How Safe Is Your Business From Negative Online Reviews?
Not every business is burdened with the constant suspense of negative feedback that’s prevalent on sites like Yelp, Urbanspoon and even Google Reviews since those are mostly aimed at restaurants and “brick and mortar” businesses. But businesses have plenty of good reasons to consider preventative measures against negative reviews online when planning their social media strategy.
Related: Saving Your Restaurant From Bad Online Reviews
Getting With The Times
You remember the days when placing an ad in the Yellow Pages was good advice? That’s because it was only a few short years ago.
Those were the simpler days when negative reviews had a much more difficult process to go through to scare off potential customers. You really had to screw up to damage your business through negative experiences but in today’s digital era you can do it in minutes.
People used to consult the big yellow book on where to spend their money but now they go to Facebook and Twitter to ask their friends. They check out forums and review sites to see what other people are saying about whichever products or services they are considering buying. If your social media strategy hasn’t considered this yet, you’ve almost entirely missed the point of the medium itself.
If you could always get an opinion from someone you trust that has already been there, done that and spent their hard earned money on what you are looking for, would you not want to hear about their experience?
They Will Find The Truth
No matter how hard you try, your prospects will find the truth about you and you should hope that they do. If you are in business, then you better be good at what you do. If not, then you aren’t going to be in business for long.
Credit is given where credit is due and the digital age is particularly gracious in this regard. They used to say that a negative experience travels ten times further than the positive ones, but social media gives you the chance to hang your endorsements high for everyone to see…forever.
BUT – and it’s a big but – you can also get negative reviews that can harm your business just as easily, if not more easily than before. A disgruntled customer can wreak havoc on all your social sites but there is a silver lining…
Related: 5 Warning Signs That Your Blog Posts Are Ineffective
You Can Do Something About It
Turning lemons into lemonade should become one of your specialties in social media. Even though some comments are hung out in front of your entire audience to see, so are your responses.
Your social media strategy may not be able to save you from negative reviews but what counts most is what you do about them. People want to see that you care and that every customer matters and you can show this by responding and making things right if something happens to go wrong with a customer. Never avoid negativity, deal with it head on, people will respect the way you handle it.
