Can a Local Business Take Control of their Marketing? – Reputation/Reviews
We are continuing with the series “Can a Local Business Take Control of Their Marketing”. In this article we will be discussing the next phase of the Customer Journey: Reputation.
Reputation will make or break any local business. Eighty-seven percent of all consumers will look at the reputation of a business before they contact them or visit their website.
When possible consumers or clients go looking at reviews, they aren’t just looking for the good reviews. A lot of people will look for the bad reviews, as well.
They want to know how a business will handle an upset customer or client. Will the business ignore the negative review, or did they respond? And if they did, how did they respond?
Sixty-five percent of people that leave negative reviews will return to your business if it is properly handled. One hundred percent of them will not return if a negative review is ignored.
The core of a business is it’s products or services. That is why the business exists. But let’s be honest, a business CAN NOT please every single person they sell or deliver to. It is statistically impossible.
Most businesses want to expand. When a business owner opens their business they generally aren’t thinking about just making it so far. They would like to make it as big as possible and regenerate as much revenue as possible.
Good reviews play a huge role in the expansion of a business. When a business delivers a good product or service they should always request a review. This can be in person, via email or text, but they should always ask.
Generally, if a person has a bad experience with a business they are all too happy to go onto Google or social media and tell people all about the experience. A business needs to keep a lookout for the bad reviews and make sure they answer them within 2 hours of receipt.
Luckily, Google and Social Media will give a business notification via text or email when a consumer or client leaves a review. This makes it a lot easier to keep track of reviews.
As a last note, search engines pay close attention to reviews. The more stars a business has, the higher the search engines will rank a business. The less stars a business has, the lower it will rank a business.
Pay attention to your reviews and ensure that they always stay over 4.0 stars.
In our next article we will be discussing the conversion phase of the Customer Journey.
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