When it comes to being successful in the business world,
everyone knows you have to make a profit, and you can only make a profit if you
have customers to buy your products/services. In today’s society it is
extremely easy for customers to share information. One of the biggest ways
customers get information about businesses and the things they provide is
through reviews. Now with certain sites reviews are easier to write/find than
ever. Today’s post is about finding these reviews and what to do with a couple
sites to ensure that people are writing the right reviews in the right place
for your business.
It used to be when you wanted to find something out about a
business you would ask around about it or try to find a magazine in which a
review was written. However, nowadays people turn to the internet, specifically
to Yelp. Yelp is a Social Media (sort of) site that allows people to write
reviews about pretty much any business out there. It has a vast array of
reviews on all sorts of businesses. Chances are if you log on and type in the
name of your business something will pop up. There might not necessarily be a
review there, but there will most likely be a page for your business and the
ability for someone to write a review about it. If nothing pops up in Yelp, add
your business! People can’t tell you what you’re doing right or wrong if they
don’t have an outlet!
One thing Yelp allows you to do is to “claim” the business.
For example if your business pops up in the search you can “claim” it and add a
description to your business. This is highly recommended so that people better
understand your business goals and can write a better review. Also, it might
help to attract new customers if people are browsing a certain category for a
certain area. If someone is looking at garden centers in their area and come
across yours with a full description they will be enticed to go to your
business over another one whose profile is nonexistent.
Reviews online can be tricky. As most business owners know,
people only tend to write reviews if they have something to complain about
(which can be bad for business). This is a fixable problem! Why not simply put
a flyer at the checkout of your building or a note on the receipt that reminds
customers if they liked the experience that you would appreciate the feedback
on Yelp. Also, a link to your company’s page on Yelp on Facebook or your
webpage could promote a spontaneous goodwill review.
Yelp isn’t the only place to find reviews. People can also
write reviews on Google + or even e-commerce sites that may be selling your
products (hint: Seed Companies). Finding these reviews could be as easy as
throwing your product/business name into Google and the word review along with
it.
Reviews aren’t always going to be positive, but that’s ok.
They allow you to fix what’s wrong and get your business better catered to the
customer. Reviews are a source of constructive criticism. Some may be
misinformed, and perhaps you can reply in a comment or email and solve a problem.
People like knowing what other people have to say before
buying. Third party information is the most reliable information to a customer.
They know something is good when somebody outside of the business recommends it.
Check out Yelp and see what people are
saying about your business. If things are looking pretty rough, try to make
some changes and shake things up. See if you can get some better reviews.
Nothing tells you to change your business strategy like a
slap in the face from your customer!
Contact me for more information/comments/questions.
Email: mday55@gmail.com
Twitter @mday55
Also find me on www.klout.com
and throw some +k my way if you like what I’m doing!
No comments:
Post a Comment