This document summarizes a webinar about how companies can leverage user reviews to accelerate sales. The webinar discusses how buyers are increasingly relying on peer reviews in their purchase decisions and search behavior. It then provides best practices for companies to build a strong user review program, including acquiring reviews, maximizing review content value, refreshing reviews, responding to critique, and measuring success. Specific success stories are shared, such as how Tealium increased on-site conversion and pipeline by displaying reviews. The webinar concludes by providing resources for building a user review program to increase sales.
4. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Who’s Vinay?
Serial entrepreneur
§ Founded Convio, SaaS for nonprofits
§ IPO, then acquired for $325 million in 2012
§ Now, Founder & CEO, TrustRadius
Outside work
§ Father of two young kids
§ Loves travel, wine, squash
5. @uberflip#uberwebinar
About TrustRadius
TrustRadius is the leading research
platform for business software based
on authentic, in-depth reviews.
We help buyers to make better,
confident software selections and
vendors to scale and harness user
reviews to increase sales.
6. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Agenda
Why invest in user reviews?
- Role of user reviews in the buyer’s journey
How to leverage reviews to accelerate sales
- On-site conversion
- Demand generation and sales enablement
Scaling and sustaining a strong review
presence
- Best practices for building a best in-class program
9. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Search is Key
78% start with search and of those 60% search for peer
reviews
Source: Google/Compete Tech B2B Customer Study, 2012. (Sample of N=1028 Tech B2B customers who use search to research Tech Tech products)
11. @uberflip#uberwebinar
The Authenticity Imperative
Authenticity beats product utility and
innovation
Communicating honestly about products and services (91%)
is more important to consumers than product utility (61%)
Authenticity has a positive impact on
bottom line
63% of consumers would buy from a company they consider
to be authentic, over and above competitors
16. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Increase On-Site Conversion
Erik Bratt, VP Content Tealium!
“Since putting up this widget two months ago, the
time spent on this page has increased by 25%
compared to the previous two months
We’ve been tracking the number of people who read
the reviews on the widget and then submit a lead and
our pipeline has increased as well. The review
widget adds a lot of credibility to our product”
19. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Accelerate Sales & Win More Deals
“Having a large number of reviews on TrustRadius makes
my life as a sales rep so much easier. The reviews hold
more clout than those from software critics since they
come from actual customers. They give prospects a sense
of security that they aren’t kissing a frog”
20. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Enable Sales
Jason Wesbecher, CMO Mattersight !
“When prospective customers ask for
references, we can accelerate that very critical
part of the cycle.
We don’t have to cajole someone to get on the
phone. We can send them to a website with 33
living, breathing, authentic reviews which are
probably more beneficial than a single call.”
21. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Building A Best-In-Class Review Program
- What’s your overall social proof strategy?
- How does this align with your content strategy?
- How do you plan to use the reviews?
- How will you measure success?
- In-house vs outsource?
- Can you handle the truth?
24. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Maximizing Review Content Value
Mike K., CTO!
“AlienVault USM makes our lives as managed
security providers a lot easier. It has the tools
built into it that automate a huge amount of the
analysis that needs to be done to ensure there
is nothing malicious going on in our clients
networks. When we monitor and review
theses networks, we know that we can check
the alarms generated on the USM platform, and
investigate those as a priority, and can rely on
the fact that the platform has weeded out only
the events that need to be investigated
further.”
28. @uberflip#uberwebinar
Results
71 strong reviews and ratings
from:
- Cisco, Dow Jones, Trend Micro and many
more
Average rating of 4.6 stars out of 5
- High participation
Sales enablement gold
- “Solid gold. We should capitalize on these now”