Online reviews give customers power to provide rapid and direct feedback to your business. While this can be great news for your small to midsize business, it is important that you actively participate in review management. One negative review can have a big impact on your online reputation. But, you are not powerless! Here is how to engage with your customer reviews:
Read the reviews
Online review sites such as Facebook, Google, and Yelp are powerful feedback tools for your company. They can alert you to customer service issues, logistical problems or misperceptions about your company. It may feel personal and uncomfortable to read negative reviews, but they will also help you to determine what, if anything, your company needs to improve to make the customer experience excellent.
But, sometimes, a review can be incorrect or malicious. So, the next step is most important.
Respond to reviews
Write well crafted, measured responses to each online review, whether it is positive or negative. Positive reviews deserve a note of gratitude. But, negative reviews should include an apology for the person’s experience and an action step your company plans to take to address the issue. For errant reviews, (for instance, they mistake yours for a different company) you may be able to ask for more information. With malicious reviews, you can offer to discuss the issue directly with the customer.
Focus on specific outlets
Staying on top of reviews on all social media and search engine platforms would be next to impossible. But, if your business is already engaged in online marketing, you are probably aware of what outlets your customers use. So, we recommend focusing on the most widely used platforms for your client base. We also recommend review platforms to help you review more than one site at once.
Small to medium business owners may have less time to spend reading online reviews. But these reviews have a large impact on your local business. Octane Marketing can help you get started.