Did you know that 90% of consumers are influenced by online reviews? And a shocking 88% of those who utilize online reviews trust them just as much as personal recommendations?
That means that a vast majority of your customers will not only check out online reviews for your company, but will also utilize those reviews to make buying decisions.
Therefore, having a 3 out of 5 stars rating on Google, for example, will directly affect your sales. It’s that simple.
When operating a business in today’s digital society, it’s pertinent that you know the following:
- When and where you get online reviews
- How to respond to negative reviews
- How to request reviews from your customers
Fortunately, we have the solution. Keep reading!
#1: Knowing When and Where Your Company Is Being Reviewed Online
There are a ton of online review websites, making it incredibly difficult to know when and where your company is being reviewed online. In addition to the most popular review sites, like Google and Facebook, most industries have specific websites for leaving industry-specific reviews.
For example, HealthGrades and Vitals are incredibly popular review websites for doctors. How, exactly, can you stay on top of the most popular review platforms without searching each one on a daily basis?
It’s simple, you turn to Uptick Marketing for our online review tracking and curation platform! We create a custom dashboard where you can track reviews by your business name, location, and even specific doctors. When a review is left about your business, you’re notified, and with a simple click you can access the review and conveniently respond.
Check out the image below to see all of the review platforms our dashboard tracks!
#2: Responding to Negative Reviews
If you have a business, people are leaving reviews online about their experience with your company. Google (and other search engines and review websites) have made it clear that they (and your potential customers) value companies who reply to reviews. This means, you have to reply to both the good and the bad.
The good is easy to reply to, right? But what, exactly, do you do about the bad?
First, you have to respond with clear mind – i.e. you cannot be emotional in your response. Sometimes, being super attached to your brand can cloud your judgement and make you respond rashly or defensively. This type of response will only fuel the fire and will do very little to help you gain new customers in the future.
Second, you have to remember to have a customer-first mentality. Try to always respond not only quickly to the review, but also to offer some sort of resolution. Not only will this help to ease the frustration of the negative reviewer, but it will also show potential customers that you care about rectifying situations and pleasing your customers.
Third, get more positive reviews to help negate the negative review. We will cover this part more in the next section.
#3: Requesting Reviews from Your Customers
Most review websites will penalize you or frown upon you requesting reviews in exchange for free products or services. Therefore, always avoid that route.
Fortunately, you can often get people who are happy with your business to review you willingly by simply asking! Yes, it is often that easy. How, exactly, do you quickly and easily get the good reviews while trying to steer clear of the bad reviews?
With our all-in-one review tracking and curation dashboard, you can upload a customer list and send out a review request. If the customer choose to give you a 4 or 5-star review, for example, then you can encourage them (with instructions and direct links) to review you online on Google, Facebook, and other relevant review websites.
If they reply with a 3-star review or lower, for example, you would instead handle the complaint internally. In this scenario, they would not get the automated response requesting them to review you online.
See how easy that is?
Start Tracking and Requesting Reviews with Ease
What are you waiting for? Online reviews matter, and we have a quick, easy, and affordable way for you to stay on top of reviews for your business.
Give us a call or send us an email today via our contact form to learn more about the online review tracking platform at Uptick Marketing. We would love to help create a tailored plan to help your business grow!
