How to take charge of your reputation to attract new business

Handling your reputation as a business is difficult; there is no getting around it. Unlike many aspects of business, from the products or services you offer, the times you open or the price you charge, you can never fully control your reputation. But you can take steps to manage your reputation.

It might be tempting to focus your service and hope that your reputation will take care of itself. But that can be dangerous. An obvious risk is the damage that bad reviews, however unmerited, can do to your reputation. Even if not, if you are not harnessing the power of reviews, you are missing out.

Businesses that use reviews for marketing can see sales increase by up to four times. And only around 20% of businesses use reviews in this way, meaning there is the potential to get a huge competitive advantage.

How to manage your reviews

There are three key elements to using your reviews. First, you need a strategy. Second, you need to respond to reviews. And third, you need to market them.

Have a review strategy

The first step is making sure you have a solid process in place to attract positive reviews, this might be as simple as inviting reviews with a link on receipts. Or you might have a follow-up programme where you can invite reviews after sales.

But wherever you direct customers, make sure you monitor a range of sites. Although big names like Google or Trustpilot dominate, hundreds of thousands of potential customers will be using other directories and review sites, and you have to be there too.

Make sure you respond to reviews

Just collecting reviews is not enough. By responding to reviews, you aren’t really responding to the reviewer, you are responding to everyone who reads it afterwards.

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Thanking reviewers for a positive comment shows people that customers are important to you. But addressing bad reviews can be even more powerful. By accepting responsibility and showing the action you take after a critical review, you can prove your commitment to great service. Everyone knows mistakes happen, and they will reward people who fix them.

Use the reviews to market your business

Reviews aren’t just for people to find and read. They are a powerful marketing tool, too. Many businesses do not realise this. They might ignore reviews on their site totally or add them to a page of praise that no-one visits.

But by putting your reviews front-and-centre on your website, your customers can’t help but see the glowing reviews that others have left. This acts as a powerful draw, showing that people like them have loved the service you provided. This can greatly increase conversions, pushing people into making the purchase decision while they are on your site.

How to manage your reviews easily

Managing reviews can be hard work, though. Even if you just looked at one site, you’d have to visit regularly, identify the reviews, respond when necessary, then manage those that you use for marketing so they are always seen as recent and relevant.

Then, you need to do that for each review site you have identified as important for you.

Alternatively, you can use a reputation service like Gemini. We will help you develop your strategy, and automate the processes, so you get a feed of positive reviews you can use and a five-star reputation that attracts new customers.

We have helped countless local businesses take charge of their reputation, and can help you feel the benefits too. Just call or email us today to find out how our reputation management can turbocharge your business.