Negative Reviews: An Inherited Mess

Negative reviews are tough enough to swallow, but harder still when they weren't your reviews - they belong to the previous business owner!

Negative Reviews Compliments of the Previous Business Owner

You were bright-eyed and idealistic as you bought a business that was struggling and you were determined to turn it around. Unfortunately, the business also had a reputation that you have inherited and it's hurting your online reputation and impacting the number of new customers willing to come through your doors. 

What should you do?

• Claim all of your review website pages - You need to have control over what is being displayed on these sites so that you can direct the conversation and reveal the changes and improvements you've made.
• Post a note on every one of the review websites that the business is under new ownership.
• Reply to the existing negative reviews - Express that you are sorry they had the experience that they did and let them know that you have purchased the business with the intent of improving the service and products offered. Let them know you don't approve of the treatment they received either and that you hope they will give you a chance to show how different the business will be. 
• Read ALL of the negative comments and use that feedback to guide your plans for improvement. 
• Start building your new reputation - As you have new happy clients, ask them to write reviews for you so that, when people go online, they see new comments and evidence that the new owners have turned the place around. 
• Monitor your review websites daily - Be sure to publicly thank the people who leave positive notes for you and to address any comments that voice concerns by offering to speak with the customer offline. 

Grow Your Reputation

As time goes on, your reputation will stand on its own and the memory of the previous business owner will fade. You have the choice of growing a solid reputation both online and off, but as is true with anything worth doing, it will take diligence. 

Claim your business listings, monitor for new reviews, and interact with customers who take the time to write reviews for you. Listen to your customers and use their feedback to positively impact your local online advertising!

www.impressionsrm.com 

Fake Reviews: Fooling Only Yourself

Writing fake reviews is not only unethical and illegal, it also hurts your reputation even worse than simply ignoring your online reviews.

Writing Fake Reviews

I just had an interaction with one of the nastiest business owners with whom I have had the misfortune to meet. He has numerous negative reviews on the web and refuses to accept what is being said by his clients on social media sites which really are not that bad of comments and could give him the tools he needs to make business improvements and significantly impact his influx of new customers. He is rude to those he deems beneath him and it shows in the interactions I have experienced and it is echoed in his online reviews.

Instead of making changes and using the feedback he is receiving, it appears he is writing and having others write fake reviews for him. The more I work with reviews, the easier it becomes to spot the fakes and his simply scream FAKE.

Obviously it's unethical. It's also been the subject of court cases by Yelp - cases they have won and that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Recognizing Fake Reviews

How can you tell if a review is fake? Sometimes you can't, but when you see multiple reviews using language that's not common to everyone, it's a pretty good sign that the reviews are being written by someone or a few people who have insider knowledge about the industry for which they are writing. 

For example, when you see several reviews all posted in close time frame of each other and every one of them mentions a specific service or product being offered by that business, you could be seeing fake reviews:

• I love that this place has flexible hours.
• Isn't it great that the hours are so flexible?
• Their hours are way more flexible than ABC Business.
• Their flexible hours make it easy for me to visit them!

Handling Fake Reviews

So, if you think a series of reviews are fake, what should you do? 

Several of the review websites like Google+ and Yelp allow you to "flag" a review. You can click a button that looks like a flag and then you will be given some options on why you are flagging the review. It doesn't necessarily mean that the reviews will be removed, but the website is more likely to take a look and investigate further. They are also pretty good about letting you know if they agree with you and will remove the reviews or if they think there is not enough evidence to warrant removal. 

What's a Small Business To Do?

It IS frustrating when negative reviews are posted on websites and social media about your business. You pour your life into this business and oftentimes the review is not entirely based in fact. Negative reviews have a huge impact on sales and the temptation is to cheat a bit. 

Just like your offline reputation though, your online reputation will be in jeopardy if you choose to try to cheat your way to the top. Instead, you can take control of your online reputation and build it ethically into a solid representation of your quality products and services. 

Don't sell yourself short. Take control and use online reviews to advertise your excellence. No amount of fake reviews will overcome a true strong online presence. 

Online Review Bullies: Hen Pecking Harassment

I grew up on a hobby farm and my family liked to try raising different kinds of animals. Over the years we had horses, calves, turkeys, pigs, ducks, and one year, we had chickens. Which brings me to the topic of online bullies.

Ever heard the phrase, "hen pecked" or "pecking order?" I knew at the time that "hen pecked" meant someone who had a nagging wife that would complain about everything her husband did or said and would, in effect, beat him down in every way. The source of that phrase, became apparent as our batch of chicks grew.

As chicks grow, they seek out one chick and all of the flock peck at that individual keeping him or her away from the food, causing injury, and even killing it. Before the hen pecking, you would be hard pressed to know which of the chicks would fall prey - they all look to be in similar health and if you watch the group interactions, it is not apparent that any behavior sets off the group assault, but once it starts, the whole flock joins in. You can spot the poor recipient easily afterwards as he or she is missing feathers, looks bedraggled, and is likely weakened from the experience.

Online bullies behave similarly and leave behind similarly bedraggled business owners.

One individual decides that he or she doesn't like a business. Sometimes for a valid reason, but sometimes not and very often times the dislike is based on a minor error or something that was completely misunderstood.

The person posts his or her dissatisfaction on a review website like Yelp, Google, Foursquare, or any of a host of others, or maybe a social media site like Facebook or Reddit. Other reviewers or the person's family, friends, co-workers, or long-lost relatives decide to take a stand and go on the attack.

I have seen businesses with solid online review ratings - 4-5 stars on Yelp and Google - fall to 1.5 star ratings overnight because a host of people not directly involved and with no background with the business go to the websites and start posting one-star reviews while ranting about the situation their friend, relative, or complete stranger may or may not have been treated. It gets ugly fast.

Internet review websites like Yelp, Google+, Foursquare and a host of others have given consumers a voice and another way to seek out better customer service. This is all great news for the consumer and oftentimes works to the benefit of the business too as they have a new source of feedback and, if they are monitoring their client posts, they can offer a higher level of service resulting in a loyal and growing customer base.

But what should you do if you run into an online bully? Every situation is unique and it is often a good idea to seek outside help. Some very general guidelines:

• DON'T respond in kind. Whether or not you carry any of the blame, do not attack the person's character or respond with any anger or defensiveness. This will just fuel the fire.
• If the incident involves just one individual or a handful of people, try to reach out to the person(s) involved by phone to resolve matters. If you do not have contact information, post a public response apologizing for the situation and requesting he or she call you to discuss things further. Emphasize that you want to mend bridges and work towards a resolution.
• If your situation threatens to go viral, DO reach out to a public relations specialist in your area. The ideal person will have the training and experience in crisis management as well as experience in your business field. 
• Again, if your situation threatens to go viral, consider carefully whether or not to shut down your social media sites. This can come across as appearance of guilt, but it may also be necessary until you can compose an appropriate response. If you do shut the sites down, do so for as short a time as possible and put up your carefully worded response as soon as you re-open the site.
• Work to generate new positive reviews from your happy clients. New reviews will help to push the older negative reviews off of the front page of your review sites and it will help to stabilize your ratings. 

As online reviews become more popular, we are learning that regulation of reviews needs to take place to keep the ratings valid and helpful to everyone. Negative reviews can be helpful when constructive criticism leads to improved business practices, but hen picking and online bullying helps no-one. 

www.impressionsrm.com 

Negative Reviews? Turn Them Around!

Negative online reviews are frustrating to the business owner and harmful to local advertising. Sometimes the reviews just make you mad and you'd like to take legal action, but that's not usually going to produce the results you want.

Creative Responses to Negative Reviews

One creative restaurant owner responded to a negative and offensive review that suggested his waitresses "show more skin" by saying that is restaurant would be offering a potato skin special with 100% of the proceeds going to a local rape-prevention organization. His response went viral and his point is well-taken - when negative reviews strike, it's not time to respond with anger even though that may be exactly what we are feeling!

Turn Negative Reviews Around

Thoughts to keep in mind when you are responding to a negative review:

• Respond and do so as soon as you can - A recent study found that 79% of consumers who shared their bad customer service experience online were ignored and that consumers give a brand one week to respond to a question and then 50% of them will leave and go to a competitor. 
• Calm down before you write your response - negative feelings come through easily. Go for a walk, play with the dog, do whatever you need to do to shake it off before you compose your response.
• Be nice - When you respond online, you are not only posting to the person who reviewed you. You are also posting for everyone considering your business who may be reading along. 
• Show that you care about the person and his/her experience with you. If you made a mistake, own up to it, apologize, and work to make it right.
• Ask for feedback on your planned post - ask a trusted friend or co-worker to look over what you plan to post before you put it out for all the world to see. Choose someone who will be willing to let you know if your response sounds angry or defensive and who will help you tweak your writing so you put your best foot forward.
• Generate new reviews - It's important that people reading your reviews see a balanced view of your business. Ask your customers to write reviews for you - you will gain their feedback and provide prospective clients with information on your services, products, and quality.

 Negative reviews are frustrating, but you can turn them around and build a strong online reputation.

Online Reviews - When It's Not Your Fault

Negative online reviews are tough to swallow, but especially when you know it is not your fault.

Negative Reviews for No Reason

One New York restaurant wanted to know why they were getting negative reviews that claimed they were slow in service even though they had hired plenty of people and did excellent training for their staff. They found, from examining video tapes of their waiters and clients spanning the last 10 years, that average times people spent at the restaurant almost doubled, but it wasn't because of anything the restaurant did or could do. It was because their customers were playing on their smart phones!

The data was clear - no doubt about it! It is not their fault.

How should you handle negative reviews?

You might be in a similar situation. You might have all the proof in the world to show that you are right and the reviewers are wrong. What should you do about it?

Start interacting with your online reviewers. One study on negative review posts showed that 1/3 of reviewers who posted a negative review went back and posted a positive review when they received a response from the business. The study also found that more than 1/3 of that group removed the original negative post!

Take control of your online reputation by paying attention to reviewers and responding to both their positive and negative reviews.

Negative Reviews: Issues of Customer No-Service

Unfortunately, there are many examples of how to get your customers to write bad reviews for you and Comcast just hit on one of them - arguing with a customer who wants to end service.




There surely will be employee training for this individual and Comcast is planning a formal apology for their behavior, but it actually hits on many different issues we as business owners have to be constantly considering.

How to Handle Negative Reviews

• Listening to the customer - Sometimes the business is simply not a good fit for the customer and the business needs to gracefully end service. If you want to amplify your reputation, help the customer find what he or she needs.
• Set the tone - As the leaders in our businesses, we have to set the tone for our employees. Yes, we need to make sales. Yes, we need to be mindful of upselling and retaining customers. Yes, we need feedback when a customer intends to leave us, but NO, we do not argue with customers. Service is the key word in customer service.
• Staff development training - All employees need to be aware of the serious power of online reviews. Consumers have a loud voice in social media and on online review websites. When poor customer service is captured and goes viral, business owners need to know how to respond and do so quickly, but far better to not get into that mess in the first place. 
• Long-term impact - Online reviews impact revenue and changes in review ratings can increase or decrease your ROI.

Building a solid online reputation takes time and focused effort. Don't wait for a crisis to address yours. 

Promoting Your Business Online - Play Nice!

Part of promoting your business online is understanding how to respond to negative reviews. Today's consumer uses review websites not only to see what others are saying about you, but also to see how you respond to and interact with your clients.

• Are your responses friendly?
• Can the reader sense your connection with your clients?
• Do you make changes to your business based on client posts?
• Are negative posts handled with excellent customer service?
• Can the reader see that you are trying to work with difficult situations?
• Do you come across as enjoying your work and concerned about the quality of your products and services?

If there is one rule in responding to reviews, whether they are positive or negative, it's BE NICE. This is easy when your client raves about how amazing you are, that you walk on water and glow in the dark, but the challenge comes when Cranky Cruella hits the web.

You work hard and pour your life into your business, so your likely first reaction to a negative review is one of hurt and anger. Don't reply to a post when you are feeling this way! Even if you try to be nice, that anger is likely to come through in your response. Here are some tips on bringing yourself into the right frame of mind and composing a reply that is professional and holds the best chance of mending bridges and showing off your excellent customer service:

• Shake it off. Go for a walk, play with the dog, get away from work and ignore the computer for a little while. Know that negative reviews happen to everyone and it is just your turn.
• Cut the reviewer some slack. When people are under stress, they can react emotionally and you don't know what else is going on in his/her life that added to the situation. 
• Look at the situation critically. Is there something that needs fixing in your business? Is there a way you could avoid similar situations in the future? Can you make some changes?
• Talk to a trusted friend. Choose someone who will help you determine if you need to make changes or if it was a misunderstanding or just a perfect storm of mishaps. 
• Plan out your response and give it to someone else to evaluate it before you post it publicly. Ask the person to let you know if it sounds at all defensive or angry and rewrite until you get it right.

It's not easy and it does hurt, but when you address negative posts by being nice, you can address difficult issues, make quality business decisions, and improve your services while retaining and attracting customers. Your quality customer service and passion for excellence will greatly serve to promote your business.

http://www.impresionsrm.com
#promoteyourbusiness #onlinemarketing

Promoting Your Business with Online Conversations

#onlinemarketing #onlinereviews

The nature of online marketing makes it possible for you to be promoting your business by participating in online conversations with your current and prospective customers. Doing just a little digging you will find great examples of relationship building and customer service on all of the review websites. Take a look at these examples of business replies:

You can see that these businesses know how to interact with their clients online whether the feedback is positive or negative. Prospective clients researching these places are sure to gain a sense of the commitment to excellence and determination of these owners!

Join the conversation and start showing your prospective customers that you are hearing their voices and care about their input. It's a great way to be promoting your business online!

Losing Customers? Pay Attention to Your Online Reviews!

How many options do you have for where you go out eat? How about for where you do your banking? Where you buy your hardware supplies? Who grooms your dog?

As consumers, most of us have plenty of options and businesses to choose from and we will go where we feel we get that combination of excellent quality combined with customer service. This also means we are fairly intolerant of poor customer service. As business owners then, we need to be stepping up our customer service to make sure we foster loyalty that will not only keep our current customers, but will attract others!

An infographic put out by Drumbi (a customer service company), shared statistics from a recent American Express survey that suggests that many companies are simply not listening to the customer feedback being generated.

How sad is that?  They could have left angry and never said a word, but they made the effort to reach out to the businesses they frequented and they were ignored!

With almost 90% of consumers moving on to competitors after a bad customer service experience and about half of consumers giving companies only one week to respond to their questions before they choose to leave, now is the time to not only know what is being said online about your company, but also to be responding to your customers.

I was working up an initial evaluation of a company new to managing their online reputation and what stood out as I read through their many various #reviews was the number of times their customers posted questions they hoped would be answered by the company and the number of people who said something to the effect of "I'm posting this in hopes someone from (company XXX) will read this."

It left me wondering how many of those same people continued on with that company and how many gave up and tried one of the competitors.

We have a great tool in online review websites, IF we pay attention and IF we connect with our customers. Will you?

Ann Pearson is the CEO of Impressions Review Managing, LLC - a company committed to empowering businesses to manage their online reputations. For more information about the services IRM offers, visit www.impressionsrm.com or email Ann at impressionsrm@gmail.com.