3 Truths About Online Reviews

Reputation Management should be one of the top priorities of any business today.

Yes, ANY BUSINESS.

It doesn't matter if you're a car dealership, dry cleaner, pizza place, barber or even a doctor... your customers have the power to either make or break you. And they're not afraid to do it! 

I could go through the facts, figures, and statistics that show how many people check on-line reviews before calling or doing business with you, or how reading a bad review can turn your loyal customer into someone else's new customer... but for the sake of brevity, I'm going to get right into the 3 Consistent Truths About Online Reviews.

1. You must ask for them
Ever notice that the reviews that seem to show up on their own are always the negative ones? Best way to combat this is to satisfy your customers (that's the topic for another article). Second best is to ask your happy customers to leave you a review.

Resist the urge to be embarrassed or shy. If asked nicely, people will gladly take the time to do this. But it's best to make it as easy for them as possible. For starters. tell them specifically where to leave the review, whether it be on Google, Yahoo, Angie's List (or if you are in the automotive industry: Dealer Rater, Cars.com, Edmunds..). You can take extra steps also like typing out detailed directions for your customer to follow, or even creating a page on your website with links that go directly to the page where the customer would leave the review. No matter what, it all starts with you asking for the review. (Message me and I'll give you examples to mimic and provide you more advice on the next two points)

2. You must respond to them
So you've mustered up the courage to ask customers to write reviews... GREAT! You just asked someone to do you a favor, and the universal laws of good behavior dictate that you should say "thank you". You could wait for the next time the customer visits your store and hope that you remember to to thank them. Or you can do one better and publicly respond/reply to their review. Doing so immediately prompts an email message to the reviewer informing them that you replied to their review (there's the "thank you").

Answering also shows potential customers who are "checking you out" that you monitor what people are saying about you online- gives the "warm and fuzzy feeling" that you care about what your customers think.

NOTE: Responding to reviews is a MUST! All reviews, good or bad, solicited or unsolicited require a response. Not only for the "thank you" factor, but mostly for the "I care about what people think of me" factor. This leads to the next point...

3. You must respond immediately.
Responding to online reviews must become a part of your culture. This is not a "when I get around to it" or "yea, I'll put that on my to-do list" task. This is an all-in, ring on the finger, must do daily task that goes along with unlocking the front door and flipping on the light switches.

Train and delegate if you need to, but it must be done!!! This forces you to read what your customers are saying about you on a consistent basis so you can resolve any issues, make adjustments to your policies and procedures and extinguish any fires before they become infernos that burn your business to the ground. 

Now, Immediately does not necessarily mean the minute after the review is posted (which would be awesome!) but it does mean within 12 to 24 hours at a minimum.

I realize these three points are only scratching the surface. But for those of you that have not taken this topic seriously (and I know there are a lot of you out there- especially by car dealership followers) it's a place to start. You can stick your head in the sand, look the other way or pretend all you want, but online reviews are here to stay! Its time that you start embracing and reverse engineering them to benefit your business. 

Soon, you'll see fresh new faces coming in to do business with you and when you ask them the customary "how did you hear about us?" get ready for the response to be "I read on line that you were the best (car salesperson, dry cleaners, deli.. whatever) in town, so I had to come here."

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Frank J Lopes is Vice President of Forrest & Blake Marketing/Advertising in New Jersey. He is a marketing strategist specializing in auto dealerships, a writer & speaker. Click the link above to follow him if you don't already and follow him on Facebook or Twitter. And please, share, repost or email this article to anyone who you think could benefit from its message.