From Reviews to Riches: Building Trust in Business

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>> Lani Dickinson: Hey, friend. Welcome back to Freedom to Exit. Today we're

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gonna talk about reputation, riches, how AI

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driven reviews build trust, build

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sales, and build exit value. We're diving into

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something that most business owners totally

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underestimate. Online reviews. Not just as

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a marketing tool, but as an actual business

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asset that drives revenue now and

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seriously impacts what your business is worth later.

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Because here's the truth. Nobody buys from a ghost town.

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No reviews, no responses. that might mean

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no trust. And no trust means no traction.

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No traction means no top dollar exit. But I can help you

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fix that. Reviews are all about

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experience, not just the execution.

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Here's what most business owners miss. People

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don't leave reviews because the air conditioner

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came on. They expect that if you come as

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an H VAC company that the air conditioner'going to

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work when you leave. People don't leave reviews

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because the CPA filed the tax return.

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They leave reviews because of how they felt

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while working with you. Was the front desk kind or

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cold? Did your tech who was sent out make

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them feel smart or stupid? Did your team

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just seem to process the order and not

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really care about them as a person? In general, people

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assume you are competent. They review

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based on the experience they have with you. When you think

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you're delivering good work, but your review stays stuck at

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3.8 stars, you've got a blind spot somewhere,

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and reviews can help you find it, narrow it down, and fix it.

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I was a nurse for. Well, I

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still am a licensed nurse, but I worked in healthcare for almost 30

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years and my last couple of jobs had chief in the

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title. I was a CEO in the hospital

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world back when I worked in those roles. We

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lived and died by patient satisfaction scores. A couple

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of things. The patients assume

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we gave quality care and we knew what we were doing. They were

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rating us on experience, but also the people

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who paid us downgraded what they paid

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us based upon those patient satisfaction scores. So

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we worked really hard on them. We would run around

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creating scripts and training programs and

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all the things to try and improve these scores, and

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nothing seemed to work. We had talented clinicians,

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people you would say, oh my gosh, if I'm dying, I want them

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by my bedside running the code. But guess what?

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That's not what patients rated us on. They assumed

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we knew all the medicine. They reviewed us based on

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whether someone smiled, whether they could ask

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questions without being rushed or interrupted all the time or

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dismissed, whether their culture and dietary

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restrictions were respected. Some of our lowest scores

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would come from units where we had very

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highly skilled clinical People,

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amazing clinical people, nurses and doctors. But they

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might be short tempered, dismissive, or just kind

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of always in a bad mood. It wasn't about clinical

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performance, it's about how they were treated. Once

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we started doing internal surveys with

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confidential follow ups, we saw the real truth.

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Names started popping up. Names we

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actually already suspected were probably the

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source of it. But we didn't have any documented evidence

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that we could coach or take action on and coach up or coach

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out. It's really not different in small business.

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Your H Vac tech might be a

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mechanical genius, but if he's dismissive

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to the female homeowner, talks down to her, or acts

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like her questions are a waste of time, that's a bad review waiting

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to happen. Probably some word am mouth waiting to happen.

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Same goes for your front desk. They may be polite to

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you, but your clients are getting rolled eyes

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and cold tones when they have to answer the same question

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for the 57th time today. And guess what?

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That shows up in your reviews. The place where I take to get

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my car serviced. I'm not gonna say where it is, but the

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place where I take my car service, they consistently get

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feedback that their front desk is

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terrible. People go there because it's a very high

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end car that can't just be worked on anywhere else.

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They love the mechanics, they love the car, but they

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do not love the front desks. And they have

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figured out that they've lost market share to a town

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45 miles away because of the service

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people receive. Now I personally leave the town I live

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in and drive to Walnut Creek to get my car

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serviced because I don't want to deal with the

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attitude in the front desk. Here's some data that should shock

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you, but often doesn't. We're going to break it down

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95%. That's pretty close to

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195% of people read

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reviews before buying. Great. They're reading them.

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88% of those people say it influences

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their decision to buy or not. Okay, now this is

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starting to matter. 70% of your people

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will leave a review if they're asked.

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But only 11% of business owners are

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asking for reviews. Even if you think Your staff are

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71% of your people say

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I'll leave a review if it's easy. Cue the easy

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word. Right? Responding to the reviews can

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double two times customer

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engagement. So responding just

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answering the reviews, not responding has been

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shown to increase turn or customer turnover by

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15%. Nobody in this day and age

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can afford to lose 15% to churn

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for simply not responding. To reviews. Just one

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positive review has been shown to increase

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5 to 9% depending upon the source you're reading

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and increase in revenue. So for high ticket offers

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we always say, oh, I don't want to put my pricing on the

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page. High ticket offers displaying reviews

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can increase conversion by

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380%. So if we don't wa wantna put

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our pricing out there, one thing we can do is really

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focus on getting the reviews. Then the price isn't as much

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of a problem. Up to 70% of consumers

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trust reviews as much as a personal

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recommendation.

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So ask yourself, is your review process keeping

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up with how your customers buy? In most cases, I think the answer

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is no. Okay, now I know what you're going to say. Well, we put a

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QR code out at the desk. That's a trap. It

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may increase reviews, probably does.

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It's inviting negative reviews. It's the same as doing

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a shotgun blast to everybody who's ever bought from you if you happen to

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have their email. That stuff goes straight to Google.

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There's no filter, no chance to make it right.

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So someone with a minor complaint or an irritation

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about the attitude at the desk, they're going to leave

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a one star review and there's nothing

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you can do about it. It's there forever. This is why I don't

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recommend leaving these to chance.

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Here's what I recommend instead. This is what we automate for

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clients. I like you to start with

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a smart AI based flow where we

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put an internal net promoter score in place.

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The AI assistant asks how likely are you to

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recommend us to a friend? If they score high grade, we send

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them a link to leave a public review. If they

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score low or even just Then the system

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flags it privately for the business owner

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or team to follow up and make the problem

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right, make the service right and

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salvage their reputation. It gives you time to follow up,

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fix the issue further, build the relationship.

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It also helps you identify recurring staff

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issues like the front desk or the tech who's

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great at their job but not so great with people. It's

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not review filtering. It's real time business

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intelligence that allows you to fix your system,

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your process in your people to grow your business,

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which leads to more revenue now and then obviously

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a higher exitability later.

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Now let's look at this through the buyer's len in

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terms of exit strategy. Let's zoom out for a minute.

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When someone is evaluating your business to buy, they're looking

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at revenue profit. I have my EBITDA whisperer T shirt on.

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Revenue profit Refunds and

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yes, reviews. Why reviews are the

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only place they can hear directly from your customers

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without you being in the mix. When they see

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hundreds or thousands of recent reviews,

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4.7 stars and above. Responses from your

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team. Happy customers sharing real stories. They

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see a business with strong operational systems,

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happy repeat clients, and a reputation that doesn't

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rely on your hustle. That's important.

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What they see is a moat. A moat around your

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business. And moats mean money. And

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yes, buyers absolutely discuss

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reviews during due diligence. I know I was on an

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acquisition team when I was in corporate and I was on

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the due diligence team and the transition teams for what we

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acquired. Absolutely. People are looking

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at the reviews. If your Google profile shows a

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pattern of bad experiences or just crickets, they assume

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that's dysfunction in your business. And while they might hold

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that aside, if everything else is amazing,

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it is starting to lead to at least a discount. At least

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an earn out. Probably some more seller

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financing and probably the seller has to stick around for a

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while. But if your reviews are glowing and consistent

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and handled professionally, they'll move faster and

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potentially offer more in terms of getting

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people in your business to buy into we care about

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reviews if they don't already. You can devise an incentive

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strategy that also can be combined and turned into

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sort of like exit insurance. So one of the

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smartest ways for you to retain your team through a sale is

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to tie bonuses to review

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performance. So things like average star rating,

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monthly review, count specific customer

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mentions. Then you give some kind of a

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bonus over time for

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improvement. But then when you know you're ready to sell,

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every owner is like I don't want my team to know. But if

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you stage out bonuses for post

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sale, they're more likely to stay post transition.

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This helps you retain key people, grow your

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reviews, gives your team another

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incentive. The what's in it for me to improve reviews

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and give better service. But it also helps give

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buyer's confidence in your transition plan. It's not just

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an exit strategy. That's why I say it's also exit

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insurance. So here's why AI is part of this

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answer. Look, I get it. You're thinking that's all greatay. But I don't

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have time to manage this Lonnie. And that's why we use AI.

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You don't have time and neither does your team. Here's what

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an AI assistant can do for you. Send the review request

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at the right time and follow up until it comes in.

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Can personalize the message based upon what's in the contact

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notes and the conversations it's had can follow up.

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Automatically filters reviews based on feedback

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using the Net Promoter score so that you have

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time to fix problems and the ones that are

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already glowing can go right to the public and grow your

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reputation. It responds to reviews in your voice

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and tone and it frees your front desk up, from tasks

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they hate. AI becomes your most polite,

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persistent and reliable employee. Working

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247 without getting mootody. Here's some couple of

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takeaways. You're not just collecting star

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##s your growing revenue. So reviews

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matter. You're improving your exit multiple or your

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ability to exit at all. You're building buyer

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ready infrastructure. You're converting trust

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into traffic and reviews into repeat business. And

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best of all, you're not spending a dime on ads to get

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any of these. People are already looking for

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reviews. Reviews are free marketing and

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evaluation multiplier, especially

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compared to paid marketing campaigns.

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So here's your next move. Download my free guide 7 Ways

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to Incorporate AI into your Business. Today. You'll see all about

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the automated review flows, examples and even a

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demo, of voice AI in action. Because I know people

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say oh, the voice sounds like a robot. You can also

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take the Changes assessment. Both of these links are in the show

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notes below. The changes assessment will help you find

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out where your reputation and other

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elements might be holding you back from scale

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or sale. The Changes assessment takes about 10 minutes.

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It goes deep into your business and you get a

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very comprehensive outcome

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of what buyers see when they look at your business.

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So in closing, no reviews, no ability

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to sell, no responses, no

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retention. It's time to automate this very important

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task and protect your brand. Because

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the business with 1,200 five star reviews, it's

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not perfect, but it is built to grow. Thank you so much for

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joining us today on the Freedom Do Exit podcast. I'd love for

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you to subscribe and share this episode with a friend

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who needs to hear it. Thank you so much.