Reputation management goes beyond reading and responding to reviews. In 2016 and in less than a year, I led significant public-facing changes at 4 of your favorite restaurants and entertainment brands. Because of reputation management
- Photoshoot creative direction
- Menu items
- Staff performance
- Cleaning procedures
- Moderation of franchisees’ responses to reviews
These changes would’ve never been implemented or even thought about without having someone dedicated to reading, responding to, tracking, and escalating reviews. Not comments and DMs. Reviews.
Reputation management includes tracking, monitoring, and responding to online reviews and ratings on Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc.
Like it or not, customers are leaving reviews and ratings on your local listings, and it’s impacting your search engine ranking, reputation, and bottom line.
It can be easy to put ratings and reviews on the back burner and be willing to let SEO suffer a little bit because you don’t have time, but keep in mind a customer you don’t respond to is a customer you should be prepared to lose.
5 Reasons to Manage Your Reputation
SEO
Star ratings displayed in Google search results are powered by Google reviews - many believe they are from Yelp. Google encourages businesses to interact with customers by responding to reviews. The quality and positive customer reviews will improve your business’s visibility and drive new traffic online and offline.
Positive keywords associated with your brand improve your ranking with those terms.
When done properly, reputation management has many internal and external benefits for your business.
OPERATIONAL INSIGHTS
Did you know?
- Jessica in San Diego is mentioned an average of 6 times per month in negative reviews.
- The lock on the 4th stall has been broken for two months.
- The sound from the theater next door can be heard during neighboring movies.
- The bartender with the black hair racially profiles and ignores guests who are not white.
- The manager at store #602 tends to tell guests the issue is the guest’s fault.
You can find so much about everything you want to know and more. Leaving a review or feedback online is non-confrontational, a much easier place than turning into a Karen and hunting down the manager. It’s just not how we do things anymore.
LOCATION PERFORMANCE
Sales numbers do not directly represent a location’s performance and standards.
Read that again.
When a consumer has a negative experience, they tend to stay quiet about it and pay for the item or service anyway to avoid confrontation. You can learn a lot by consistently reading and responding to reviews by tracking star ratings, keyword mentions, and trending topics.
A movie theater location had five stars; the rating declined but remains in the 4-star range. An easy assumption would be more reviews = a decrease in star rating. That’s not always the case, but it happens.
However, if you read this location’s reviews, almost every recent review mentions the same thing – ”it was great until [thing].”
The manager, corporate, or the CEO can’t correct issues if they don’t know they exist. They exist – are you listening?
CUSTOMER RETENTION
I lost count of how many times I responded to a negative review with an apology and possible resolution, and the author immediately increased their star rating JUST BECAUSE the brand responded. I have seen consumers spiral into detractors and become advocates in minutes because they were heard.
85% of people in the United States read review responses by management while researching a potential business to patronize.
By publicly responding to reviews, customers may give you a second chance, and potential consumers are more likely to give you a chance if they see you care.
EMPLOYEES
Names and descriptions of employees are often included in positive and negative reviews, and typically, multiple reviews mention the same name or descriptors.
Your brand is what your consumers say it is.
By knowing who is mentioned and the associated positive or negative situation, you can use this data to reward, enhance training, or sometimes terminate employees, dragging the business down.
Reputation management isn't just about responding to reviews; it's the key to meaningful change and sustained success. From SEO benefits to operational insights and customer loyalty, your brand's reputation is your strategic advantage and is as important as any other aspect of your business.
Don’t know where to start? I work with teams to develop reputation management responses and workflows, identify the best SaaS, and ensure that social media and customer service work flawlessly.
Chelsea
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