Disgruntled clients. We’ve all experienced them. From time to time, an individual will have a negative experience with your business for one reason or another. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the experience, that negative review is now out there in the interwebs…and to stay.
Even if you have just one negative client experience out of 50 amazing ones, “a consumer is 21 percent more likely to leave a review after a negative experience than a positive one.”. So, from a users perspective, all the goodness your business has done will be essentially buried by that one negative review.
As a business owner, maintaining your online reputation is of utmost importance because most people absolutely rely on social proof before making any purchase decision, especially online.
So, what can you do to keep your online reputation squeaky clean?
1. Ask for positive reviews. You can do this via social media or reach out to past clients who were happy with your services. This will boost your positive reviews to be more reflective of your service. A negative review is not the end of the world. It actually eases a skeptical mind. But the majority should definitely be positive!
2. Create a system for collecting reviews from your satisfied buyers. When you have 99% happy clients, your online reputation should reflect that! You should always be sure to follow-up at the close of a project to request feedback. For some clients, there isn’t a formal project close date so without a proper system – this important step can be overlooked, especially in service-based businesses.
3. You can request your staff to send follow-up emails, make phone calls, or even reach out to a digital marketing company to get an automated process developed for your business! This way, it’s not even something you have to consciously think about.
4. You can even filter unhappy clients to a private survey form so that you can receive their feedback directly and respond to their concerns. Sometimes, people just want to be heard. Listening to what they have to say can almost always ease the tension.
5. Respond to negative reviews. This is something a lot of business owners fail to do because it can be awkward or they think it might even be unprofessional. But, hold your head high and reply genuinely and honestly to negative reviews. Explaining yourself in a dignified manner will help ease the mind of new prospects who might stumble upon that bad review when checking up on your business.
As you can tell, I’m all about the systems, and there is no exception when it comes to managing online reputation.
Setting up a customer reputation management system is something I recommend being high on your list of priorities as a business owner
Want to learn more about getting this automation setup for your business so you can sit back, relax, and focus on what you do best? Well, lucky for you, this is our specialty! Contact us today for a consultation!
Lisa M Gale Digital Marketing helps service professional business owners improve their online presence and visibility to attract new clients. We develop systems and processes to improve digital marketing efforts and help entrepreneurs reach their business goals. Download your Digital Marketing Made Simple for free here >>
