By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-02-22 12:10:38 | Word Count: 664
Have you monitored your reviews today? Have you checked to see what the complaining customer at your restaurant last night told the world about your business via Yelp or Google? Have you contacted that customer to right whatever wrong they assumed you were responsible for? No? Well this could be a problem.
Your local business has likely been reviewed. It is with great hope that these reviews have all been positive but, unfortunately, often that is not the case. Sometimes there are customers who may have been less than pleased with your service and these unhappy customers are adamant reviewers. These types of reviewers are extremely detrimental to your reputation. Take a moment to try it. Type in your business name on Google and notice that at the top of your browser, one of the first things noticed, are stars indicating customer review. It’s Yelp, isn’t it? How many stars do you have? Now try clicking on that link, if you can handle it, and see what’s being said about your establishment. Hopefully there are quite a few positive comments but all you can think about is that one negative hidden amongst the 10 positives. Here is the issue: potential customers think the same way.
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It is highly likely that before a patron enters your establishment or offers you business research is done. As you’ve noticed, it really doesn’t take much. The last thing you want is for this research to prove you inadequate. You want to stay on top of this. You want to monitor your reviews, notice the trends, and implement strategy to eliminate negativity. Here’s something that you may not know, your service is being compared to like services in your area. Are these other services being reviewed higher than yours? You need to know this. Here are a few tips to assist in you staying on top of things
* Review Notifications: Know whenever a negative review surfaces through each apparent forum.
* Address Reviews: If there is a negative review, do you part at addressing it immediately and making it right. These reviews are never to be ignored by you because they are noticed by potential customers.
* Implement Reputation Management: Keep track of who is saying what, where. Note comparison to competing services and track conversion and loss.
* Convert Negativity: Offer incentive, perhaps in the form of discount, voucher, free giveaways, in attempt to win the customer over.
It is essential that you do your part. It is understood that you are perhaps overwhelmed with the day to day operations of your business and the last thing you feel you can take on is another thorough and time consuming task. Realize that the monitoring of customer reviews for the sake of your business’s reputation is vital. Prepare your strategy. Gather data, track trends, assess incentives, implement conversions and gain positive feedback. It is of the greatest necessity.
Try not to be overwhelmed with this influx of information. We are here to help you. Contact our team of professionals at Optimum7 today! Call us at 1-800-736-9618
