When I am heading out for dinner, buying a new product, and when I am considering which movie I am going to see, the first thing I do is check the reviews.  And I am not alone.  In the age of social media, reviews have become one of the most important considerations in any purchase. 

If you have a great reviews a recent study showing that " 84 percent of customers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends" is music to your ears.  But what if you have bad reviews?

The importance of business reviews

At ASMM, we consider reviews to be so important to a potential customer's online presence that we won't even meet with a client until we have thoroughly researched their reviews and if we find their reviews are bad, we will not start a social media campaign with them until either they remedy the situation or we do.

Unfortunately, most businesses don't have the time to consider what their reviews are saying about them.  Oftentimes when we meet with a new client they are shocked to learn their reviews are so poor.  

The good news is that you can do something about it. Taking these three simple steps is a great way to get your reviews to work for you.

Review Management

1. Know where you are being reviewed - The top two places people look for reviews are Google and Facebook.  However, depending on the type of company you own, you can have dozens of review sites.  Doing a thorough search, using your company name and reviews in the search box, will reveal most of the sites your company has been reviewed.  We encourage you to go beyond the front page of this search so you can find as many of the review sites as possible.

2. Claim your business - Most of the review sites allow you to claim your business.  By doing so you will be able to manage your reviews. Once you claim your site, we suggest you leave a comment on each and every review.  If it is a good review, this is an opportunity to thank them for choosing you and for taking the time to share their experience.  A bad review is another opportunity.  It is an opportunity to show this customer and those who are watching that you care.  You can apologize and ask them to reach out to you directly, leave your name and number and make sure they know you are the owner or the manager of the company.  This empowers an unhappy and shows them that you are taking their complaint seriously.  In some cases you may be able to thwart a troll with a simple comment letting people know this person has never been a customer at your establishment.  However, in no circumstance should use this platform as a place to argue with your customer.  Often times, when handled properly your unhappy customer will change the review and let people know that you remedied the situation.  

3. Solicit reviews - We encourage you to reach out to people who love your company first and foremost.  Give them a link to where you would like them to leave a review and thank them for doing so.  If your reviews are especially bad, we encourage you to start adding a link to your thank you emails.  It should say, "We work hard to earn our 5-star reviews.  If you feel like you received 5-star service, please leave a review at this link.  If you were unhappy for any reason, John Smith, our owner, would like to hear from you directly.  Please call him or email him directly so we can remedy the situation."  

Managing your reviews can be time consuming.  However, when you manage them well, it can also be priceless.  

If you would like help managing your reviews, please contact Ann directly at Ann@annmarkets.com .