The power of peer reviews can make or break a business.  Customer testimonials tell potential customers even more about a business than product descriptions and about pages can.

But gathering enough testimonials can be difficult, especially if you’re just starting out. Here are some ways to easily collect testimonials from your customers.

Make it easy for them

Probably the easiest way to get more reviews is to make it easy for people to leave them. Most people aren’t going to actively look for a way to leave a review, unless the service goes above and beyond. But if there’s an easy way to do it, they are much more likely to offer up their experience.

Set up profiles on review sites like Yelp, Google or LinkedIn, or place links to your social media profiles for rating your services. Include links to these profiles on your website, in your emails and on your receipts.

Just ask

Another easy way to gain testimonials is to just ask for them. Customers typically understand the value in a good review or testimonial and are usually willing to provide you with something is you just ask for it. Often times they simply don’t realize you’d like a testimonial, and asking nicely goes a long way.

Offer incentives

You don’t want to buy reviews, but you can offer incentives for leaving them. A small incentive like a free gift or a coupon code can be a great way to get people to open up and take action to leave a review.

Thank your customers

When you do get a review, thank that person! It makes the customer who left the review feel appreciated and it shows other customers that you’re grateful for your customers and encourages them to leave reviews as well.

Include testimonials as part of your process

Include asking for a testimonial or review part of your sales process. At the end of every sale, casually mention to the customer that you’d appreciate a positive review and let them know how they can easily leave one. If you have any employees, make sure they understand how important asking for a review or testimonial is and train them to do so as part of the sales process.

Testimonials and reviews can really help a business get ahead. When potential customers see that other people have used a business and walked away happy and satisfied, they are much more likely to use that business themselves. Gain more testimonials by making it easy for people to leave them, asking for them, offering incentives and being appreciative for the ones that you do get.