“A brand is just a collection of guest experiences.”
– Zoës Kitchen

This statement, made by our client Zoës Kitchen, is completely spot on. GatherUp started working with Zoës Kitchen, a 260 location fast casual restaurant serving a Mediterranean menu, in 2017. They came to us from another customer experience solution that wasn’t providing enough customer feedback or online reviews. It also fell short on the timing needed to produce results and correct poor experiences.

GatherUp worked quickly to streamline feedback and review requests, improve the ease with which customers can contact Zoës Kitchen, and to deliver custom reporting that tracks process at a location and regional level.

With GatherUp, Zoës Kitchen was able to:

• Integrate online ordering and mobile app to automatically send review requests after a digital order
• Integrate our Customer Feedback Locator into their website
• Use Auto-Tagging to group customer feedback into themes
• Receive customized reporting to allow management to take action and measure results

Increasing Google Reviews 287% & Capturing 30,000 Pieces Of Feedback Per Month

The results are outstanding. In the 18 months since we started working with Zoës Kitchen, we helped more than double their Google reviews. What the brand had accumulated in over 8 years of being in business was increased by 287% in just 1.5 years by using GatherUp.

Overall online reviews to the restaurant review sites they focused on doubled as well, topping over 75,000 reviews in total on Google, Trip Advisor, Open Table, Facebook, and Zomato. Most importantly, Zoës Kitchen was hearing about the experiences of over 30,000 customers EVERY month. This wave of data gave them incredible insight to their guest’s experiences.

Download The Case Study

Here is the full case study for GatherUp and Zoës Kitchen.

• Download the Case Study now

Insuring A Stronger Online Reputation

Allan Kaplan used GatherUp (formerly GetFiveStars) for over one year to connect with his customers, get customer feedback and build online reviews.  In that year Allan increased his number of online reviews to over 40 (15 on Google alone), and received feedback from over 380 customers.

The Kaplan Insurance Agency established a Net Promoter Score of 89 over the year, an excellent score and well above the insurance industry average of 26.  Let’s look at what Allan has to say about using GatherUp.

Mike: Please tell us about yourself.

Allan: Good afternoon. My name is Allan Kaplan. It’s Kaplan Insurance Agency, and I am an independent insurance agent located in the Hudson Valley which is in Wappingers Falls, New York, upstate New York, about 60 miles North of New York City.

Mike: Is it a competitive market?

Allan: It’s a very competitive market. I think anything in New York is competitive and the closer that you get to Manhattan, the more competitive it gets.

Mike: Could you describe when you get some negative feedback, how you handle it internally?

Allan: Well, fortunately for us, I haven’t received a lot of negative feedback. But the negative feedback that we have received, we get back in an email so I’m able to tackle it very quickly. What I also feel is that, getting it back to us before it gets out of hand. So, the customer hasn’t left me yet to go to a competitor. They’re basically letting us know that there’s an issue out there, there’s a problem.

So, this way I can call them, address it, find out what the problem is and see if we can get it corrected and move on from there. And I can say that a hundred percent so far, that we’ve been able to address it, call the customer, and find out what was wrong. Whether with us, was it the insurance company, was it the claims?

We’re just trying to figure out…was it billing? There could’ve been several different things and a lot of times, we’re not even aware of it because it’s not…even though it’s our customer, they’re dealing direct sometimes with the insurance company. So, we were able to find out what the problem was and get it addressed and fixed.

Mike: How do you leverage positive feedback in your organization?

Allan: Yes, it’s been great. So, we’ve been getting a very good response on our feedbacks and they come to us in an email format. So, what I normally do is then I will share that information in our weekly or monthly sales meeting and we get a lot of feedback for my employees, if they did a nice job. And the feedback will say, “Hey,” for example, “Josh was my salesman and he did an excellent job. We love Josh” or whoever it might be.

So, I want to share that information, that positive feedback, so they can see that the job they’re doing really matters, and also that we are sending this feedback. We want to know from our customers how we stand, and it’s been very helpful. And also, at that point, I’m sending an email back to the client stating that, “Thanking them for the response. We really appreciate it.”

Mike: What do you like about the feedback that you get using GatherUp (formerly GetFiveStars)?

Allan: Yeah. So first, the feedback is giving us…so, if customers are seeing it, whether it’s on the website or if they’re seeing more than stars, what does stars mean? So, it gives more of a feedback, letting our clients know or somebody else that’s looking on the internet about us that, “Hey, we’ve got X amount of feedbacks. Here’s what they’re saying about us.” So, this is what…this is more than what a star is. This is what it means to us.

The GatherUp Testimonial Widget on Kaplan’s website

Mike: You’re in a not a very sexy industry, I’m afraid to say, and it’s one where there’s not a lot of reviews normally on Google and Facebook. How have you been doing on the review front since you started using the product?

Allan: Actually, we’ve been doing very well. I mean, we would like to do better, of course. But if I look at my competitors and go on Google now, and I see the local listings and we see that we have, I think we might be over 12 reviews now in the past year on Google. Plus, we incorporated Facebook so now we also have a few on Facebook.

*Kaplan Insurance now has 15 reviews on Google and 24 reviews on Facebook.

Google reviews for Kaplan Insurance Agency

It really means a lot when people are starting…they’re looking online, they see stars and now that they can actually read reviews, I think it’s really important. I know myself, different industries, if I’m going to a restaurant or if I’m looking at different industries, I’m looking at reviews and what they’re saying. And I think it makes a difference in determining which way I’m going to go if I’m looking online, which phone call am I going to make?

Facebook reviews for Kaplan Insurance Agency

Mike: How do you compare to your local competitors on the review front?

Allan: It’s incredible. I don’t think there’s anybody, there’s nobody even close. The last I looked, there was a couple other competitors that are local that have a few reviews, and that was just recently. So before that, they had zero reviews and I have a dozen.

Mike: What would you tell another insurance agent that was considering using GetFiveStars?

Allan: Well, as long as it’s not a competitor. If it was a competitor, I would tell them it’s an awful service, but anyone that’s not in my geographical area, I would recommend it highly to them, and I have. So, I think it’s fantastic. It’s one of the few things out there that a lot of agents aren’t attacking, and they don’t know anything about it. So, I feel it’s very relevant and I would suggest that they jump on it.

This Customer Spotlight features Kai Kanani Sailing Charters who operates snorkeling, whale watching (in-season) and sunset tours with daily departures from Makena/South Maui. Snorkel equipment, instruction, and select food/drinks are included in all snorkel tours. They have marine naturalists on-board, so you can learn more about all of the fascinating underwater life you see. They provide free shuttle service from select locations and even have GoPro4 cameras available for rent on-board.

Photo from TripAdvisor review by Jencornell

We asked the following questions about our customer feedback platform with Jennifer Lysuaght who is Kai Kanani Sailing Charter’s Director of Sales & Marketing.

1.   How did you come across GetFiveStars?

In my previous experience working with Fortune 500 brands, I had always envisioned a way to collect customer feedback (both positive and negative) without necessarily broadcasting the sentiments across the Internet. No one seemed to have a customer satisfaction feedback loop that allowed the brand to take action for improvement, while also being mindful of reputation management.

When I started to work with smaller companies like Kai Kanani Sailing Charters, it was obvious that they live and die by the reviews they receive on 3rd party review sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp. I simply did a Google search and after eliminating many CRM providers, I thankfully found GetFiveStars.

2. How important are reviews to your potential customers?

Reviews are very important to our potential customers and although we have several persuasive value propositions that set Kai Kanani apart, consumers still have many choices in the local Maui market.

The reviews we receive help potential guests get an idea of what a tour with Kai Kanani will be like and it allows us to shine through an authentic voice. There have been several instances where guests have commented that the reviews they read on a platform such as Trip Advisor or Facebook finalized their decision to choose Kai Kanani…and they were not disappointed.

We display over 300 customer testimonials using the GetFiveStars Testimonial Widget on our own website as well.

4.  How easy or difficult did you find the set-up process of our platform?

I found the set up process to be very intuitive and quick. The customizable templates for email communication were very easy to navigate and the resulting “look and feel” felt perfectly on-brand. I also like that we can shift thresholds and make changes in real-time.

5. Tell us about how using GetFiveStars has improved your business to date?

In the four (4) months in which we have utilized GetFiveStars, we have received nearly 500 reviews with a 16% response rate to the feedback email requests. That, in and of itself, is far beyond the industry average for email communications. Also, although the data is not perfect, anecdotally I can say that both the quality and quantity of reviews via 3rd party sites such as Trip Advisor and others have improved dramatically.

6.   What is one thing about our platform that stood out the most in using it?

The price for the value received. Small businesses need solutions like GetFiveStars that don’t have high monthly minimums or lengthy contracts. The price is negligible compared to the high value received through reputation management, email communications, and reporting.

7.   How has proactively asking for feedback from your customers impacted your business or customer service?

With the implementation of GetFiveStars, our business now has processes around addressing negative feedback and relaying all feedback, both positive and negative, to everyone from our reservationists to captains and crew members.

It has allowed us to improve areas that were repeatedly cited in sub-par feedback while also recognizing individuals providing superior customer service. Not to mention, we have been able to address a higher percentage of unsatisfied guests one-on-one, and not publicly.

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Hi Aaron,

Thanks for the information about getting customer feedback. You said you did studies with the NPS score and how that scores ties to the actual number of reviews the business is getting. I would love to know what those numbers are so I know if I need to update my follow up email to clients to help get actual reviews online.

I’d also love a blog post showcasing the best or top 5 follow up emails that obtained the top number of get five stars online reviews in 2015 or to date are.

I am getting 64% percentage of our client taking the first 1-10 rating survey and our NPS score is high at 94. But my actual number of reviews that clients create online is very very low.

Sent out 255 surveys
64% opened it and took the one question rate us 0-10 survey
94% NPS score. Meaning almost every single survey was a 10 out of 10 rating.

But I have had just two reviews, out of the 255 surveys sent out.

-Steve

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I reached out to Steve to find out what type of business he was and a few other questions so I could give him the best advice. He shared that he really wants to focus on customer testimonials in 2016 and is adding about 50 customers to the GetFiveStar’s platform each week as they return from vacations booked through Steve and Pixie Vacations.  Let’s look at the questions Steve asked and I’ll give some answers and tips.

Excellent Net Promoter Scores Effect Reviews

In a study of 2 businesses in the same industry we compared one business with a NPS of 60 and the other of a 90 (exceptional NPS score).  The higher NPS business had their feedback request emails opened at a higher rate, more clicks to their review sites and 6 times the reviews left.

Pixie Vacation’s NPS of 94 is at an exceptional level.  Since it’s so high, we’d recommend you ask for online reviews at just about every opportunity.  This would include your email signatures, website and social media channels.  Your customers love you.

Email Content That Gets Results

Thanks for the suggestion on the blog post Steve, we’ll consider the topic of best email performances in the future for sure!  In a broader sense, we would recommend that looking at customizing all of your emails and landing page content is a great idea.

Transparency in your communication is a solid start, so one idea might be to change how your initial Feedback Request email is worded and let your customer know that their feedback matters, online reviews are a huge benefit to you and this process will only take them a few minutes and 3 steps.  Setting expectations always wins with consumers.

Display Those Great Testimonials

In looking over your website I did notice you have customer testimonials, but you don’t have our Testimonial Widget embedded.  Adding this will help in a few ways beyond the dozen you have displayed.

1. It gives new prospects valuable and trusted customer content to help them consider their choice to work with you. The 5-star rating is something every consumer understands.

2. It sells your services from a customer’s perspective.

3. It quickly summarizes how your customers feel about you.  If the numbers you gave us in your comment are correct, you have over 100 pieces of positive customer testimonials to market!  That shows customers you have LOTS of happy customers and they can be next, not just a dozen.

4. The testimonials from the widget include dates.  Surveys have shown that how recent a review is matters to consumers, as they prefer reviews within the last 3 months.

Building Online Reviews

You outlined in your comment that you have requested feedback from 255 customers and that has generated 2 online reviews.  In your email exchange with me you also added that you have generated reviews on Facebook separately from GetFiveStars by having staff personally ask customers for them.  You are on to one big key already.

They may be no more of a powerful component to generating online reviews than a personal ask.  The numbers you shared are typical for a business using our platform solely on it’s own, without “optimizing” or truly baking feedback into their business process.

As an average across thousands of business types and industries we see that 100 Feedback requests will get you 20 customers giving you a rating and feedback/testimonial with 1 or 2 of those leaving an online review. This is the average and some industries are better positioned for online reviews than others.

This leaves you with two general outcomes.

1. You continue to run GetFiveStars without any “optimization” or support from your staff or other touch-points.  With the rate of 50 customers a week, the platform would generate you somewhere around 20+ reviews over 2016.  That is NOTHING to ignore at all!  I stress to people all of the time that online reviews are about slow, steady and constant love. 

While you’re not alone in wanting a tidal wave of 20 reviews in a month or two, having those 20 over your first year an building from there will put you so far ahead.  There are many pitfalls to a lot of reviews fast and especially reviews that are inconsistent in timing.  What happens when 20 reviews in a month makes you happy, then you shut off getting reviews and customers won’t trust your 6 month old or year old reviews in the future?

If you choose to stay this course above, you have to be realistic with your expectations and look at the long term success and the dozens you’ll add over the year.

2. Optimize.  You have already realized that personal requests for reviews really produce results.  I’d advise you to let customers know in the sales process that you will ask for feedback and that you goal is to service them so well they will give great feedback and write an online review.  Our own Mike Blumenthal stresses that a great business learns to “Seed” the feedback process to get the best results.

You can further improve by reviewing the content in the emails and landing pages as we outlined above.  Make some changes, test and improve.

You can also provide as many ways to give feedback as possible by:
1. Button enabled on your Testimonial Widget to leave feedback from your website
2. Postcard or flyer handout reminding them to give feedback
3. Market your customer testimonials on social and other touch points as customers tend to want to “join the party” on leaving reviews.  The first 10 reviews are often the hardest to get on any review site and things usually move a little faster once you have more.

Plan The Work, Work The Plan

In closing, it appears that Pixie Vacations will get results on the path you are currently on. While you might have bigger expectations, the outcome at the end of a year will be significant.

This post and answers hopefully give you additional ideas to really strengthen your feedback process with your customers.  While GetFiveStars is a solid platform, optimizing many aspects of it, especially adding the human element to it will produce even more for you.  Getting reviews is hard!  Add more to your customer feedback plan and then work that plan for the next 12 months, I think you’ll end up in a fantastic place (maybe some type of magical kingdom.) 🙂

For our first customer spotlight we talked with Andy Sands, the owner of Good CitiZEN Dog Training – Suncoast Florida.  Andy is a certified dog trainer operating in the Bradenton and Sarasota areas of Florida.  Let’s get to it!

1.  How did you come across GetFiveStars?

I was very unsatisfied with the current marketing platform I was using. The platform was an “all in one” type of setup that included email marketing, review collection, ‘SEO’, and social media marketing. Needless to say, it was highly disappointing, so I began researching other platforms that might do the same thing. As I was researching I found that every company that basically did the same thing; “all in one” was mediocre at best in doing so. Therefore, my best bet was to get a separate platform for each. Find a company that did one thing, and did it well. I began researching some of the review platforms including Reputation.com and Trustpilot.

I was very discouraged after discussing things with them because the price commanded was too much for our budget at the time. They had what we needed, but it was too expensive. So I began more searching, and came across GetFiveStars. Simple and basic; and able to do everything I wanted it to do, but most importantly affordable. I signed up for the free trial to see if I could make sense of it, and sent the info to our web developer to help, and after testing it out, decided it made a lot of sense to use GetFiveStars.

2.  How easy or difficult did you find the set-up process of our system?

The initial setup was fairly easy. The difficult part for me was determining how to get it onto our website, or integrated into Facebook, etc. Upon some searching, I found the userguide for web developers, and got our developer involved. He understood everything in there and how to structure it. So from that point on it was a breeze.

3.  Tell us about how using GetFiveStars has improved your business to date?

When clients do a search and come across our company they see highlights of the reviews from our website. In addition, once they click on the website, a preview of the reviews is on the sidebar so it stands out. Most clients that have found us on a search engine that didn’t hear about us before state that the number one reason they chose us was because of all of the positive reviews we have.

Good CitiZEN displays over 70 customer testimonials on their website with the GetFiveStars widget.

4.  What is one thing about our product that stood out the most in using it?

It’s really pretty easy to solicit reviews by email, and send people links for reviews. In addition, the widgets can be customized for my website, which makes everything appear seamless.

5.  What advice would you pass along to another business owner considering using GetFiveStars?

I would say do it for sure. You are not going to find another platform that is this complete for the money.

6.  How important are reviews to your potential customers?  Any stories or instances to share on where a customer has cited that your testimonials or online reviews influenced their decision to use you?

Reviews are extremely important to potential customers. The dog training industry is not regulated, so there is a wide variety of methods used, as well as people that are not certified or licensed. By showing reviews and testimonials we are able to let people know that we are legitimate professionals, who are the best around.

Every customer who has found us using a search engine has mentioned that their deciding factor has been the number of positive reviews that we have compared to our competitors.

Reviews for Good CItiZEN Dog training on Thumbtack.com

Thanks Andy for taking the time to share your experience with GetFiveStars and congrats on making so many 4 legged and 2 legged customers so happy.  We appreciate the positive feedback and also can see we need to think about making the User Guide extremely visible to new customers and making sure our website testimonial widget installation is as easy as possible.

Stay tuned to our Customer Spotlight series for future client interviews.