Word of mouth is no longer family, friends, and co-workers. It is word of internet – hundreds of strangers giving their opinions based often on a single experience. So many reviews nowadays include references to “been going there for many years but never will again” based on one bad experience. The years of good experiences were never documented or reviewed, but that one bad one will forever be hanging out there in the world of the web. The good news is, diligent Reputation Management can help offset any negative information being passed around.
I recently went looking for a supplement for my dog. I found prices ranging from $10 up to $75 for similar products. Of course, the cheaper ones appealed to me more on a brief scan, but I know that you get what you pay for with many products, and I wanted a powerful product – without paying too much.
I did not know anyone personally who was currently using anything like what I was looking for, so I went to the next best source – reviews from strangers. I did not even open any links for products under a 4-star rating. Those over 4-stars I opened and scanned the first few (always positive) reviews, and then went searching for the negative reviews to see what they had to say. It was those people who were not happy with the product that I wanted to hear from the most.
I also looked at the number of reviews each product had received. 5-stars but only three reviews? That seemed like a shaky review base, so I tended to shy away from those. I wanted a high number of reviews to make sure the “control group” was large enough to give me an adequate view of the product.
If people are searching for your company/product/service, see less than a 4-star rating, you can pretty much bet your link will not even be opened. Do not have very many reviews? You may be passed over for a company with a slightly less rating but with more people weighing in on the subject. 86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
While the “Karen’s” of the world will be asking to speak to a manager, the majority of people will not say a word – until they vent behind the anonymity of their computers (of phones, tablets, etc.). Which means a company would not even know about the negative reviews unless they have an active Reputation Management system in place.
A negative review can drive away an estimated 40% of potential customers! However, that can be decreased by getting enough positive reviews to power down the effectiveness of a bad review. Higher starred businesses will still get enough business to counteract the power of a negative mark. Especially if the business has responded in a positive manner to anything negative reported. Proper Reputation Management is not only knowing how many stars you have on the multitude of review websites. It is also about properly, and promptly, responding to the reviews posted. There are so many these days, how can you ensure that you are properly monitoring all of them in an efficient and effective manner?
Mercantile Systems, Inc. (MSI) has again researched and discovered a way to help a growing problem! With our Reputation Management System, you will get a complete analysis if each of your locations’ reviews, retrieved from the major review websites. Our Reputation Management System is focused on fast and easy turnkey implementation.
-Monitor the reviews for each location from the most trusted review websites
-Complete a comparative performance analysis of different locations
-Analyze the reviews with comprehensive reports
-Focus on reviews with specific keywords (I.E. COVID-19)
-Direct links to reviews to respond quickly and efficiently
Contact an MSI team member today to find out how we can help you gain the online advantage by protecting your company’s reputation!
