Trustpilot's Paul Kirby On Leveraging The Power Of Reviews For Your Business
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Meet Paul Kirby, Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Trustpilot, sharing his journey from media advertising to guiding eCommerce leaders through reviews.
Tell us about your career so far and the essential turning points that got you where you are today.
I started my career in media advertising working for Marketing Week over 10 years ago. Having studied marketing at university it felt like a natural step to go and work for the leading industry publication. Working here gave me insight into industry trends and what area businesses were growing. I worked alongside many tech businesses at the time this small start up called Trustpilot. Now the leading global review platform I was keen to join a customer centric business and one where we make a difference. I look after Enterprise clients across Ecommerce, finance and insurance.
If you were to reflect on your career, what advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
Always keep learning in your current role and focus on becoming the best you can be. Make sure you keep up with industry trends and network. The more value you can provide your clients the better you will do and more opportunities will open up. Always make yourself available even if you feel like you're not 100% ready.
What do you see in the future of eCommerce? How do you prepare for it?
Social proof, particularly through positive customer testimonials, plays an unprecedented role in validating brands, attracting potential customers, and elevating overall trust. Creating opportunities for customers to share reviews and engage in discussions further solidifies this sense of trust within the community.
Your conference at eCommerce Expo
“Trustpilot x Henry Case Study: How One of the Most Recognisable Household Brands Harnessed Reviews To Boost Their Growth”
Tell us about your session, and what topics your explored.
I have worked with Catherine since 2019 when My Henry signed up to Trustpilot so it was great to run through our journey. We explored how they set up, inviting past customers to leave reviews to boost volumes to inviting every customer who purchases to leave a service & product reviews. Responding to negative reviews and how they embed Trustpilot throughout their customer journeys to build trust.
Could you share more insights on how reviews influence purchase decisions?
Reviews give consumers confidence that you are a trustworthy company. They help expel any doubt the potential customer might have as they can see others before them have purchased and are happy with their experience.
Are there particular types of reviews that have a more significant impact on building trust?
Negative reviews! This gives you the best opportunity to answer the customer publicly and show other potential customers that you genuinely care as a company and if they were to have any issues you would resolve them.
How should brands approach answering negative reviews?
Be honest, own up to the issue and provide a solution. No company is perfect so it is reassuring for consumers to see how companies handle these.
How can brands ensure that insights from reviews are effectively communicated and implemented across different departments within a company?
Send a weekly Trustpilot update to all teams highlighting some of the good reviews, bad reviews and key topics/ trends in them. You can use Trustpilots AI insights to automate sentiment analysis, removing the manual work.
Quick-fire questions
Favourite social media platform?
Linkedin.
The tool you use the most on your laptop?
Trustlytics (Internal tool to keep track of how our customers are performing)
How many unopened emails do you currently have in your inbox?
0 - aim for zero in my inbox at the end of each day
What is one of your proudest moments in your career?
Winning the Power Up League at work which meant a trip to Iceland.
What is something you’re still looking forward to achieving in your career?
Leading a Customer Success Team
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