It’s a reputation jungle out there…
Online business reviews have quickly evolved into the modern day “Comments Box”. As a result, feedback, positive or negative, can impact how your business operates. Anyone with a keyboard is a critic and as a business owner, you can no longer bury your head in the sand and pretend like no one is talking about your business. According to a survey from the National Association of Retail Marketing Services, businesses lose 10 customers for every one that complains. However, from the same report, 95 percent of unhappy customers will return if an issue is resolved quickly and efficiently.
So, how are customers finding you in the first place? Google and Bing are constantly readjusting search algorithms, and increasingly sourcing consumer-generated content from a multitude of resources including blogs, blog comments or online portals. This includes the good with the bad and first impressions can be everything. There is no doubt this will have a significant impact on online reputation management for businesses and provides great opportunity to increased SEO.
So how can you proactively start the online dialogue to strengthen your online brand?
Here are a few initial tips to pursue healthy customer dialogues, collect feedback and strengthen loyalty online:
- Open a direct line of communications: Start with a simple e-mail address and mailing address displayed prominently on your Web site.
- To take feedback to the next level: Make it easy for customers to provide feedback with reputation-management tools. Add an automated commenting area to your Web site that can be easily recognized by all visitors as the place for them to leave feedback.
- Ask for feedback: Survey your customers to see what’s on their minds or send a follow-up e-mail asking for feedback instead of waiting for it. They’ll appreciate your willingness to listen, which is essential when building trust.
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