Today’s world is driven by online data. Consumers are searching online for companies they want to work, doing their background research online from their couches at night, and reading online reviews to make their buying decisions.
If you have negative online reviews, I can guarantee it is costing your business money.
As frustrating as you might find review sites like Google, Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc. they are not going away. Consumers rely heavily on what people saying about the products they are considering purchasing, and whether or not you respond to reviews, and how you respond to them does impact your business.
So how should your company be addressing online reviews?
You should be assigning one person within your organization to check these review sites daily and sign up to receive notices when someone posts a review for your company.
This person should always be responding to all reviews about your company whether they are positive or negative.
They should: be thanking who ever submitted the review by their name, if possible, and addresings what they are talking about in their review. For example, “Thanks Samantha for your review. We are thrilled you liked our ABC product.”
If their review is negative, then the most effective thing to do is show concern and take the conversation off-line. For example “Samantha, we are disappointed to read your review and would really like some additional information about your experience. Could you please email us at info@yourcompany.com? Remember that this email is public so setting up a generic email address that is not name specific is to your benefit because employees come and go and this information will be accessible online pretty much forever.
Other Tips:
-Be timely respond within a day or two of the review being posted to show you really care.
-Always be polite because you don’t know the full back story to why this person reviewed your business the way they did.
-Re-read your response before you post it to make sure your grammar, spelling and tone are correct.
-Be concise and recognize when a customer expresses brand loyalty.
-Be grateful for these reviews you can improve your customer experience so be sure to say “Thank you!”
