In my last article, How To Use Testimonials In Your Small Business Marketing, I focused on the positive aspect of customer feedback. This article is about how to deal with negative reviews online.
There are several ways one can express dissatisfaction around the web these days. Specifically, “review” sites like yelp.com and through social media like Facebook. Here’s how you find out what’s being said about you or your business around the web: Google Alerts.
Go to www.google.com/alerts and type in your business name and email address. When your company is mentioned around the web, the information runs through Google’s filters and you get a report via email. It’s incredible.
So how to you deal with it?
First, look at this as constructive criticism. It could be an opportunity to fix something that needs fixing. This may be enlightening about how employees behave in your absence, a report on a dirty restroom or a quality issue with your product.
Don’t take offense. Do something about it. Clean the bathroom, retrain or reprimand the employees. Use these negative reviews as motivators to manage your business better.
Second, use positve feedback to your advantage. This is where learning how to get your customers to give you testimonials (positive reviews) comes in. When you know you have a negative review and where it is on the web, ask satisfied customers to go there and post a positive review.
New reviews will generally go on the top of the list of reviews and push the previous one down a spot. This is why you need to be aware of the need and develop a tactice to collect positive feedback. When you need to have a positve review posted: ASK FOR IT.
When a negative review comes in among a whole slew of positve ones, it doesn’t make much impact. But it sill may serve you in opening your eyes to something that needs fixing.
Suspect your competitor may have posted a negative feedback? Don’t worry. Just as faked positive testimonials are obvious, so are fake negative reviews. I suggest you don’t engage in that sort of war. Having the tallest building in town doesn’t happen by burning down all the taller buildings.
Instead, use the negative and turn it into a positve. Take the information and improve your business by fixing what may need to be fixed and working to create a positive-review atmosphere.
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We make sure the information about your company around the web is sending a consistent and accurate message. We report negative and positive feedback about your business and strategize a response.
This service has helped some of our clients go from being invisible online to having Google page 1 position in a matter of hours. It could literally drive dozens of new customers your way. To find out more about this service, click this link or paste it into your browser: https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:1355511/acctId:1353403
Have Fun!
Andrew (modernMaze) Mazer
PS. A difficult economy is the most important time to implement strategies like this. Can you think of a better time to get more customers?