Negative reviews hurting your online reputation? Improving that may be easier than you think. Start here.
Reach Out To Satisfied Customers
As long as you’re not inundated with hundreds of negative reviews, the math is in your favor to right the ship sooner than later. Reach out to some of your trusted business partners and customers and encourage them to leave a 5-star review with a few comments.
A small handful of 5-star reviews can quickly turn around an overall average review rating bogged down by a few ugly 1-star reviews.
Respond In A Timely Manner
A one-star review loses its sharp negativity if there is a reasonable, visible, and timely response from the company in question.
Most review platforms allow for companies and organizations to post a response directly below any given review. And don’t focus solely on the negative reviews—replying to positive reviews adds a welcome level of humanization and helps retain customers.
Execute Evergreen Campaigns
Keep the positive reviews coming in by setting up automated “evergreen” campaigns—campaigns that can run yearlong and are not attached to specific seasons or themes. Start by setting up an automated workflow that asks a recent customer how their experience was with your business.
If they report back a positive experience, send them a follow-up email asking them to share their experience on Facebook, Google, or Yelp. It may take a few prompts to get them to write about their experience, but keep in mind that if you ask for a review too many times you run the risk of annoying that customer and potentially hurting your relationship with them.
Meet The Customers Where They Are
Just because you don’t have a page or account on a given platform doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about you there. Google and Facebook are the two elephants in the room, but don’t ignore other possible outlets like Yelp, Yahoo!, or Angie’s List.
Some industries lean toward specific platforms (e.g. Houzz for home improvement or TripAdvisor for hospitality and tourism), so be sure to regularly search your company’s name to see where people are reviewing you.
Take A Look In The Mirror
If it’s going to take an army of 5-star reviews to get your ratings back up into the ideal 4+ range, you might have a bigger problem at hand that can’t be solved in 7 days. A couple angry customers with a bad experience? It happens. Use the advice in this checklist and move forward. A hundred one-star reviews from unhappy customers? That’s not going to solve itself with a few clicks of the mouse. Don’t instantly dismiss all negative reviews as total baloney. Listen to your dissatisfied customers with a critical mind and see if there is room for improvement for the customer experience.
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