straight to your Google profile rather than making them search around for it themselves. If they need to do a Google search to find your restaurant and then hunt around for the section to write their review, nine times out of ten they will get distracted first and forget about it.
Another way you can make it easy for them is to offer them an AI draft to help them write the review. The novelty of this alone will be irresistible for many to try out.
4. Respond To Each Review Posted.
Google rewards you with higher rankings when you respond to each review, and it shows your potential customers that you are actively engaged. If on the rare occasion you do get a negative review, a quick response does wonders to diminish the harm done.
5. Display Your Reviews.
Your positive reviews are one of your biggest customer magnets. The home page of your website should have at least 3 positive reviews displayed with a recent date of when they were posted. Let people know what other customers experienced when they visited you.
6. Display Your Reviews #2.
Your website should also have a whole page dedicated to listing positive reviews, which require you to scroll down and down to read, with the most recent at the top. The message is clear: the world is simply full of people who came to your restaurant and had a marvellous experience.
7. Display your reviews #3.
Post several positive reviews on social media each week. Why spend effort getting your reviews if you’re not putting them to use? Make sure that they are presented in an attractive format.
So, these are the basic strategies and principles which will be the foundation of your Google Review Machine. In the next section, I will describe the specifics of how you can put these principles into action.
It is a method of effortlessly generating a consistent flood of reviews each week which doesn't require us to beg or bribe our customers.
Let me share it with you.
Part 3:
The 3 Ingenious Hacks To Create A Google Review Machine For Your Restaurant.
Of course, there is no way to force your customers to leave a review. But it helps to realise that most people are not necessarily opposed to the idea of leaving a review. The reason why the great majority of your visitors do not leave a review is simply that they do not think about it, or perhaps they are busy with other priorities.
So the key to consistently seeing a flood of reviews each week is to make a definite 'wow factor' impression on your customers, and then very subtly give them multiple invitations to leave a review in a way that is very clear and easy for them to follow through on. The good news is that this can be done in a way that is very simple and requires barely any effort from you.
What I will do below is spell out how to go about putting together the most important part of the Google Review Machine. Here are "3 Ingenious Hacks" to help you to invite customers to leave a review on autopilot.
Ingenious Hack 1:
Place a "Tap For Trivia" Stand On Each Table Of Your Restaurant.
On each table of your restaurant a small "Tap For Trivia" stand is placed, which invites your customers to play a Trivia game on their phones while they wait for their food to be served.
An NFC stand works best for this, in which the customer taps the stand with their phone, or use a QR code as a second option. The trivia questions can ask your customers questions about your restaurant and the menu, as well as general trivia questions about your town or history.
What on earth does this have to do with getting reviews? Nothing, at first. If you are too direct in asking for a review, it can be a bit offputting and make you look desparate. But these trivia stands very subtly achieve several powerful results.
Firstly, they 'wow' your customers and give them a very positive experience of your restaurant even before their food has arrived. This is a unique experience which they will not have experienced at other restuarants. They break the ice for conversation at the table and people often find themselves intrigued to try tapping their phone and having a go at the trivia questions or conversation starters.
Asking For The Review
At the end of the game of 10 questions, the customer is thanked for playing, and then is given this message. "We would be honoured if you would consider leaving a review on Google for us at the link below". The customer is then given the option to either go ahead and leave a review, or to do it "Maybe later". Now many customers may choose the second option, given that they may not have even received their food yet, but can you see what has been achieved?
We have given them a unique, fun and positive experience even before their food has arrived, we have planted the idea of leaving us a review in their mind, and got them to at least make a small commitment to "maybe later" leave us a review.
A further benefit of the trivia stands is that it allows us to collect their email addresses which we can use later to add them to a regular email newsletter, and to also send another reminder about leaving us a review the next day.
There are lots of ways in which you can make the trivia quiz online. The simplest is to use an online form builder, like aidaform or involve.me, and use one of their quiz templates. Simply put a list of questions into the quiz, and use your NFC stand or QR code to point to the link of the quiz.
We have an advanced system which we can help you with if you're interested also. Here is an example trivia quiz you can try out to see what this looks like.
Ingenious Hack 2:
Place a Google Review Stand On Your Counter.
Now that you have planted the idea that your customer should post a review in your Tap for Trivia activity, it is time to follow it up as they conclude their meal with you.
Some of your customers may have already written a review but some may have put it off for later. Now as they approach the counter to pay the bill, they are reminded again of their earlier intention to post a review as they cannot help seeing the Google Review Stand on the countertop.
Like the 'Tap For Trivia' stand, this is an invitation to 'Tap Your Phone To Leave A Review'. This is so much easier to use than a QR code, and it has a novelty factor to it that draws in a much higher rate of responses. Once they tap their phone, they are taken on their phones straight to
your specific restaurant's Google Review page, all ready for them to fill in their review.
You can easily purchase a stand like this on Amazon, or get in touch with us if you would like us to provide one for you which we sell for $40.
Ingenious Hack 3: Send Your Customers Away With A Google Review Card In Hand.
There is one more step to take to make it as easy as possible for your customers to fill in a review. They now have received two very specific invitations to leave a review, in the Tap for Trivia game, and the Google Review Stand. But still many will procrastinate and prefer to leave a review later on when they have more time.
As you hand them the receipt for their meal, you also hand them a Google Review Card (see picture below). If you like, you may also like to then give them another gentle verbal reminder to leave you a review as you hand them the card. Once again, the QR code takes them straight to your Google Review page.
Apart from sending them a follow-up email later, you have now given yourself the strongest possibility of getting your customers to respond with a Google review. Remember- the main problem we have to overcome is simply their tendency to forget the invitation to leave a review. We have now very subtly given them multiple invitations to respond- and all with a minimum of effort from you.
By using these three very simple and subtle methods you've set in place the foundations to create a steady flood of reviews every single week for your restaurant. To make it even more powerful, you could also send an email or text message to request from them a review the next day.
Part 4:
How To Double Your Business In The Next 3
Months By Putting Your Google Review Machine To Work.
Everything that we just covered above in part 3 can be built in a weekend and then turned on right away to start working for your business. The key is to get the "Machine" live so that it starts feeding itself. Over the span of 3 months, this is the kind of technology that can 2-3x your business because it continues to feed itself (new reviews = higher rankings = more traffic = more sales = more reviews).
If you aren't overly technically savvy but still want to take advantage of this, you can send this walkthrough to any skilled digital marketing agency out there and they can set up the tech for you.
You can also contact us and we can do it for you! (Shameless plug).
I hope you enjoyed the walkthrough and understand the power behind setting up a Google review feedback loop (aka "the Google Review Machine") and get one going for your restaurant right away. The benefits of having something like what we walked through above start showing up within weeks of it being live.
Author
Phil Wilson
After studying computer science and education at university, Phil has worked as a teacher, pastor, and in digital marketing. Phil now heads up Growth Tap Digital Solutions, which works with businesses to create digital machines that grow your presence in your local community.
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