Companies regularly send mailers to customers who have recently purchased their product, ask its benefits. You may also ask for a review and rating of their product. this is a widespread practice across consumer products and companies expect that reviews would add to the perception of the product in the marketplace.
However, over time customers are unlikely to respond to these requests. Hence it becomes important to time the mailer or reminder for review. If you send it too quickly or immediately after the purchase of the product, the customer may not have had an opportunity to use the product and understand its benefits and end up irritating the customer.
It is important to give customers time to experience the product before you request them for a review. A survey of online purchaser and their usage trends indicate that on an average customers take two days to try out the product they have purchased.
- A detailed survey on finding the right time to request a review shows that reviews requested between five to nine days from purchase have the best chances of getting a reasoned review and rating.
- When you request for review immediately after purchase you may not get a response as the customer may not have had time to try it out. You may end up irritating the customer and alienating them.
- If you send it too far from the purchase date say fifteen days there was a lesser likelihood of getting a review as the customer must have moved on to other things and his experiences may no longer be fresh in his mind to share the review.
So how do companies decide when to request reviews? Here are a few suggestions on how to go about it.
- Identify, how long it takes for customers to try out or use the purchased product.
- If this average period has not passed then do not send out a review form.
- If the average estimated time has been breached, send out a review form within the next one, or two days. As far as possible, make it automated so that you do not have to make a special effort to remember it.
- Do not delay it far too long, say beyond the average time to use, as it may lose its importance to the customer or the experience that the customer felt may have worn out.
There are a few more observations that should be kept in mind while sending out review forms
- Do not send out review forms immediately after purchase. This is especially true for Gen Z customers who are digital natives and the company may end up alienating this class of purchasers.
- Companies should understand when customers would be ready to evaluate it after purchase. Food, stationery or hygiene products are items that can be evaluated immediately as the products and their utility is well known and customers would be ready to review the same. So request for reviews can be sent out immediately.
- However, restaurants, personal care products, and travel agencies would do better to wait and allow customers to immerse themselves in the experience provided by the company’s product before asking for a review.
The final word is as follows. Companies asking for a product review is a well-known and adopted practice but companies should know when to ask for review, depending on the product. Otherwise, they may end up alienating their customers rather than helping them develop trust in their products.
When Is the Best Time to Ask Customers for a Review?
by Miyeon Jung, Sunghan Ryu, Sang-Pil Han, and Daegon Cho
HBR 2023/02
R2G 