Reputation Management

One core aspect of drawing the attention of new customers or clients which is often seen as an after thought is not only gaining, but maintaining the business reputation.

The typical business owner is usually head down and working within their business ensure their product or service is delivered as best as possible, and they often forget one of the main factors which might attract additional revenue—reviews.

Having a good system in place to have your reputation managed on an on-going basis has many different benefits.

Reputation Management is No Longer Optional

Whether you’re buying a product on Amazon, searching for your next Airbnb location for your annual vacation, or trying to figure out if the local BBQ restaurant is as good as every says it is, you are almost always going to look at reviews before you engage.

In our world, local businesses can thrive over their competition if they are proactive about reviews, but many let it fall to the side.

Reviews do many things, however, aside from just a quick confirmation before purchase. A few benefits include:

• Improved perception of the brand, as a whole
• Increased trust before a purchase
• Increased loyalty after a purchase
• Additional visibility when compared to competition

Because most people are semi-skeptical before trying something new, we all tend to rely heavily on reviews (or references from friends and coworkers) for a little confidence before making a leap. The greater number of positive reviews a company has, the better perception we have, and the greater confidence we feel as we initially make a decision.

Not only does this affect our mentality during our purchase, but we gain a certain confirmation bias when we ultimately make the decision and the product or service delivers exactly what we had heard to be true.

When the anticipation is met with confidence, instead of buyer’s remorse, we often tend to become repeat buyers.

Simply having a greater number of reviews and interactions when compared to competitors is also just one more sign to customers they’re more likely to achieve their goal in engaging your company versus another.

The Reputation Feedback Loop

In a perfect world, the best way to get new reviews for your small business is for customers to do it on their own. While some will be super passionate and leave reviews without any prodding, a vast majority will not.

This is why we have created systems and processes to make it simpler for your customers or clients to leave reviews.

In a nut shell, it looks something like this:

1. Ask clients about their product or service
2. Request for the review
3. Simplify the process to leave the review
4. Follow up reminders when a review is not yet made
5. Respond to reviews once completed

It’s not enough to just ask here and there, occasionally, or whenever you remember—the better option is automating this process through your website and CRM to make this entire process a “set it and forget it” positive feedback loop.

The longer you’re in business, the greater this system will compound the efforts of delivering quality products and services.

Industry Reputation Matters, Too

Primarily, a local small business should generate their reviews for their Google Business Profile, but some industries lend themselves to other, external and more niche platforms.

For example:

• Local reception venues might need reviews on The Knot
• Wedding photographers might needs review on Wedding Wire
• Attractions, like bowling or arcades might need reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp
• Interior designers and woodworkers might need reviews on Houzz

You get the idea. Of course, in addition to both Google reviews and these niche platforms, you may also acquire reviews on Facebook, Trust Pilot, the Better Business Bureau, and more.

It’s probably becoming obvious this can quickly take up a lot of your valuable time, but it doesn’t have to.

Put the systems and processes in place to make these more seamless, and enjoy the snowball effect as the positive reviews continue to bring you more confident, trusting future business.