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Online reputation is vital to a plumber’s success

The world of online reputation management may seem a bit too much for your local, family-owned plumbing company, but it definitely should not be overlooked or brushed off as being only helpful for younger generations.

Let us fill you in on why your online reputation matters and what you can accomplish by taking control of it! By understanding and managing your online reputation, you can gain valuable insight into the minds of your customers, see where your reputation is shining or lacking, and communicate with your current and potential future clients!

What your reviews tell people

Whether for last-minute emergency services or a long-awaited planned project, when it comes time for the average consumer to choose a plumber, most people are going to turn to the internet before deciding who to hire.

As a local business, your online reputation can make or break you. Today, your online reviews hold as much weight as word of mouth has in the past.

In fact, 88-percent of consumers trust online reviews just as much as they would trust a personal recommendation. While positive reviews can help get your name out and grow your business, negative reviews can result in a bad reputation, which will undoubtedly harm your business.

Your loyal fans, your current customers and an untold number of future potential customers are using online reviews every day to make their purchasing decisions.

Think about it. From the most mundane household products, like sponges and hand soap, all the way up to important services, like optometrists and family doctors, people almost never choose a product or service without doing some research first.

That means that it is more important than ever to stay on top of and manage your online reputation. Think of your reviews as the new word of mouth or referral.

Imagine a potential customer searches for local plumbers and comes across your page and a competitor’s page. Your page has no reviews and theirs has a few positive reviews scattered across Facebook and Google. That customer is most likely going to go with the business that people have recommended through their reviews!

Many times, people are looking for a plumber with some level of urgency, and the average person doesn’t have much, if any, plumbing knowledge. They really rely on those reviews to help them know which business to trust!

Plumbing is a competitive industry, and you can be the best plumber in the city, but if potential customers aren’t told as much by someone other than yourself, they have no reason to believe you.

Check out your competition

Not only can your online reputation give you a leg-up in the industry, but it can also give you some good insight into what customers care about.

Browse through the reviews of some of your competitors. What are the top compliments and criticisms being made about other businesses in your field?

Maybe you hadn’t thought to really focus on communication, but you’ve noticed that that’s one of the things people complain about the most. You can help your business to stand out even more by going out of your way to be the best when it comes to communication!

You commit to responding to all voicemails by the end of the day, you start to send out follow-up emails, and maybe you even set up your employees with a texting service so they can let the customer know when they are on their way. Soon enough, excellent communication skills become something you are known for!

By seeing where others are struggling, you can get a good idea about what is going on in the minds of the consumers, as well as what they value and what tends to bother them the most.

You can also see where you might be outshining your competitors! By reading through the reviews, you might notice that you’re the only local company that keeps getting compliments about your friendly technicians.

You can lean into that when it comes to your branding. Start by saying that customer service is something you’re known for, because at this point, it is, and you have the reviews to back that up!

Make yourself more visible

It is crucial for you to show up as one of the top results when someone searches for businesses in your industry. In fact, it’s been shown that 75-percent of people never scroll past the first page of search engine results!

If you don’t show up on that first page, it’s almost as bad as not showing up at all. If you’re trying to buy your way to the top with keywords and paid ads, get ready to shell out the big bucks.

An easier, and significantly cheaper, way to boost your visibility is through reviews.

Your SEO (search engine optimization) is boosted when you provide original, fresh content, and new customer reviews are a form of content that not only helps by giving you precious feedback, but also helps to get your brand noticed by those algorithms that can push you to the top!

Communicate with your customers

Online or off, there’s no doubt that communication is valued in the service industry.

Online reviews give you a unique platform where you can communicate with your consumer base quickly and publically.

If a negative review comes in, you can quickly address the issue, showing potential customers that you are not only communicative but that you also value customer feedback. In some cases, you can even turn around a bad review by addressing the customer’s concerns and showing them that you care about their experience.

Make managing your reputation easy with Top Rated Local

Plumbers who have been in business for a while will and have a long list of clients probably also have reviews across many different platforms, like Yelp, Home Advisor, Angie’s List, Facebook, and Google — Top Rated Local can help you keep track of where your reputation is by bringing them all to one place!

It has never been easier to take control of your online reputation, and with some help from Top Rated Local, you can quickly get the shining reputation you’ve dreamed of.

Originally published 10/21/19

If social media isn’t an important part of your business’ reputation management strategy, it needs to be, because the truth is that…

Social Media Can Make or Break Your Online Reputation

Your online reputation consists of more than just your reviews on Yelp or Google; it encompasses every aspect of how your customers and prospective customers see your business — which absolutely includes your business’ social media presence. In this blog, we’ll explore the many ways that you can use social media to build the kind of brand you want online.

#1. Social media gives you direct access to your audience.

Whether it’s on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, each and every one of your social media profiles gives you a way to speak to your audience directly. Most methods of communication between a business and its audience are more general, like direct mail, newsletters or email blasts, but with social media, you can send a message to a wide audience while also connecting with your customers one on one.

#2. Social media gives you a chance to respond to feedback publicly.

While you can respond to reviews on Yelp, Google and every other review site, nothing beats responding to a review on Facebook. And the reason for this is that responses on Facebook are more visible and readily available to your audience. Whether you’re responding to positive or negative reviews, doing so on Facebook will help you to show off your customer service chops to an audience that pays close attention, rather than just to whoever happens to look at the review on Yelp or Google.

#3. Social media gives you the opportunity to share your story.

As we mentioned, social media gives you a chance to connect with your audience on a deeper level, more emotional level and share your story with them. Stories are one of your most powerful mediums for making a connection with customers and prospective customers, because people can relate to stories and humanize your business. Stories tug at the heartstrings, making your brand more memorable.

#4. Social media allows you to share the ways you give back.

Giving back to your community not only buys you karma points, but it also does great things for your reputation offline. However, with the help of social media, you can harness the power of giving back to improve your online reputation as well. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should brag about donating to a charity or volunteering; there are a lot more subtle ways to let the world know about your philanthropic endeavors. One great option is to post group photos of your team volunteering or to share information about an upcoming event a charity you sponsor is holding. You could also use Facebook and other social media platforms to raise funds for nonprofits and other charities.

#5. Social media is the perfect place to brag about individual employees.

Sure, your business’ reputation is important for attracting new people to your service or products, but it goes beyond that. Your reputation also affects your team, including what kind of employees you can attract, as well as the satisfaction of your existing employees. The unemployment rate is low right now in the U.S., which means that employees have options, which means that maintaining a reputation they can be proud of and a work environment they thrive in will go a long way toward keeping great people on your team.

You can use social media to both improve your reputation and build employee morale by highlighting your team’s accomplishments, as well as individual employees who stand out. If you have an employee of the month program, don’t keep it internal; share it on social media!

#6. Social media makes it possible to highlight the impacts of your service or products.

Small- to medium-sized businesses impact individual lives throughout the United States each and every day. Whether it’s a jewelry store that helped to recreate or salvage an old family heirloom or a restoration company that helps a homeowner regain peace of mind after a flood or a fire, businesses are making a difference in people’s lives. If a customer shares a story with you about how your business impacted them, share it on social media (with their permission of course)!

#7. Social media allows you to share your mission and your vision for the future.

Customers who are bought into your company want to know what your plans and goals are for the future, and there’s no better place to share it when them than on social media. Your company’s mission — the “why” behind what you do each and every day — is something that you should absolute share with your audience. It takes a lot of time and effort to run a business, and chances are, you aren’t doing it because you have luke-warm feelings toward the business. No, you do what you do because it drives you and because you are passionate about it. And sharing that passion — as well as what you hope to achieve through it — will reinforce loyalty in your existing customers and give new customers a reason to choose you over the competition; plus, it will help to shape your entire social media brand.

#8. Social media is a great place to share your successes.

When your business receives an award or some other form of recognition, where and how do you share it? Do you send an email, push it out on a newsletter or even write a press release? All of these are great options, but the best is simply to share it with your followers on social media. This type of recognition will help to further separate you from your competition and give consumers a reason to choose you. Plus, it’s also a great time to build employee morale by recognizing your team’s efforts in your achievements.

Social media plays a big role in your business’ online reputation — make the most out of it.

Social media is a powerful thing in many ways, but when it comes to your reputation, it could be your saving grace or the straw that broke the camel’s back. Luckily, with a little time, hard work and know-how, you can harness the power of social media to make your reputation everything you want it to be.

Is your business listed on Top Rated Local®? If not, become a Top Rated Local business by getting listed today — best of all, it’s 100-percent free, and it’s a great tool for managing your online reputation and overcoming common hurdles, like competitor reviews and fake reviews.

Tag: brand management

The Importance Of Reputation Management For Plumbers