*Yelp, I need HELP: How to improve your customer ratings
By, Gina Meyers
If you are a business owner, you know that every review whether positive or negative counts.
As an author, I know that past reviews of my books have helped me to remember what to add next time, what to leave out, what to better explain, and that the "customer is always right", is a familiar tome that I must keep remembering.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of taking a workshop via the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, it was all about social media and ideas, things to look for, things to avoid, and how to combat negative reviews via YELP. Here are my notes and my interpretation of what was stated.
First off, a lot of people use YELP. That is why it is critically important that you put your best face forward when it comes to Yelp, make sure you have a current phone number and pictures that are recent and exhibit what your business is all about. Don't forget your website as well.
So what if you get one of those dreaded negative reviews? Fear not, take the negative and turn it into a positive.
What is the first step to take.
1) Acknowledge the negative review and thank them for it.
This will give your business a persona. How is a business or person going to improve if we avoid. It's a big step, but one of the most important, thank the reviewer. It doesn't mean you are agreeing with what they are saying, but it is acknowledging that there may be a "perceived issue". Notice how I use the word "perceived", my late Grandma Rose used to say a lot of cool adages, one of them was, "not your cup of tea", "one man's trash, is another man's treasure", "there is a lid for every pot". Goodness, now of all times, I can't think of what she used to say about critics, maybe my mom said it, "don't respond to your critics".
You aren't responding to the critics you are responding to their "perceived issue". Maybe it was "don't shoot the messenger", that's what everyone will be saying after they try this *Yelp, I need help, lol.
JOKES aside, let's get to the rest of the meat and potatoes of the information.
Sometimes people throw those stones cause they forget there is a person behind a business, not just bricks and mortar.
Always respond to the negative and always respond to the positive.
2) Thank the folks that like your product or service, thank them too.
Your whole goal here is to try and get as many positive reviews as possible. When you engage the review, you are allowing the person who took the time to express themselves with feedback.
In a nutshell, people like doing business with people they like.
Listen to your customers
Provide Direct Customer Service
Build relationships
Improve your search engine rankings
Establish your business as a resource in your particular industry
Build your brand, show your personality.
Direct people to your website, blog.
Provide creative advantage over your competition.
Gina Meyers is the bestselling author of Love at First Bite, The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook. http://www.ginameyers.com She is also the publisher of Serendipity Press, and does marketing and promotions for Serendipity Media Group. http://www.serendipitymediagroup.com Her book, Hope for Haiti, a fundraising cookbook, won the prestigious Gourmand Cookbook Awards for Best Charity Cookbook in the World, Folies Bergere, Paris, France, March 2011.
I Publish Books. I Market Books.
