Bightlocal has released their findings from their Local Consumer Review Survey 2010, Part 3.

The survey highlights some interesting findings –
27% of consumers have recommended a local business on Facebook – rising to 32% in female consumers & also in younger consumers (aged 16-34)
Reliability, Professionalism & Friendliness are the most important traits that lead to a customer recommending a business
52% of customers would more likely to recommend a business if it had a good special offer.
40% of customers would be more likely to recommend a local business if they benefited directly

You should visit the site for all of the information but here are some of the highlights that interested me.

Which of these local business types have you/would you recommend to someone you know if you had a good or bad experience?

The types of businesses that are most frequently recommended are those that are most frequently used.

In the last 12 months have you recommended a local business to people you know by any of the following methods?

People are more lilkely to use word of mouth and Facebook to recommend local businesses than a review site.

Would you be more likely to recommend a local business to people you know if they had a good value offer or discount?

Folks are obviously motivated by self interest.

As Myles points out the things that people find important to recommend a business have always been the things that they have found important. A business should be friendly, professional and offer good value in the form of incentives.

But the survey raises the question of how, when and where a business should engage in the process and what value reviews have. Hopefully more on that tomorrow.