How to Get Your First 100 Facebook Reviews - BodyShop Business

How to Get Your First 100 Facebook Reviews

If you want to see faster results, you have two options: get more customers, or convert more customer interactions into online reviews.

People rely on Facebook reviews because of their accuracy over time. Of course, not every single review reflects the customer experience perfectly, but an aggregate review score quickly tells new customers what type of experience they can expect at your body shop.

Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut to get Facebook reviews or improving reviews and ratings overnight. If customers regularly have a subpar experience, then your ratings will reflect that and the only lasting way to change ratings is to improve your customer’s experience.

For many body shops, however, it’s not so much a problem of quality ratings and reviews, but rather the quantity of customers leaving them. If your shop has less than 10 Facebook reviews, it sends a bad message to potential customers. Even if your sales and service are top-notch, it takes time to build up credibility online.

This guide will walk you through a simple approach to getting your first 100 Facebook reviews. It requires you to manually send review invites, and even though it is a free approach, it will require an investment of time.

0-10 Ask Family

Getting your first 10 reviews should be simple. So, in order to build your confidence, ask family who’ve already visited your shop to leave an honest review. This is an easy way to get started, gain some momentum and get Facebook reviews.

One of the benefits of Facebook reviews is that each review has a ripple effect and can be seen by the reviewer’s audience on the platform. Once you’ve gained 10 or so glowing reviews from your next of kin, it’s time to cast a slightly broader net.

11-20 Ask Extended Family

The next 10 reviews will be slightly harder than the first 10, but still fairly simple. Instead of just relying on your immediate family, think broadly about any family who has visited your shop. This might be a rich uncle or a cousin who moved away.

The point is that this group knows you and your shop and would feel privileged to leave you an awesome review. You should know everyone in this group by name and easily be able to send them a review invite online. With 20 positive reviews in the tank, it’s time to step up our game to the next level.

21-30 Ask Friends

In golf terms, the first 20 reviews were tap-ins. The next 20 will require slightly more hustle, but nothing you can’t handle to get Facebook reviews. Now that you’ve reached out to relatives, let’s tap into your social network.

Think of all the people who you spend time with on a weekly basis. There’s a great chance they’ve been to your shop and an even greater chance they’ll leave you a great review.

What if you feel awkward asking friends and family for reviews?

It’s not unusual to feel slightly apprehensive about mixing business with your personal life. But keep in mind the fact that 77% of consumers say they would be willing to leave a review if asked by a business. As an owner, you already know how much people love to share their opinions, and really that’s all you’re asking for. So go for it and see just how well your first 10 to 20 review invites are received.

31-40 Ask Your Social Network

The term “friend” is used pretty loosely on Facebook, which is great for influencers but not helpful when you’re trying to narrow down your list of friends to invite to get Facebook reviews for your shop. This next round of invites will be sent to friends that you might not see on a weekly basis. Think of any groups that you might be a part of, such as a softball team or community garden. Send review invites to familiar faces on this list who have visited your business.

Sidenote: Remember, not every review has to come from a regular customer. Anyone who has been to your shop can vouch for it in the form of a review.

41-50 Ask Employees

Some of your very best customers might be hiding in plain sight. If you haven’t already, ask your employees to review your shop. Like it or not, their job depends on the success of your shop – although you might not mention that to them when asking for reviews.

If you think that they’re unlikely to leave you a good review, then it’s probably time to make some more substantial changes to improve employee satisfaction. Just like that, you’re halfway to 100 Facebook reviews.

51-60 Ask Former Employees

Summer jobs are the best. Whether you’re a golf caddy or a temporary office administrator, the stakes are usually pretty low. And when summer ends, it’s back to school without the stress of promotions or career path.

For most shops, temporary and former employees are an excellent audience to invite to review your business. Obviously, you want to focus on the employees who left on good terms. But if you’ve been in business for a few years, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a dozen or so employees to talk up your business.

61-70 Ask Vendors

If you run a reputable local business, then you’re probably on pretty good terms with a variety of vendors. Not only have they visited your business, but it’s in their best interest to see you succeed. This is a great opportunity to get Facebook reviews.

You probably know most of these people well enough to send them invites online. However, you might need to invite some of them in-person the next time they stop by your shop. If it’s feeling too unnatural to ask for an invite out of the blue, try running a monthly promotion to get more reviews.

71-80 Ask Past Customers

Admit it! Getting reviews isn’t as hard as you thought it was going to be. For the last third of your reviews, we’ll focus squarely on your customers. After all, that’s who you typically think of as leaving a review.

But you might not have thought of former customers who you no longer see regularly. This audience may have come in once or twice and then just stopped coming in. Maybe their insurer steered them somewhere else, but whatever the case, you haven’t seen them in awhile.

Pro tip: If your Facebook page is fairly active, you can find former customers by going through likes and comments on old posts. Sending a review invite on Facebook is great way to keep in touch or reconnect with old customers with a side benefit of getting Facebook reviews.

81-90 Ask Today’s Customers

The second-to-last group is our most engaged audience because they’re actually in your shop – or, if you’re reading this, then they may have just left. In reality, the most effective way to collect reviews is to send invites shortly after a customer completes their transaction with you.

For the next batch of reviews, try sending invites to your next 10 customers right after they complete their transaction. Since this audience has no other tie to you than your business, prepare yourself, because they will be more forthcoming with customer feedback than the other groups we’ve invited already.

91-100 Ask Future Customers

How can you send Facebook review invites to customers you haven’t even met yet? The most successful local businesses actually integrate Facebook reviews and Google reviews into their sales process so review invites automatically go out to every single customer as soon as they complete their transaction. But you don’t have to be a Podium customer to set up a simple process at your business for inviting future customers to leave a Facebook review.

Some of the best processes are also the most simple, so don’t overthink it. It’s easy to look at businesses with thousands of positive reviews and feel overwhelmed. But the truth is that your reputation is built in every interaction you have with your customers. And just like any relationship, it’s built over time, not overnight. If you want to see faster results, you have two options: get more customers, or convert more customer interactions into online reviews.

You May Also Like

The Digital Blitz

We talk so much about how much collision repair is changing, but so is the world of media!

We talk so much in the pages of BodyShop Business about how rapidly the collision repair industry is changing, but the world of BodyShop Business is changing drastically too — the world of media, that is. Change is everywhere! Is there anything that is not changing? Change, as they say, is inevitable. I liken it to a freight train that will steamroll you unless you get on board.

Auto Body Shops: Building a Foundation for the New Year

For the new year, it’s important to conduct a thorough audit of your finances to look for areas of opportunity and things to change.

Auto Body Consolidation Update: There’s a New Buyer in Town

The good news for shops that want to sell but do not fit a consolidator’s
profile is that there is a fresh pool of new buyers.

Is Your Auto Body Shop a Hobby … or a Business?

So you want to provide safe and properly repair vehicles to your customers … even at a financial loss?

BodyShop Business 2023 Executives of the Year

Greg Solesbee was named the Single-Shop Executive of the Year, and Charlie Drake was named the Multi-Shop Executive of the Year.

Other Posts

This Could Be Your Last Text

A sign I saw on the highway that said “This Could Be Your Last Text” reminded me of my son’s recent car wreck.

SUNY Morrisville Auto Body Program Makes Students, Cars Shine 

A 1997 Mustang Cobra is getting the chance to shine again, thanks to students in Alexander Graf’s auto body technology classes.

3 Strategies to Improve Your Insurance Protection

If you’re looking to improve your shop operations and set yourself up for success in 2024, remember these three insurance strategies.

A Scary Moment Reminds Us of the Importance of Proper Collision Repairs

My son’s car wreck reminded me that we literally hold people’s lives in our hands in the collision repair business.