Consumers are going to say good and bad things about your business, whether you like it or not. Hopefully, I’m assuming, you’ll like the good online reviews. Consumers love for their voice to be heard, unaltered and uncensored.
Good and bad reviews are important in helping you facilitate more contractor leads. Reviews also help guide consumers to decide what to purchase or who to hire. Reviews are a part of business that’s not going anywhere.
Obviously, good reviews are a great thing. It allows all potential leads to hear what a great job you do. Negative reviews, well, they’re a different animal altogether.
As the owner of your company, it’s wise to respond in some manner to ALL reviews. The good reviews are going to be easier to respond to than the bad reviews, we know. But, it’s still something a responsible business owner must do.
Third-party sites like Yelp and Angie’s List are two of the most popular review sites that consumers read, hoping for an unbiased review — which doesn’t always happen.
Let’s talk about the best way to respond to both, good and bad reviews.
Sincere, Considerate, Respectful
Something to remember: reviews can help your business solidify itself as a competent, successful business and act as a way to properly qualify your potential customers.
So responding to good reviews can be tricky. First, you want to sound sincere in thanking them. The best practice to follow is to say a simple, “thank you” along with a few words relating to your customers good experience.
This shows that you actually read the reviews, are attentive, and respond accordingly.
When responding to negative reviews, the worst thing you can do is ignore it. This simply shows you do not care about the customer or their experience. They say silence is golden, but here it’s not.
Be respectful in your response and address the issue at hand, asking them how you can solve their complaint/problem. Thank them for their constructive criticism and ask how you can do better next time.
And by all means, apologize for their bad experience. Be considerate of their feelings. Compassion goes a long way.
Get on Local Review Sites
More visibility means more possible leads. Let your potential customers read all about you, good and bad. It’ll show them you’re an active owner, responsible, and you can handle tough situations. It also proves you’re human; and even though things don’t always come up roses, you’re dedicated to correcting the problem and working on fixing the issue.
Being listed on review sites will also increase your search results. Online review sites are very popular for consumers to digest information from, well, other consumers. This enhances your visibility immediately because your company is already on the review site.
Contractor leads are right around the corner and we can help with our inbound marketing checklist. Download it for free, today!
To your inbound marketing success!
~Brodie
