Unfortunately, a business is going to receive an online complaint or a negative review from time to time. According to Reputation Changer, however, that does not necessarily mean the business is a bad one, that it is providing bad services or that its products are not good quality. The real problem arises when these complaints and bad reviews begin accumulating.
How to Combat Negative Attacks
When negative attacks are waged against a business or an individual, there are a number of things they can do in order to maintain their online reputation. The first line of defense is to provide the best possible services you can, and to provide consumers with top quality products. When acting in a professional manner, consumers react in a positive way. If a problem that is genuine arises and a warranted complaint comes down the pike, address it immediately. Try to address the situation offline, rather than confronting the consumer in order to ensure they’re satisfied.
On-Going Reputation Management Tactics
- Monitor Your Online Reputation Regularly: make sure you are checking with the listings posted to Bing, Google and Yahoo on a regular basis.
- If you are listed on Angie’s List or Yelp, or other similar websites: check those listings regularly. Some websites will send an email to businesses each time a new review is posted, thus cutting down on the time spent performing this task.
- Create Google alerts: set up notifications so, each time your business name appears on the Internet, you will receive an email.
- Be encouraging: encourage your customers to post genuine reviews about the products or services you have provided to them.
- Communicate regularly: send out thank you notes through email to your customers and, within that note, request a review from them.
- Ensure convenience: in your regular correspondences with your customers, provide a link to a review website they could use if they choose.
Reputation Changer understands the importance of maintaining a good online reputation. Make sure that, when corresponding with your customers, you provide links to many different review websites. Some consumers prefer using Google+ or Angie’s List, while others prefer using Yelp. If you provide a variety of review link options, you are more likely to get the customer to respond.
Reputation Changer: Additional Considerations
Keeping in regular contact with your customers provides many benefits to the entire business model. Not only are you maintaining your reputation on the Internet, but you are also working through a process that will help your search engine rankings in a positive manner.
Reputation Changer works regularly with clients toward maintaining their online presence and a positive reputation. According to Reputation Changer, businesses with positive reviews rank better than those without any information at all. Reputation Changer further notes that businesses should keep track of everything said about them as closely as possible, thus allowing them to be proactive should false complaints or fake reviews pop up.
