In the pre-Internet dark ages, professional critics reviewed restaurants, theater, books and movies. These reviews were primarily in newspapers, which were here today and birdcage liner tomorrow. Fast-forward to 2011. Consumers can go online and instantly read reviews of professionals from doctors to teachers. Hotels and airlines are reviewed all over the Web, and now service providers like plumbers, painters and, yes, portable restroom operators, are subject to review.
These reviews of local service businesses are not written by professional reviewers, but by everyday customers. They are sometimes available to read years after they were written. And they can be a boon or a scourge to a business, depending on what is said in them.
I’ve read survey results that as many as 35 percent of small businesses report having received new customers from positive online reviews. Conversely, more than 80 percent of consumers report that their purchase decisions are influenced by online reviews. It’s word-of-mouth gone viral and it’s not going away.
Keeping an eye on how your company is doing on review sites even has a name now. It’s part of the growing field of “reputation management.” Big companies will hire someone to keep tabs on their online presence and reputation. If you want to start managing your online reputation, the first step is to find out exactly where your company is showing up.
FREE SITES
There are hundreds of different sites where a review of your company could appear, depending on where you are located. Your business might be listed on one or all of the following local customer review sites. On most of them, it is free to post and reviewers can remain anonymous.
Some sites compile reviews from other sites, so a review can appear in multiple places, increasing your company’s exposure even more. If you don’t think you are listed on any of these sites, just Google your business name and you might be surprised. I randomly searched a Maryland PRO and found them on YellowBot and Superpages, where they had three positive reviews, plus Citysearch, DexKnows, Yellowbook and Yellowpages. I wonder if they know they are open for reviews on all these sites?
This company has a Facebook page too, which also came up in my search. Customers can review your company on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter too, but it’s less anonymous when customers comment on your business on your page. And you, as administrator of your Facebook page, control what stays on the site. You can pull particularly nasty posts if you want.
PAY-TO-PLAY SITES
In addition to the free sites, there are those where people pay to read the reviews and reviewers are not allowed to be anonymous. The best known of these is Angie’s List.
Angie’s List is a website that compiles consumer reviews of local service companies, but it is different from Yellowpages and the other free sites because it charges consumers to see reviews, which they say gives their information credibility. Annual fees vary by community, but range from $10 to $50. Angie’s List does not charge businesses to be listed. In fact, businesses only get listed when a member submits a report on them. There are no anonymous reviews, and Angie’s List has what they call a “certified data collection process” intended to prevent companies and providers from reporting on themselves or their competitors. So as a service provider, you can’t request that your business be on Angie’s List. And you should not be able to write phony reviews of your service to get yourself listed either.
HAVE A STRATEGY
Managing your company’s online reputation doesn’t have to be complicated or overly time-consuming. Adopt the following steps as your strategy:
• Find all the sites where you are listed, and check that basic information is accurate. Some sites allow you to certify the information as the business owner. Make sure your company address, phone number, website and offerings are correct so potential customers can find you.
• Read everything customers are writing about you online with an open mind.
• Communicate with your customers on these sites whenever possible.
• Use the customer feedback from online review sites to improve customer service.
Whether someone praises you or criticizes you, consider online reviews a customer service opportunity.
If you address a reviewer, either thanking them for their positive comments or offering to fix whatever it is they are complaining about, you are building goodwill by publicly working with a customer. Even a negative review can be an opportunity to build loyalty and attract new customers if you handle it right. Willingness to listen and compromise may give other people a good picture of your company. They might respect you more for earnestly trying to fix a problem.
HANDLING A BAD REVIEW
Whatever you do, think before you reply to a bad review. Don’t post something in anger that you’ll regret later. Appearing hostile will drive away even more customers than a bad review. Give some serious thought about what you could do to fix the problem or change the reviewer’s mind. Then post a polite, thoughtfully worded reply.
If someone posts a scathing review anonymously, and your attempts to sooth them go ignored or are rejected, there’s not much you can do other than explain your side of the story and ask the next couple of really happy customers you have to write a positive review on the same site, hopefully boosting your grade or rating and giving some balance to the reviews.
Always provide impeccable customer service, and bad online reviews will be a rarity. If it happens, address it, but don’t lose too much sleep over it. After all, bad reviews can be overcome. Academy Award-winning actress Sandra Bullock, for example, says one of her first reviews called her “as interesting as a bus ride.” She seems to have gotten past it.
