As more people use the Internet and review sites are increasing in popularity, it’s given customers more power. They can now freely share their opinions, even if it’s to the detriment of the company they purchased goods or services from. As you work diligently for online reputation management, it can be difficult to make certain decisions that don’t backfire. Following a few guidelines and rules can allow you to put yourself in a better light without muffling your customers’ voices.

One: Steer Clear of Offering Incentives

Although it’s not necessarily illegal to offer incentives to your customers for posting reviews about your products or services, it’s definitely not ethical. This type of tactic is similar to offering candy to a kid. It may boost your reputation on the Internet, but it can put a bad taste in the mouth of customers who have already made their purchases. This can make it difficult to keep your customers loyal when they discover your good reviews are likely due to the offers you’ve been handing out.

Authenticity is key with the reviews posted online. If they’re driven by incentives you’re offering, it can damage your reputation and make it look like you’re bribing people.

Two: Resolve Issues Offline

Even the best businesses encounter issues with their customers and get negative reviews from time to time. It can be easy to take it personally and start debating one of your customers on a public platform, especially if you know you didn’t make any mistakes. However, this can affect your professionalism and can affect where you rank with your search engine marketing. Your comments may be something you can’t erase. They can also cause you to permanently lose the business of your dissatisfied customer. Instead, take the conversation offline where you can provide more personal and accommodating customer service. 

You should have a protocol in place and a default message you can use to respond to complaints. Invite the customer to contact you via phone or email to ensure you can resolve the issue. This is an effective way of quickly diffusing the situation and preventing it from escalating, especially in front of your prospective customers. It may even allow customers to stay loyal to your brand if you address their complaints directly.

Three: Don’t Forget to Use Your Manners

Managing your online reputation isn’t as complicated as you think. Sometimes simply saying, “Thank you” for the positive feedback posted on different platforms or websites is all it takes. Showing appreciation for your customers’ positive reviews not only makes them feel appreciated but shows you’re paying attention to your customers’ satisfaction. It shows you care and are involved, even after they’ve given you their business. Include their name in your comment for a more personal approach. This technique will make more of an impact under your business listings.

As a business owner, you’ll need to always remain respectful, kind, and composed, even when your customers are rude. You’ll only have to apologize once for their dissatisfaction with the product instead of apologizing again for reacting emotionally to their complaint.

Keep in mind that anything you say offline can still be posted for other people to see. If you fail to use your manners when resolving a complaint via email, the customer has the freedom to post it on social media or on a website like Yelp. Remain courteous at all times to ensure you never have to defend your actions.

Four: Avoid Offering Refunds

Although it’s not a mistake to offer a refund for someone’s dissatisfaction with the product or service, it can become an issue when you post this online. Other customers will automatically assume that you freely offer refunds whenever complaints are made. This can make it easy to become taken advantage of, especially if another customer actually enjoyed your product but wants to try to get their money back.

Five: Act Fast for Online Reputation Management

One of the secrets to online reputation management services is to respond to reviews quickly to ensure you’re always there to respond to both the good and bad comments posted. Waiting too long can make it look like you don’t care about your customers’ feedback and can cause other people to see the reviews before you do. If it takes you a few weeks to respond to a review, it will look like you ignored the comment to other people who see it first. A lack of regard for your customers can look negative, even when it’s a positive review.

Six: Don’t Delete Comments

When you’re reading through the different comments posted about your business on Facebook or Instagram, it can become easy to want to keep your image clean. Many businesses make the mistake of deleting negative reviews that are visible in your business listings. Unfortunately, your former customers will quickly catch on if you’re doing this and will be quick to call you out. This can do more harm than good and can cause you to lose the trust of your customers.

Own up to any mistakes you make by apologizing and inviting the customer to contact you. This will come across as much more responsible and professional. Deleting comments can also reduce how many reviews are posted, which can hurt your search engine ranking and marketing efforts.

Although you may not have control over what people say about your business online, the way you respond says everything. Too busy to handle these responsibilities yourself? Contact us to get the help you need from our reputation management service.