How to Manage Online Reviews

The introduction of review sites such as TripAdvisor and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter which allow customers to publicise their opinions has had a great impact on how SME’s think about their customer service. As a business owner, it’s easy to spend time worrying about how to manage negative reviews, should you receive one. However remember, it’s what you do with your reviews and ratings that matters.

Online reviews and ratings can be invaluable marketing for you, if managed correctly. Negative reviews are not as damaging as you may fear and certainly nothing to lose sleep over if responded to professionally. One way to take advantage of the positive things people say about your business is to create a specific place to showcase them on your website.

Regularly review third party sites:

Make sure you know what people are saying about your company. This can be done by regularly reviewing sites that you know you’re listed on, entering your company name periodically into search engines, and lastly setting up a Google alert with your company name. The latter notifies you when there has been a post published regarding your company. Once you are made aware of a review, be it good or bad, you can then swiftly take the appropriate action. Remember if it’snegative feedback, always respond calmly and professionally!

Handling reviews:

For positive reviews it’s nice to thank the person wishing them to come back soon. With negative comments it’s important not to overreact! With any review site customers see this as an opportunity to rant, remember that not everyone is going to have the most amazing experience. However too many negative reviews may suggest that something needs to be done on your part. Removing comments is a poor move as chances are a previous or potential customer has already seen it. By removing it all you’re doing is removing their faith in you to have fixed the issue at hand.

Know your review sites policies:

When it comes to advertising your company on review websites, make sure that you’re fully aware of the site’s policies regarding responses to reviews. Some sites won’t allow any correspondence, others will allow you to respond with a comment, and a few allow you to remove the negative comment altogether. You want to be able to respond to comments otherwise you will not get the chance to reconcile with the customer and may end up losing potential business in the future.

Reviewing is good!

Whether you are receiving reviews on your website or through a third party site make sure you encourage people to leave feedback. This can be done by sending emails to customers with links to review sites, or by handing customers cards upon their exit with sites listed. This allows you to gain knowledge into anything that your customers particularly didn’t enjoy, or discover what your customers love. If you’re constantly receiving poor reviews chances are you’re not going to survive long unless these issues are addressed, so good or bad it’s much better to know.

The cost:

Depending on the size of your business you could choose to hire a reputation-management company which will monitor and respond to comments on the internet for you. The costs of these companies can vary depending on what exactly they are offering, your audience size, the size of your business, and the sector your business falls under. However if paying for help is not an option then a few hours a week can really go far in helping your company develop into a much more thriving and profitable business in the future.

What have you found is the best way to manage online reviews?