Facebook recently updated its platform. Facebook ‘Reviews‘ are now called ‘Recommendations’. Facebook confirms that they have made this change so that customers can share richer feedback about your business. This would help you be more visible in your local community and attract more customers.

Before we explain in further detail about how Facebook Recommendations work,

Previously, Facebook Reviews worked like most review sites. The consumer selected an option of 1 to 5 stars to express how they felt about a business based on a past interaction:

Under the new system, reviews have been replaced by Recommendations. Now, instead of leaving a rating, when a customer wants to review a business on Facebook, they can choose to “recommend” or “not recommend” a business page.

How are Recommendations different from Reviews?

Well, there are differences:

• Location – The Recommendations appear on the upper-right side,, and Reviews appear on the left-hand side (if not hidden).
• Reach – Reviews are visible to any Facebook user. With Recommendations, you can limit the reach and make it more personal.
• Format – Reviews have star ratings and comments. Recommendations have only comments.
• Reactions – Anyone can comment and like a Review, but only people in the person’s network can comment and like a Recommendation.
• Specifics – People can recommend a specific business feature (choose a tag that best describes their recommendation) and share a photo, and Reviews don’t have such an option.

So, the bottom line is:

• The tab is called “Reviews”
• The feature is called “Recommendations”

How to activate Facebook Recommendations

If you’ve already activated the Reviews tab then you don’t need to change anything. Please note that the Recommendations are a replacement of the Reviews tab and the process to activate it is the same as before.

If you still don’t have activated the Recommendations on your Facebook Page here is how to get the Facebook reviews tab:

1. Log in to your Facebook account and go to your business Facebook page
2. Navigate to the ‘Settings’ section on your left-hand side
3. Click ‘Templates and Tabs’
4. Find the review tab named ‘Reviews’ in the list of tabs and activate it

Make sure your Facebook business page is set up well. Also, ensure that Facebook is part of your online reputation strategy. Request all your customers for reviews or recommendations at the end of a fulfilling transaction and see your online reputation grow. As a rule, never forget to respond to reviews and recommendations from your customers.

☝️ That’s the question Luke asked himself before he started using Flytree.

Luke knew they were missing out on a huge opportunity to leverage word of mouth marketing.

Customers were having a great experience but nobody else knew about it. We were looking to convert this offline experiences to written reviews and have people see them online.

Reducing friction in leaving reviews

For Luke, his ultimate goal with Flytree was to reduce the friction for customers to leave a review.

For years, the team was asking for reviews once a job was completed and following up with customers a few days as part of their work flow. It's a lot of work for one person to do manually. The effort was less than ideal and resulted in inconsistent responses and results.

Once Luke started using Flytree, he noticed his reviews were taking off. He was able to streamline and remove friction from customers leaving a review after a job.

It’s been really exciting for the team to see their hard work paying off when a happy customer leaves a review. Not only does Flytree automate and cut down the time getting reviews but also is is a great experience for our customers to write a review.

Driving success with reviews

Through reviews, Gaschill saw an increase of 20% in sales in a short space of 3 months. Luke attributes this to the level of trust established when a potential customer Google's Gaschill or land on their website.

Shaun knows about building a business from the floor up. Named after his dog Beef, Beef Barbers started with humble beginnings. Today, Beef’s Barber has several locations around Melbourne and business is booming!

Shaun is one of our big fans - and we are big fans of him! Beef Barber is a perfect example of a small business that has grown into a success. The business relies on great hair cuts and a genuine interest in their customers that makes a day at the barbers look like the day spent with mates which is evident by their large 5-star review presence online.

The best part for Shaun? It was easy! All he has to do is focus on what he does best- running his business.

Shaun knows where to delegate: he utilises automation to allow him to focus on what he does best (giving great cuts and running his business!). Shaun has been using Flytree to collect more reviews online, utilising the integration with Square to automatically send out review invitations straight after a customer pays.

While people have the best intentions, people get busy and they forget. He appreciated having the whole process automated for him through Flytree. He quickly noticed an uptick in his reviews- meaning he was creating more fans & repeat customers at the click of a button.

“With every happy customer review, there is a level of trust and goodwill built with the business. When potential customers search for a business online, they're more likely to go with a business with a great reputation

Through his online presence via reviews, and his steadily growing customer base, Shaun noticed an increase of new customers and the level of trust developed with customers before even meeting them.

If you are in need of hair cut in the Melbourne, check out Beef’s Barber.

They have some awesome reviews!

Reviews is the most effective form of advertising. Consumers are looking for an opinion when they search for a service or product online. They want to see what others have said about your business and if others have been happy with their experience. That's why reviews are one of the most important  forms of content you can get for your business.

In fact, over 88% of turn to online reviews prior visiting or using a business, most of whom trust the reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations.

Reviews build trust

In today's world, credibility is everything. The more people believe in something, the stronger its effect on their decision-making. If you want people to notice how good your company is — and how happy your customers are — this is one way to do it. The power of a customer reviews comes from social proof– the more people who believe in a brand, the more powerful its influence will be.

Let your happy customers speak for you

There are many ways in which reviews can help your business succeed. New customers often know little about your business and may have preconceived notions about it. Reviews can correct these misconceptions and help establish a positive image of your business in the eyes of prospective customers.

If you are selling a service or product, a review from a happy customer can be extremely powerful.

Reviews increase the conversion rate

Selling something is hard. Getting people to believe in and buy in what you're offering can be nearly impossible without reviews. Reviews can be the deciding factor between buying a product or not. They give credibility to your position and ease concerns about whether customers will buy what you have to offer. A review from someone who has bought from or used your service can be very persuasive when used in conversation with potential customers. People buy from people. If past customers are happy, you will be influenced by their happiness, and choose to buy it too.

Reviews bring customers closer to you

Great reviews can build a very positive relationship with your customers. Trust is earned, not given! When someone uses your product or service, they expect to benefit from it, and this experience helps them decide if you are the perfect partner for their needs. Your customers will remember how happy they were when first using your product.

Reviews build your brand and word of mouth

These days, reviews are more valuable than ever. People trust online reviews more than any other kind of advertising. Reviews can take months or years to curate, but they cost you nothing compared to paid ads. A review is more credible than a paid ad, and it can help your business sell more. If you want people to believe in you and your product – to spread the word – then you need to build it with reviews. As a result, many customers choose to trust reviews over other sources when seeking guidance or selecting a product or service.

It’s probably never easy to run a business. However, it can be harder than usual when you are trying to do it during a global crisis.

Here’s what we learned through the COVID-19 pandemic:

Be adaptable

It's clear that customers behaviours and demands have changed due to the outbreak. As a startup, we are blessed with flexibility because we can move fast.

When something changes, act fast. This seems super obvious but for a variety of reasons, it’s easier said than done.

Nobody likes to change. There will always be resistance to change, and there always will be change. And the quicker you get to that, the easier it is. It’s not such a difficult thing - Nick Nolte

Communication is key

Keep communications open and talk to your customers. Ask them questions to understand how you can help them and how their changing needs impact the way they use your product. Communication is key if you're going to adapt to new situations.

Check in with your customers and team to show them that you are there for them and that you're listening. Make it easy for people to ask questions, air concerns and provide feedback. We checked in with every customer personally and got them involved in our world.

So keep communicating. In fact, over-communicate! Your team and customers will be grateful for the interaction and after all, keeping your customers engaged is the secret to success during this difficult time.

Have empathy

The pandemic has been an uncertain time that caused major disruptions for everyone. Be kind, compassionate and empathetic. Everything we do in life impacts others. There’s no way around it.

via GIPHY

But, there are also some really important human values that are even more important than normal when shit hits the fan.

Looking back, we did a good job on this. It’s part of who we are. It's part of our company culture. So perhaps what we reinforced was just how important this stuff is. If you are able to make positive changes in people’s lives when they most need it, they will never forget it.

Ask for help

Often times people are reluctant to seek support for fear of ‘admitting’ they can’t achieve something on their own, which is also known as your ego. There are many people out there who have already navigated through the path and obstacles and and are happy to share their experiences and guidance.

You may be surprised, people feel good when they help others. So don't be shy to reach out if you want to vent or just have quick catch up - qivin@flytree.co

Get inspired by other entrepreneurs

A startup's journey is like a roller coaster on fire. You can have incredible moments where you feel on top of the world and then the next day you can also feel like 💩.

Observing the success of others is always a good idea to lift your spirits. Watching these people and following their journey not only gives you comfort and inspiration but also provides you with lessons on how they managed to get over the fence. With ton of resources nowadays like podcasts and blogs, entrepreneurial wisdom has been more attainable.  

PS - My go to podcast - SAAS PODCAST

Final Thoughts

1. Embrace the unknown but stay focused.
2. Celebrate small wins.
3. Communication is KEY.
4. Ask for help.
5. Continue learning and growing.

Follow our journey

Through this blog, we plan to document our journey, lessons learnt as well as findings along the way. We would love you to keep in touch, feel free to drop me an email at qivin@flytree.co

Love what we do and want to help us out?

Tell your friends and your local shops about us. Follow, like, our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin page.

Are you a podcaster or blogger? We're open to interviews and collaborations.

Peace ✌️

We are Qivin and Johan, the co-founders of Flytree. We are based in Melbourne, building a simple yet powerful tool to help local businesses collect hundreds of reviews from their happy customers.

Why we are building Flytree?

There is no question that the world skipped a few years into the future and compressed years of digital transformation into months. Local businesses are realising that digitalisation is no longer an option but a matter of survival. Many can't keep up and are not getting enough help.

And that’s NOT ok.

They need a simple yet powerful online tool to grow their business and that is why we are here. We're on a mission to help local businesses be digitally connected and thrive in the new normal. There's no stopping who is enabled by the right tools, technology and people.

It's a big mission but everyone needs to start from somewhere. So we decided to solve a problem that doesn't require us to build a rocket ship from the get go but positively impacts local businesses.

Reviews allow happy customers to draw in new business, increasing their value from a repeat customer to that of an advocate (or "fan") of your brand. It also helps customers shop with confidence and earn their trust before the conversation even starts.

The majority of local businesses have plenty of happy customers but only a handful were leaving reviews. Many businesses have the perception, "if we do well, people will leave us a review and tell their friends about us".

Well, unfortunately, it does not always work that way.  

That is why our first stop is building a platform where it's the easiest way for local businesses to get more reviews and grow their business.

How are we finding it?

We've come a long way but we've got a lot yet to learn. We think what we’ve done with Flytree so far is a great start, and it’s truly helping businesses because they’ve told us as much but we've got more in store to continue to push us forward. Since our first version we've been spending time talking to our users, understanding how they are using our platform and most importantly on how to build a better product for them. We're in the midst of an update so stay tuned!

Final thoughts

Talking to users is a necessary step in building a great product. If you’re waiting on your users to contact you, it’s too late.

Follow our journey

Through this blog, we plan to document our journey, lessons learnt as well as findings along the way. We would love you to keep in touch, feel free to drop me an email at qivin@flytree.co

Love what we do and want to help us out?

Tell your friends and your local shops about us. Follow, like, our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin page.

Are you a podcaster or blogger? We're open to interviews and collaborations.

Peace ✌️

We have been working on an online platform called Flytree. We started Flytree to help local businesses to collect hundreds of real reviews from their happy customers. It has to be easy to use, yet powerful.

I thought I’d blog about our journey of building a startup and the challenges we faced. To answer how we got our first 20 customers: I prayed and got 10 customers to pay for our product. The End.

So, what did we do? How did we get here? You’re about to find out below. Enjoy.

Let me start by saying that growing from zero is bloody hard. It's hard because there is no magic bullet. You need to invest time and celebrate small wins while not losing sight on the bigger picture.

Be stupid and just try

So this is what we did:

1. Reaching out to my existing network

I started emailing everyone I know in my network driving them to our landing page to get the word out (1 reply, thanks friend but we needed more)

2. Reaching Out To Potential Customers

I reached out to those whom  I thought needed more reviews for their businesses, asking if they’d be willing to try our product and talk to me about their experiences.

• Cold emailing (NO reply)
• Linkedin Message (1 reply, thanks dude)

• Instagram Message (3 replies, not good enough)

• Facebook Message (1 reply, thanks man)

While reaching out cold may not be scalable in the long run, it could be extremely beneficial for early traction. It helps you cast a wide net over a potential consumer base and the ones who respond could be your early adopters.

Obviously, we weren't "killing it" with our cold outreach so we started hitting the streets.

3. Door knocking

I know what you’re probably thinking… “But Qivin, this isn’t scalable!”

You’re right, it isn't! But that’s how it should be when you’re first starting your business. You’ve got to grind, claw, and sell your way to make it to the other end.

I can’t think of a better way to learn about your business, your customer, and their needs than meeting them in-person.

You’ll discover stuff like:

• How to refine your pitch/sale?
• What are their pain points?
• What were they using before?
• What did they think about your pricing?
• What do they want to see in the product?

Believe it or not, 10 of our first paying customers came from door knocking.

Final Thoughts

We hope that this was helpful with little to no fluff. There are no tricks and "hacks" or shortcuts. Be stupid and give it a shot. Keep trying and pushing through and things will starting working out.

Follow our journey

Through this blog, we plan to document our journey, lessons learnt as well as findings along the way. We would love you to keep in touch, feel free to drop me an email at qivin@flytree.co

Love what we do and want to help us out?

Tell your friends and your local shops about us. Follow, like, our Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin page.

Are you a podcaster or blogger? We're open to interviews and collaborations.

Peace ✌️

Simply having a Google My Business (GMB) listing isn’t enough to generate more leads, especially as more businesses are competing in local SEO.

1. Ensure your information is accurate and up to date

If your business contact information is outdated, inconsistent or incorrect, the consumer who looked up your business will likely be significantly inconvenienced. These days, even minor inconveniences are enough to lose customers.

You may think this is simple enough to manage, but many businesses fail to fill in accurate on their GMB listing. In fact,

"80% of consumers lose trust in local businesses if they see incorrect or inconsistent contact details or business names online "

2. Choose the right business category

Did you know the primary category is the number one “local seo” ranking factor? Choosing the most relevant primary category as well as additional categories all play a large role in how a business shows up in local searches.

GMB show both Google and prospective customers the kinds of services you provide. For example, a motor mechanic that also sells tyres can choose categories like “tyre shop” and ”vehicle inspection”.

If you’re in the right GMB categories, it will increase the likelihood of your business ranking higher for relevant searches. If you’re a plumber, you’re much more likely to show up in searches for “plumber near me” if you have “plumber” as your primary category.

Here’s how you can edit your Google My Business categories.

1. Sign in to your Google My Business.
2. If you have multiple locations, select the location whose category you want to change.
3. Go to the “Info” tab.
4. Click the pencil icon next to your primary category. This should show up under your business’s name.
5. Edit your primary category, or click Add another category.

3. Take & upload photos to your GMB profile

The more photos on your business listing, the more likely you are to win new customers. Let’s face it. Google dominates search. Google reported that businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions and 35% more click-throughs to their websites. Let's be honest when you search for a businesses online, you’re more likely to click on a business that shows you what their products and offerings actually look like.

Google My Business allows you to easily upload photos to your profile. The photos section can be found on the side menu in your GMB account.

To increase your chances of converting searchers, Google recommends businesses upload more photos. Check out the recommendations here.

Photos provide consumers with a preview of what to expect, and this helps to build trust. The more photos you share, the more leads your Google My Business listing will generate.

4. Get new customer reviews

Do Google reviews help rankings? A steady stream of fresh reviews can have a tremendous impact on your local search ranking. The way that customers find and choose businesses has changed drastically in recent years.

It’s important to regularly generate new Google reviews and manage them as they grow. 8/10 of customers read reviews before making a purchase, which is exactly why Google prioritises them as a local SEO ranking factor.

Customers will be able to write reviews on your GMB profile, and those reviews will be publicly visible, so it’s important to proactively generate, monitor, and respond to reviews as you receive them.

You can’t just expect them to come rolling in on their own. Google business reviews can drive three areas of your business: brand trust, local SEO, and feedback. Google reviews are also free!

For example a potential customer seeking to have a haircut starts their customer journey by searching for “barber near me” on Google.

An average human will choose a business from Google’s top 3 search results with the most reviews and highest star rating – which in this case is Beef Barbers.

If you've got any questions feel free to reach out, I'd love to hear, learn , understand and get a reply from you.