Reputation matters in business. In fact, statistics shown consumers need to see at least a four-star rating before interacting with any business, and not just one four-star rating. The average customer wants to see at least seven good reviews before trusting a business. A bad reputation can drive customers away from your business without ever giving you a chance, and it can also deter potential employees from joining your team.
There are many potential events that could damage your business reputation such as a competitor says something bad, a public relation crisis gets out of hand, or a customer with a large social media account speaks up about a bad experience.
Even if neither of these incidents happened (and, hopefully never will!), attention to strengthening your business’ reputation from the start is always advised.
If you wish to build positive business reputation focus on rewarding customer feedback, optimizing your service, embracing negative feedback, and educating customer.
#1 Rewarding Customer Feedback. Reviews are so important to new customers. Think about ways you can get more reviews. The truth is, customers rarely leave reviews unless something unsatisfactory happens. So, to encourage more reviews, it is recommended to offer an incentive for every review they leave, as it is unethical to only reward positive reviews.
#2 Optimizing Your Services. To ensure the reviews you receive are great, and to ensure word of mouth spreads well about your business, make sure you do the best you can with your service. Think of ways to show customers how much they mean to you, and make them feel special as a result. Nobody ever forgets a business that goes above and beyond.
#3 Embracing Negative Feedback. Getting a bad review is never pleasant, but even if you do everything ‘right’, the chances that you will receive one are still high. Simply put, you can’t please everyone. But you can learn from their complaints. Since you can’t delete reviews on Yelp and Google, the best course of action is to reply to every review – positive and negative. Your response to your negative review is a great opportunity to demonstrate to prospective clients and customers your professionalism, your care about doing business, your speed and willingness to fix situations, and the level of responsibility you take when things go wrong.
#4 Educating Customers. Finally, one of the best ways to consistently improve your business reputation is to educate customer. Think of ways to educate your target audience by giving them this value for free. That way, they see you as an expert and rely on your expertise, and can prove your reputation even if they haven’t bought from you. From here, there are no limits to the possibilities. In addition to teaching your target market customers something related to your product or service, consider how you can create engaging content to consume. This can help in building an organic following, which also helps your business reputation.
