Taking Your Online Reputation Seriously
I Am Impressed with My Clients
The review above has another side of the story to this too!
There are a lot of negative vibes online these days, and I believe we largely have review sites to thank for this. Companies today are plagued with 1 and 2‑star ratings, typically from people who have overly demanding expectations. If you forget to return a phone call, chances are, sooner or later, you’ll be receiving a low-star rating on a site like Yelp. Yet, if you do a good job and serve the customer well, it is very difficult to get consumers to write a positive review on their own. Typically, they will only do this if a company went above and beyond their high expectations. If you have a reliable and quality service company, you are likely going to receive a few good reviews and a couple of poor ones just for being human.
Why am I so impressed with my clients when it comes to their online reputation? It is quite simple. These customers of mine really take to heart every single negative review they discover on the web about their company. Additionally, they mull them over and talk to me about how they can respond and make things right. By the way, for almost every negative review I have seen, there is a story behind the interaction that incited that review. Most of the time, the consumer really is just being overly demanding and cannot be won over. Many times, however, those reviews stay on the web for others to read, offering only half of the story and never the full picture.
Consumers have no idea how hurtful it is to be negative. A good service company will respond to these negative reviews publicly and very professionally, offering a level of class that wasn’t offered to them. I want homeowners and business professionals to know how hard it is to run a contracting business and how many of these business owners really provide great service. Yes, there are a few less-than-professional businesses out there, but in reality, those folks won’t last long. The professional and service-oriented companies will make things right. Sure, they may forget to call you back now and then. They might even make a mistake on a job too, but you won’t have to worry. I’ve seen my clients wrestle with each review and try hard to turn things around. Give these guys a chance to make things right by calling or emailing them to follow up and see what happened. The only reason for a 1‑star review, in my opinion, is if that company should NOT be in business.
How Do You Respond To Negative Online Reviews?
I’m curious to know if you are aware of any low-star ratings of your company. If so, what is your process to respond? How do you manage your online reputation? The Internet is a blessing and a curse for small business owners, but I know if you are reading this you are serious about doing a quality job and want to make your customers happy. If so, make sure you take steps to stay connected with what people are saying about you online. You can do this in a number of ways. You can set up a Google Alert with your company name in it and you’ll get notified anytime someone mentions your business online (not just for reviews). Or you can pay for a program such as Yext or Demandforce, both of which do a decent job alerting you any time you get a review on the web.
About David Chism
David Chism started his business out of a passion for helping small contracting businesses grow, be more profitable and become better known to their target clients. One lifelong hobby of David is using techie gadgets. So this blog is a place where he writes about technology, marketing ideas, just for fun (humor), personal thoughts on small business and more.
