If there is one thing we can’t get away from in our daily lives, it’s the idea of rules. Rules are made to make things fair for everyone. But at the same time, it can also be limiting. The same goes in running a business off Amazon.

Amazon has numerous rules about how you should present and sell your product, as well as how you should interact with your customers. All of which are there to create a safe and fair environment for everyone.

So with all these rules in place, how do you get Amazon reviews, much more convince, your customers to give you a review?

Well, there are many ways to get one. But if we stick to the “legal” side of getting reviews, then you need to take a few a patience pill or two as getting reviews the legal way these days is not as straightforward as it was before.

First things you need to do is…

Memorize Amazon’s Official Rules….. You really should!

Personally, I’m the type of person that loves breaking the rules. We’ll I’d like to think of it that way, but what I’m trying to get at is that if you want to navigate the intricacies of what you can’t do on Amazon, then you must be familiar with what the boundaries are.

Don’t get me wrong though, I am in no way telling you to break Amazon’s rules. What I’m trying to get at though is that by understanding what the rules are, you are then able to explore other avenues that you can exploit to your advantage. In short, finding loopholes in the system.

What are these loopholes you ask? To start with, do you know that…… Really?! You think I would tell you outright?! Take a few more patience pills and read on.

Going back.

To see what these Amazon official rules are, all you need to do is go to your Seller Account. Now if you are yet to start selling on Amazon and want to get a preview of what some of them are, here’s some of them.

• Unless you’re an Amazon Vine program participant, you can’t offer free products to your customers in exchange for reviews. This was outlawed last October 2016, so don’t try to be cheeky or else.
• Don’t write your own reviews. It’s not just against Amazon’s guidelines but outright pathetic as well.
• Don’t bribe customers with money to get Amazon reviews. You’re on Amazon to make money and not to give money away.
• You’re not allowed to give promotions or discounts for review. You are allowed to give out coupons, but not to when the person you’re giving it to is about to write a review.
• Though there’s no way of actually checking it, but Amazon doesn’t want sellers to have their friends and relatives give them reviews.
• Voting on the helpfulness of reviews directed to you is frowned upon.
• You’re not allowed to leave any negative comments about a competitor’s’ products
• “Good review swaps” are not allowed. This is not a blog network.
• Don’t think that accepting unverified reviews will benefit you. It won’t! Amazon will find out and get ya.

That’s just a fraction of things you can’t do on Amazon. Fun yeah?

But like I said, all of those things are there to make everything “fair” for “everyone”. A policy that assures the smallest of sellers can have a fighting chance against more established ones.

If you think about it, the rules set by Amazon is more fair than what we go through in our daily lives yeah?

Anyway, before I get all philosophical about life and all, let’s move on and talk about how you you can maximize your marketing efforts and get needed attention to your products….legally on Amazon.

Making The Most Of Your Mailing List

It is totally fine to do everything you can to spread the word about why people should be buying from you and not your competitors. This is when you should be running promotions or offering coupons/discounts, as it’ll strengthen your chances of more sales. And the more sales you get, the likelier your chances of getting more Amazon reviews. Just make sure to keep offering stellar products, optimising your listings and photos, and responding to customers’ comments and questions super fast.

While Amazon does not allow you to go plead to your customers for a positive review, informing those that are part of your mailing list is absolutely ok…..so long as you do it in a professional manner.

For example. If you’re about to do discounts on specific products for a limited time, it is absolutely ok to send your mailing list information regarding it. Just make sure though that the email you send does not contain any of the things Amazon frowns upon.

Yes, I understand that this can be somewhat blurry.

The thing is, it’s all about the content of your email. If you send an email that informs them of your upcoming product discounts, then there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you send one that could constitute as a bribe, then it could get you into trouble.

So to be safe, just be casual when trying to get Amazon reviews from your customers. Inform them of the discount and nothing else. Let them decide if they want to purchase your products without giving them any incentive.

Doing so will save you from getting into trouble with Amazon, but at the same time you’re presenting yourself as someone who conducts business in a professional manner. And if there’s one things I’ve learned over the years when it comes to online retail, a customer-seller relationship built on trust is more profitable in the long-run.

Now that you pushed traffic towards your Amazon store, and hopefully got a sale, whats next? After sales service of course!

Bad after sales service for me is why many sellers resort to illegal marketing tactics on Amazon. I mean think about it. You just got a sale. And so long as your product is of good quality and presented truthfully on your listing, there wouldn’t be any reason for a customer to not give you a review, much more buy something else from you in the future.

Again, this goes back to fostering that atmosphere of trust between seller and buyer. If you take care of your customer and provide them with a positive buying experience, then it is likely that he/she will be back for more.

And that’s why you should….

Implement Excellent After Sales Service Using Automated Email Sequencers

Yes, one of our products at SellerLift is an automated email system that allows you to send emails to your customers with ease. But if you think that this is nothing more than a marketing ploy for that service, well it’s not entirely true.

If you have been digesting all the things I have been saying earlier, this article actually reads more than a personal blog post rather than a sales pitch. And no, I’m not playing the empathy card as that’s not how we do things at Sellerlift. We genuinely want you to succeed on Amazon. And if one of our services can be a tool for you to reach that goal, then good. If not, then at least we have imparted some of our knowledge to you.

Anyway, I’m babbling again. So going back, why “automated emails”?

Well, this is where you put your business hat on. You see, automated emails provides you with more “free time”. Ask any successful business person what he/she would want to have more of? Chances are, that person would reply, “I wish I had time to do this and that etc”.

Effective business management entails that you focus on important things and delegate, in this case, automate the ones that you can.

Again, don’t get me wrong. I am by no means contradicting myself and implying that you should not focus on after sales service, I AM! At the same time though, automated email sequencers can do that job for you, leaving you with more time to focus on other aspects of your business like sourcing products and suppliers.

My point is, if a tool that can help streamline your business processes, why wouldn’t you take advantage of it? Sound logical right?

Anyway, I won’t bore you with the “why’s” anymore. Rather I would like to invite you to judge all the things I’ve said for yourself.

We at Sellerlift offer a 14-Day FREE trial to our email sequencing system for Amazon. So if you are curious if all this “how to legally get Amazon reviews” talk is nothing but hot air, I dare you to sign-up and tell me I’m wrong.

As always, have a great day and see you next time.