In today’s information age, satisfaction is king, especially when unsatisfied customers are just a few clicks away from posting negative reviews on Yelp, Google, or derogatory forums like Ripoff Report. Since these negative reviews are also just a few clicks away from being seen by potential customers, it’s important to protect your business from disparaging remarks that will ruin your reputation.
We spoke to Pierre Zarokian, an expert in online reputation management and CEO of Reputation Stars and asked him to provide us some tips that can help stem the tide of negativity from online naysayers. Here is what he had to say.
- Don’t give them anything to complain about
In real life and online, prevention is the best way to remedy a potential issue before it even appears. Being proactive about providing excellent service ensures that very few customers will be unsatisfied enough to give you a negative review.
- Ask for reviews
If people are only seeing your negative reviews, as opposed to the dozens of satisfied customers who thank you in person, it’s likely because none of your happy customers are leaving positive reviews. It never hurts to ask your best customers for reviews or even offer incentives for leaving some thoughtful comments on Yelp. However, be aware that Yelp is against providing incentives for reviews or even asking for reviews, which is pretty ridicules.
- Resolve any negative reviews
If you already have negative reviews, you should fix what caused them as soon as possible. Furthermore, you should try to make up for the issue, even if it means offering a refund or free services to your unsatisfied customers.
- Create positive content
Creating positive content such as press releases, YouTube videos, blogs, and active social media profiles helps promote a positive brand image in people’s minds. Also, if people search for you on Google, they’ll see your positive content in the top results, as opposed to all the negativity from your harshest critics.
- Make changes to your service
If you’re getting a lot of negative reviews, it could be a sign that something about your business model or infrastructure is not customer friendly. If something is slowing your business down or resulting in unsatisfactory products or prices, you might have to change some things and make some sacrifices to ensure your customers are happy.
