Xtreme Labs works with the world’s leading companies to plan and execute their mobile strategy. We have a proven track record of success in delivering innovative solutions across hundreds of global products. As experts in mobile agile development, the best and most successful companies trust Xtreme Labs with critical pieces of their mobile strategy. More: Since being founded in 2007, Xtreme Labs has been recognized by many publications, newscasts, web videos and conferences across the globe for their innovation and achievement in the mobile industry. CBC, Advantage, TechCrunch, The Globe and Mail, City TV and many more news sources have turned to Xtreme Labs for our leadership in mobile strategy and product development as well as our opinion and commentary on the mobile landscape. All aspects of our projects are handled in-house with our award winning business, design, development and QA teams - from discovery to delivery, submission and support. Further, teams of our staff are always working on innovation projects, and we develop our own tools to be used in house such as XL Magic, a mobile web platform that allows mobile web content to be delivered and available across all platforms and mobile web browsers. Our clients are some of the most trusted and high-profile in the world. Clients include The Globe and Mail, Air Miles, Groupon, CIBC, Metro News, MTV Mobile, Reuters, Urbanspoon and over 200 more. Our partners range from Apple, Google, Android, Microsoft, RIM, Pivotal Labs, Urban Airship and many more.

1. Engaging Mobile Customers for Better Ratings and
Reviews on Mobile Apps
Mobile Application developers want great ratings in the app store because they are
interpreted as an indicator of quality. Data from a report titled Examining the Relationship
between Reviews and Sales by researchers form NYU and the Georgia Institute of
Technology suggests that this is of particular value for things that are difficult for mobile
consumers to evaluate prior to purchase, such as books, movies, and apps. The higher the
rating of a mobile application, the more likely you are to pique the interest of potential
customers.
It is natural then to ask, “How can we get better ratings for our custom mobile
application?” and, “How do we get better reviews?” But those are the wrong questions.
Instead, the questions you should ask are:
1. How do we create a great experience so people will love our iphone mobile app?
2. How can we engage with our customers, so the ones who love our android mobile
application or blackberry application will write a review?
It’s not about you: it’s about the customers
The ratings and reviews in the app store are not for you, the iphone app developer. They
are for your customers. Ratings and reviews can help you identify what customers like or
dislike about your iphone application, but their primary purpose is to act as guideposts
saying, “This will make your life better,” or warning, “Danger, thar be dragons.”
An e-mail to all your customers asking them to rate your iphone app, android app,
blackberry app, windows mobile app or code in your app to ask for a rating after a certain
numbers of uses are both legitimate techniques for soliciting feedback, but they put the
focus on you, the developer, not on the customer. As we like to say, “If you’re trying to get
ratings just to get more ratings, you’re doing it wrong.” Nothing about these techniques
makes life better for your customers. The key to better reviews is to identify the customers
who love your app, and encouraging them to talk about it. And one way to do that is to
engage with your customers.
Listening and acting
Customers today have a different set of expectations. Simply being able to fill out a
“Contact Us” form and have your question disappear into the ether is not enough. In these
days of instant downloads, 24-hour service hotlines, customers expect to be heard when
they speak up. You need to provide an easy way for customers to give feedback, you need
to listen, and you need to respond.

2. Listening is important because your custom mobile app might make sense to you, but it
doesn’t always make sense to your customers. In a recent blog post, Seth Godin suggests
that the biggest customer question is, “Why isn’t this as important to you as it is to me?”
Find out what your customers expect, what is confusing, and identify what you can work
on. Listening sends two powerful messages. First, you are telling your customers that you
care enough about their opinion to give them the tools to express it in a quick and easy
manner. Second, you are telling your customers that you trust them enough to give you
real and honest feedback on your application.
Responding is also important. For positive comments, taking the time to say “Thank you,”
tells your customers that there are real people behind the app. Negative feedback provides
an opportunity to make your product better. Acknowledge the user’s frustration, diffuse the
tension, apologize, and if feasible, make it right. Fix that bug. Show that you care about
creating a great experience for all of your customers. Give them reasons to stick around, to
trust you, to understand why your app works the way that it does.
Get more reviews
A quick search of the app developer discussion boards will show that the ratio of app
downloads to app reviews varies greatly, with the numbers ranging from one in one
hundred to one in five hundred. When you listen to feedback and respond, good things can
happen: more feedback, better ratings, more honest input, and a significant number of
customer relationships that are spawned through simple conversation. And you will know
which users are engaged with your app.
Research at George Washington University and University of Texas Austin suggests that the
number of reviews also matter. More reviews encourage more sales. There might be many
users out there who love your app, who aren’t necessarily thinking, “I need to go write a
review.” So ask them to.
In the end, you will have better ratings and more positive reviews. What is more important,
though, is that you have created a connection with your customers. By asking for feedback,
by listening, by responding, and by encouraging them to rate your app, you will have
relationships with engaged customers who love your product and who want to talk about it.
About Xtreme Labs:
Located in Toronto, Palo Alto, and New York City, Xtreme Labs is a leading mobile product
development company that deals in iphone app development, android application
development, blackberry applications development, custom application development, ios
app development, ipad application development, windows mobile development and mobile
application development. They have a proven track record of success in delivering
innovative solutions across hundreds of global products. As experts in mobile agile
development, Xtreme Labs works with the world's leading companies to plan and execute
their mobile strategy.
For more information visit http://www.xtremelabs.com
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