The secrets to building a great online reputation

Richard Conway covers the dos and don’ts of managing online reviews and maintaining your online reputation. 

With the open forum that is social media, much of an organisation’s reputation is now in the hands of their customers, who are far more likely to listen and talk to each other than they are to deal directly with the business in question. 
This has made managing business reputations more challenging, so it’s vital to keep on top of what is being said about your business, and by whom.
You can do this by monitoring keywords that relate to yours and your competitors’ businesses, and by keeping an eye on online review websites such as consumer.org.nz, kiwireviews.com, Google My Business, or TripAdvisor. 
Today’s customers are socially savvy, so step into their shoes and check out signals they are likely to avoid, and learn to know what to do to make your business more socially appealing. 
Here’s what you should avoid:

1.    Creating false reviews. It is easy to manipulate, and sometimes even falsify, your online reputation. There have been a number of examples where businesses have created false accounts to write reviews and create conversation online. Many companies also task their staff with creating reviews or giving a rating online. 
For those who find computers challenging, this technique has been known to backfire; someone was asked to rate a business on Facebook and gave it 1 star, thinking that ‘1’ was the best and ‘5’ was the worst rating. Not the greatest look!  Google and other larger websites also have algorithms to spot and deal with fake reviews.

2.    Paying others to give reviews. Positive reviews can be bought from websites, such as Fiverr.com or ebay.com. This practice is both morally questionable and can backfire badly. As consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to find reputable businesses, online reviews are coming into the spotlight with legal attorneys investigating the honesty and transparency behind the practice. New York attorney-general Eric Schneiderman has been working on cases of Internet ‘astroturfing’, where businesses have masked reviews to make them appear as though they are direct from customers. He says, “Consumers rely on reviews and other endorsements to inform themselves in making daily purchasing decisions.” You don’t want to be like the businesses he has bought to justice, such as Premier Retail Group Inc., who run beauty stores in America and were paying for positive Yelp reviews, whether the individual had a positive experience with them or not. 

3.    Burying your head in the sand. When your customers give feedback, listen, respond, and take it on board. Last year there was a story about a Wellington burger joint who received some honest feedback about its hygiene protocols, following a customer getting sick. Instead of acknowledging there was a problem and reviewing the hygiene practices, the owner suggested the customer’s personal hygiene caused their sickness. If a situation like that goes public and isn’t addressed appropriately, it can cause a lot more damage to a brand than if a positive response is given, assuring the customer that action will be taken. 

So, what should you be doing?
Online reviews should come from genuine customers who have had a legitimate experience with your business. Whether reviews are positive or negative, consider them constructive feedback! 

1.    Have a strategy. Negative feedback is a starting point for creating a positive impact. As the saying goes, “two wrongs don’t make a right”. Plan and implement a process to ensure your staff know how to deal with complaints; creating an escalation chart can help. If you don’t address the concerns of customers, they aren’t likely to come back, and they will make sure other potential customers don’t either. Having a plan for dealing with feedback will help change a negative experience for your customers into something positive. Often, most customers just want to know they have been listened to and that their comments or feedback are being taken seriously.

2.    Provide appropriate responses. Sometimes business owners feel truly affronted by comments online. In a well-publicised viral rant, one UK restaurant owner responded on TripAdvisor; “You claim to be foodies but you started your meal with a bowl of chips.”  This is certainly not the appropriate response. Instead, listen, consider what your customers are saying, thank them for their time, and remember the customer is (almost) always right. If you’re getting negative feedback on a social media platform, it can be worth moving the conversation to a private message where you can deal with the complaint in a more personalised manner. Some customers will be happy with a simple acknowledgement; others may require more persuading. 
The same techniques can be used for positive feedback; rewarding positive reviews goes a long way to building customer loyalty. 

3.  Always respond, and quickly. It doesn’t take long for a negative comment to be seen     by many. That’s why setting up Google Alerts or regularly searching for your     business is so important! If you respond quickly, you’ll be seen to care about your     customers, and be able to share your point of view, which can reassure others reading     the review. A few years ago, Nestlé started receiving negative comments about their     environmental practices. Instead of addressing these comments, they chose to ignore     them, which created a stream of slating comments, which ultimately forced their     social media site to shut down. 

Ask for feedback. Create a dialogue and invite your customers to give feedback. This can be done in an email, online or in person, depending on the nature of your interaction with customers. There are businesses out there who can implement regular feedback channels on your behalf. 
If you’re asking for feedback through email or online channels, you have the opportunity to embed links that allow people to share their thoughts on specific review sites. It’s also worth thanking your customers once they have given feedback, reinforcing their good deed with a good deed of your own. This can be done by crediting a dollar amount to their next purchase or simply recognising that they’ve done your business a service. 

Managing your online reputation can take a lot of patience, but having the right mindset and a plan in place is really all you need to take on the online environment. At no point should you bury your head in the sand or get someone else to do your job for you. 
Ultimately the best way to manage your online reputation is to provide excellent service throughout the touch-points you have with your customers.