• Getting Reviews in 2020

    By ZonSupport | Posted on January 25, 2020| Blog

    Now more than ever, you have to focus on every opportunity to get reviews. Are they harder to get than in the “old days?” Yes…but so what! You have to adapt as fast as you can to create success in any business, not just Amazon.

    We see Amazon continuing to tighten their control of customer coms as they assert they are “their” customers. Many Sellers were suspended in December 2019 for sending out too many and/or non-compliant messages to customers.

    Take some time to look carefully at these four opportunities to ensure you get every single review that you can.

    1.  Amazon Vine: This was recently opened up to a wider audience at no charge. It used to only be available to a restricted number of sellers with a hefty $2000 per ASIN price tag. Who knows how long this will be opened up for…you must have Brand Registry.  Yes, there’s always a threshold for anything good these days!

    Don’t read any further….go log into your Seller Central Account right now and register for Vine. This can’t last forever so don’t miss out. Here’s where you will find this hugely exciting opportunity: Advertising/Vine/Enrol Products

    2. Early Reviewer Program: While this is intended for new product launches, maybe you will still meet the criteria and can take advantage of this. Once again, you must be enrolled in Brand Registry. The cost is $60 per SKU so it can mount up if you have many ASIN’s.

    Don’t focus on the cost but rather the benefit of getting those crucial initial reviews. 

    You can find this opportunity in Advertising/Early Reviewer Program

    3. Request a Review on each order: We’ve run some trials with clients on this and have seen a definite uplift in their reviews. While this was a very laborious process, we have some tech that makes this a one-click process. Many software suppliers are also making a solution available as well.

    If you’re not sure, reach out to them and ask.  We can either run our tool or manage your software providers if they have one available.  Log into your Seller Central account and look at this in more detail:

    Go to Manage Orders and open one. If it’s eligible (between 4 and 30-days after delivery), you will see this magic button appear: “Request a Review.” Just click on it and follow the steps.

    One point to consider. Do you send out a thank you message to your customers and asked for a review? There is mention within Amazon that you should not ask for a review twice. However, a very large percentage of these mails don’t go through because customers have opted out. Of those that do get through, the open rate is very low. We think it is worth the risk as these are two completely different pathways within Amazon.

    Here’s what the Amazon request looks like:

    From what we’ve observed, these review requests seem to go down a different pipe and land in the emails of customers who have opted out of marketing emails. We’re not 100% sure if this is a temporary glitch but the key thing here is to “Take Action” to quote Scott Voelker who is an absolute master at this. 

    4. Awesome Customer Service: Nothing has changed here. Customers usually only reach out to you if they have a problem. Focus on the resolution and over delivery. Would you pay me $40 if I could get you a 5-star review…of course you would! So just replace the product even if you’re not 100% sure it is necessary or “deserved.” The upside may be a 5-star review, not to mention avoiding the downside of a low-star review!

    Awesome Customer Care inspires gratitude which inspires customers to write great reviews!

    While I’m talking about this, make sure you’ve sat down and figured out all the potential problems with your product/delivery and decided how to answer them. Eg, not arrived, broken on delivery, wrong color/size/shape, no instructions, won’t turn on, etc.

    Write out your replies so when an issue arises you have a well thought out response. Don’t wing it as these situations really need very careful management. They’re not an interruption to your day but rather the reason you are in business!

    Never, ever push customers back to Amazon. You’ll shoot yourself in the foot as your return rate spikes and they close your listing with a please explain…even if it’s their fault as they shipped another customer’s return! 

    If you’re a DIY person, I hope this has helped you along the way. If you would like some help, we can manage all this and more for you with our US-based Customer Care team. Rates start at just $5/day…!!!

    As always, ask us anything. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll know someone who does!

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