The year that was 2018 is finally over.
Like any other year, 2018 had plenty of ups and downs, and plenty of breakthroughs and obstacles. It was the year when Cardi B’s “I Like It” reigned supreme and The Avengers Infinity Wars” dominated the box office. It was also the year that we learned even more about reputation management.
Every year, there are new things to learn about reputation management, and 2018 was no exception. And although we’re confident that 2019 will have just as many lessons for us where reputation management is concerned, it’s time to take a look back and last year’s most valuable lessons. Without further ado, here are the top seven lessons we learned about reputation management in 2018:
#1. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of reputation management.
A lot of business owners think that reputation management revolves around responding to reviews, and while this is certainly a critical piece in the puzzle, you’re going to miss a lot of opportunities if you don’t focus on the SEO of your website.
Managing your website’s SEO is a key part of reputation management because it gives you more control over what current and prospective customers see when they search for your company on search engines, like Google or Bing.
If your customers are inundated with bad reviews and negative press at the top of their search results when they google your company, it sends the wrong message and will have them running the other direction. But when you make SEO a priority, you can focus on publishing new articles, social media posts, press releases, etc. that will push negative press further and further down the search results.
#2. Bad reviews can be a good thing for your business.
Some business owners think bad reviews are the end of the world, and while it may not be fun to receive bad reviews, it’s not as detrimental as you may think for your business. Believe it or not, bad reviews can actually be a good thing for your business in many different ways.
For one, bad reviews make you appear more legitimate to prospective customers. Customers are suspect of businesses that only receive five-star reviews because they know that everyone is human and, therefore, makes mistakes. One bad review in a sea of good reviews shows customers your humanity, but it also shows them that you do your best to provide great service every time.
Another reason why bad reviews can be positive is that they increase the overall number of reviews you have. If you have all five-star reviews, but there are only four of them total, it’s not all that impressive. When customers research new companies to work with, they not only look at the average rating of reviews the company has, but also the number of reviews.
#3. Respond to both positive and negative reviews.
As we mentioned earlier, responding to your reviews is a very important part of successfully managing your online reputation. Not only does this mean that you should thank customers who leave you positive reviews, but it also means that you should follow up with customers who leave negative reviews.
Responding to a negative review restores the power to you, the business owner, because it allows you to address concerns and show off your customer service skills. If you own up to the issue, apologize and offer to make it right, you may regain the trust of a customer who was offended or annoyed, and you may even win over prospective customers who want to work with an honest company that will fix their mistakes.
#4. Great customer service is a must.
Regardless of the industry you work in, the market today can be an over-crowded place. If your business is like most, your competition is fierce, and there are many other businesses out there that offer similar products or services at a similar price point. This means that the only real way that you can set yourself apart — other than by drastically lowering your rates — is to provide the best customer service.
Here are just a few stats that demonstrate the importance of great customer service:
- More than 50 percent of Americans have discarded a planned transaction or purchase due to poor customer service. – American Express
- On average, Americans tell 11 people about a good experience, but they’ll tell 15 people if they’ve had a bad experience. – American Express
- Poor customer service has led to the loss of more than $62 billion annually for companies in the U.S. – Newvoicemedia.com
- After just one negative experience, more than half of all American consumers will never do business with the company again. – Newvoicemedia.com
- Millennials will spend up to 21 percent more on a product or service for great customer service. – American Express
- Seven out of 10 American consumers say they’ll spend more to work with a company that delivers exceptional customer service. – American Express
- Delivering better customer service allows businesses to obtain average revenues that are 4 to 8 percent above market revenues. – Bain & Company
A lot of what you do to manage your reputation happens online; however, it all starts with the kind of service you provide for your customers day in and day out.
#5. Keep your emotions out of the equation.
Whether you’re posting on social media, writing a blog or adding a page to your website, it’s imperative that you keep your content professional at all times. This message is often confused, because in order to make an impact on your customers, it’s crucial to connect with them, and that is often done through messaging and advertising designed to tug at the heartstrings.
There’s a very big difference, however, in sharing an emotional story about how your product or service helped to change someone’s life than it is to rant on your business’ Twitter account about how you’re sick of working with customers who don’t appreciate the work you provide, or than it is to write a scathing reply to a negative review.
Keep your opinions and emotions to yourself when you’re representing your business. The world is a big, diverse place with people who all have different cultures, histories and religions. Don’t assume that your customers will agree with you, and don’t turn off prospective customers by allowing your emotions to take hold of you.
#6. Learn from customer feedback.
Reviews are great for so many reasons. For one, they allow your customers’ voices to be heard, making them feel empowered and listened to. Another reason why reviews are great is that they help prospective customers learn more about the businesses they are thinking of working with, giving them insight into the kind of service they can expect. And yet another reason why reviews are valuable is the incredible feedback they provide for businesses.
If you’re interested in providing the best possible service for your customers, you can learn a lot about how to do so by reading your customer reviews. If you have a lot of positive reviews, you can pinpoint the areas that you’re exceeding expectations, and you can highlight those things on your website along with the positive reviews.
On the other hand, if you have a lot of negative reviews, you can learn about the areas of your service that require improvement. Whether that means changing the expectations you set with your customers, switching up your team or giving your staff further training, negative reviews give you the information you need to provide better service for your customers.
#7. Ask for reviews!
It would be great if every customer that had a good experience would go out and write a positive review for your company on their own, but that’s just not how things work. As we learned in an earlier point, people are much more likely to share a bad experience than a good experience, which means that good service is often not incentive enough to get your customers to leave reviews.
Contrary to what many business owners think, there’s absolutely no shame in asking your clients for reviews, or even in incentivizing them to write reviews with discounts and giveaways. Even a simple, follow-up email that automatically gets sent to customers after their service or transaction has been completed can make a big difference in the number of reviews you get.
Start 2019 the right way by learning 2018’s most valuable reputation management lessons!
Last year may have been full of ups and downs, but it was a great year for learning valuable lessons about reputation management. Don’t let last year’s lessons fall by the wayside. Take them and learn from them, so that your business can find the success it needs to thrive in 2019.
In addition taking the lessons learned in 2018 to heart, one of the best things you can do for your business’ reputation is to sign up for Top Rated Local. We track, rank and score business from a variety of industries, giving businesses more control over their reputation and customers more insight into the businesses they are thinking of working with. Best of all, it’s free to sign up, so do so today!
