One of the great things about social media is that people can write nice things about you that everyone can see. And who doesn’t appreciate a genuine compliment?

In fact, it is OK for you to ask a customer or client to write a review or submit a rating for your company on your company’s Facebook business page. They don’t even have to have “liked” your business page to write the review. People usually write a sentence or two about what they appreciated about their experience with your company.

Similarly, it is perfectly fine to ask a customer or client who is also connected with you on the professional-oriented social media site LinkedIn write you a recommendation on LinkedIn.

When people write a recommendation, they typically write about a couple of short sentences describing things you did especially in a particular job position and/or volunteer leadership role. This paid position and/or volunteer position must be included in the Experience part of your LinkedIn profile in order for them to recommend for how well you did this role.

To sum up the difference between the two – a rating on Facebook is about your company, and a recommendation on LinkedIn is about you.

 

 

Asking for a Review and/or Rating on Your Facebook Business Page*

• Email the person the exact web address for your Facebook business page.
• Tell them they will need to scroll down in the left-hand column until they see the Reviews section. At the bottom of that section is a box that called “Write Review.”
• Tell them to click on that box and give you a rating (ranging from one to five stars)
• Tell them that clicking on that same box will allow them to write their review.
• If appropriate, suggest a few specific things they might mention in their review. This helps them decide what to write and is often most appreciated.
• Remind them to leave who can see this in the default position of Public (as opposed to just that person’s Facebook friends).
• If there is a typo or grammatical error in the review, you could consider sending the reviewer a private message via Facebook asking them to correct it. You may have to tell them how to click on the little arrow in the upper-right corner of the message and click to get the edit or delete options.
• Unlike LinkedIn, a review appears on your business page without you getting to see it or having to accept it in advance. If for some reason you don’t want a particular review, you can always delete it.

*Your Facebook page must have been created as a Local Business or Place in order for people to rate your company and write a review about it.

 

Asking for an Recommendation on LinkedIn

• Only ask people to write recommendations if they have a real familiarity with your work, either in a paid or a volunteer capacity.
• Email the person the web address for your LinkedIn profile. If needed, guide them in the process of creating a recommendation on LinkedIn, as not everyone knows exactly where to go to write one.
• Tell them the exact name of the position for which you want them write a recommendation, especially if you have a long list of positions in your LinkedIn profile.
• Let the person know whether to recommend you as a colleague, service provider, or business partner. These are explained in the recommendation section of LinkedIn.
• Suggest a few things they might include – this makes it easier for them to know what to write and is often most appreciated.
• Once the recommendation is made, it will be sent to your LinkedIn inbox. Be sure to read it carefully, looking for typos or grammatical errors. If you find either or both, write back to the person and ask them to correct the errors. You cannot correct something written by someone else – only they can. Most people will be happy to have you point something out before they look foolish.
• Once you are comfortable with the recommendation, accept it and add it to your LinkedIn profile.

 

How About You?

What approach do you take when encouraging LinkedIn connections to write you a recommendation? What things does your company do to encourage satisfied customers/clients to write a favorable review?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com