With every week full-on in your business, if you get any days off, chances are they\u2019re not really<\/i> days of leisure. There\u2019s always something that needs to be done to keep your business to the standard you want, even if it\u2019s just getting the paperwork up to date. I have another task to add to that list unfortunately. Well, it would only be unfortunate if you left it out!<\/p>\n
<\/span>You\u2019ll want to keep an eye on these regularly. And while it\u2019s not right there in front of you like maintenance, staffing issues or bill payments, it\u2019s there for the buying public to see. Managing your business profile on customer review sites is something business owners just can\u2019t afford to overlook.<\/p>\n For all industries, these sites can be somewhat hidden to us unless we go looking for them. While you\u2019re not checking in to see what\u2019s written about you, tens, if not hundreds of people are <\/i>seeing it and for the most part, are forming their opinions on whether to try your business (or not) based on the published words of others.<\/p>\n As most of us know, customer reviews can make or break our business, particularly if we don\u2019t deal with them well online. When good stuff is floating about, all is A-OK. When it\u2019s not, it\u2019s easy to go in panic mode. \u00a0If a negative or downright nasty review or comment is made, it\u2019s not good for business and you need to act\u2026.carefully.<\/p>\n Be Prepared<\/b><\/p>\n The best thing we can do is be prepared. \u00a0If you haven\u2019t<\/i> had a negative review yet, get ready because it\u2019s highly likely that it will happen at some time. \u00a0Even the most praised and recognised businesses have been on the receiving end of some well written, highly scaithing commentary.<\/p>\n If a negative review comes your way you can do one of three things \u2013 ignore it, deal with it politely or respond by telling them they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about it. The latter tends to happen a lot, to the detriment<\/i> of the business. Unless you want to kill your business, avoid it at all costs.<\/p>\n Look as any negative reviews as an opportunity. Seriously. With a little effort on your part it can be turned around from a negative to a positive or at least, neutral. \u00a0Engage with that customer, show the review-reading world you\u2019re tapped into what\u2019s happening from your end and that you\u2019re dealing with it! We know in customer service-oriented businesses that we can\u2019t always please everyone despite our best efforts. We know that some people who will complain about everything and that\u2019s never going to change but every complaint should be dealt with in the same way.<\/p>\n Six Steps to Remedy Online Customer Dissatisfaction<\/b><\/p>\n If you\u2019re 100% confident that the problem raised is not a real issue or is not something you feel needs this type of \u2018makegood\u2019, ensure your customer knows you have noted their concerns and thank them for making you aware. This, at the very least, is essential.<\/p>\n In my business I received a negative or neutral review only very occasionally but rather than be upset by it, I used it as an opportunity for improvement and ultimately, making a bad situation better. \u00a0Yes, I knew that sometimes there would be instances where there wasn\u2019t anything I could do, but to anyone reading any negative reviews in amongst the positive ones, it was far more advantageous to have replied positively than having left it unanswered.<\/p>\n So what did all of this responding and following up do for me in the end? It made people accountable for what they published online about my business. It meant some posts were removed by the reviewer themselves and had positive reviews replacing the negatives as a result.<\/p>\n Monitor your Online Reputation<\/b><\/p>\n The best way to deal to keep an eye on your business\u2019 online reputation is to tap into the all of the review sites your business is listed in, at least once a week. \u00a0Some will have more responses than others but they all need to be checked on to protect your business.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019re regularly checking in on the review sites, you can work towards boosting your customer review profile by inviting your customers to share their great experiences with you, online.<\/p>\n Get your review site logins, be honest about who you are (identify that you are the owner or authorised representative of the business) and draft your reply. \u00a0Keep it calm, be respectful and always respond as though you\u2019re on television with microphones from every tv and radio station in the world on you, because that\u2019s just what it\u2019s like, you\u2019re responding in the most public of arenas.<\/p>\n Positive Reinforcement<\/b><\/p>\n Naturally, affirm all the positive reviews you receive too. Thank people for taking the time to share their positive experience with other readers and reviewers and ensure they know you are looking forward to seeing them again soon. Even better, take down their name and offer them a gift or just a simple, personal \u2018thank you\u2019 upon their return. It\u2019s another way to show your gratitude and build an even stronger relationship with your customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With every week full-on in your business, if you get any days off, chances are they\u2019re not really days of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1569,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/1569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customercentriccoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n