Do you take the time to write positive reviews? Or do you just review a place when they don’t meet your standards?

Today peer recommendations seem to be what 90% of people rely on to make a purchase or visit an establishment (Watch this). How do they make the best of a situation when a friend doesn’t suggest an option? People look to reviews.

Reviews tell readers the good and the bad. If the majority of reviews are positive and there is one lonely negative review, people will often discount the validity of the negative review. My suggestion would be to launch a campaign to increase your reviews on sites where people go to look for your business. Yelp is a huge player in this arena. Google+ for all of it’s faults is a major platform to make sure you have good reviews associated with your location on the map. Bing and Yahoo both have similar functions with their mapping programs. What if you are a restaurant? Sites like Urbanspoon and others will help people make a decision about whether they choose your establishment or the one down the street. Are you in the home improvement business? Angie’s List is huge. Medical practitioners have similar sites as well.

When I worked retail, years ago before computers and the internet, the adage was that if you provided great service a customer would tell 2 people. If it was poor, they would tell 10 people. Today with social media, that 10 people turns into millions in some cases. You cannot afford that.

Negative reviews can be detrimental to your business. If they are not responded to in a timely manner they could be devastating. Make sure you are asking for your clients to provide positive reviews. The best time to do that is right after they express how satisfied they are with something you have just completed for them. Maybe you could even hold a contest to reward those who take the time to write a review for your business.

Need to talk more about this opportunity? Give me a call!