Actively Manage Your Online Reputation to Score a Triple Win

There are lots of reasons to manage your online reputation but first it is important to recognize this reality: your company has an online reputation that will impact the revenues of your business to the good or to the bad. The question is whether you will choose to actively manage your reputation to a positive outcome or whether you will allow this crucial component of your digital presence to be at the whim of whichever way the wind is blowing.

Actively managing your online reputation means that you clearly see that as the world becomes increasingly digitized, your clients, customers, end users and consumers are all looking for signals that provide a proxy for trust factors that assure them of your safety and integrity in possible interactions. In other words, they are asking themselves: Is this company safe to do business with? Will my interests be furthered by their efforts? Can I trust them to enter into a relationship with?

In a study completed recently by a reputable online entity (see chart), it was confirmed that over 90% of consumers trust the reputation of people they know. But a startling fast follower was that nearly 80% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal referrals. This means that not only do reviews matter but that they are critical in actively shaping the choices of your prospective customers.

The Bottom Line on Reputation: Just the Facts

Additional facts about customer perceptions with regard to your online reputation are equally telling. Not only do reviews that reflect the strength of your online reputation play a factor in acquiring new customers, they also play a role in helping you maintain your existing clients. Consider the following:

• A single star rating increase will lead to a 5%-9% increase in revenue, according to a Harvard Business School Study.
• Businesses with a three star rating or higher on Google receive 87% of the clicks.
• At least 80% of customers will not buy from a business with negative reviews or that had an average rating of 3 stars or less.
• Four out of five consumers will change their mind about making a purchase due to negative information online.
• The opportunity cost of satisfied customers: totally satisfied customers will contribute 2.6 times more revenue to your business than somewhat satisfied customers.
• The cost to acquire a new customer: between six to seven times more than simply retaining an existing one.

A Triple Win: Key Benefits of Online Reputation Management

Systematically gathering reviews from people who do business with you, then peppering them across the review sites your prospects go to for information on the internet, will help you build the powerful online reputation that will protect your existing business and help you more rapidly develop new business. Here are just a few of the reasons why it’s important to manage your company’s online reputation:

• Reaching out to customers at the time a business transaction occurs will help you identify and resolve customer complaints quickly.
• Asking each and every client for feedback shows that your business cares about your customers and that you want to provide superior customer service.
• When you seek honest feedback, that action helps you to earn your customer’s trust and loyalty. People who provide a review of your business strengthen the likelihood they will continue to do business with your company.
• Prospective customers value reviews because they believe your transparency reflects greater integrity, even if all reviews are not stellar.
• A high number of reviews creates more positive word-of-mouth about your brand.
• This type of interaction with your customers will help you identify your company’s opportunities, both for improvement in your existing processes and also to identify unmet needs for which you might offer new products and services.
• Reviews are a ranking factor for Google, because they and the other search engines are very interested in providing their customers an exceptional experience, and the likelihood of that is greater with companies that have a higher number of reviews with a higher-star rating average.
• Conversions are higher because you are attracting people who care about quality and your higher ratings predispose these prospective customers to think highly of you.

The triple win of more loyal customers, a higher conversion factor and higher search engine rankings are easily sufficient for many businesses to realize now is the time to get started in actively managing your online reputation to build a powerful digital presence.

DirectiveGroup Reputation Management Programs 'Have Your Back'

Our reputation management programs are designed to help you achieve the following:

• Active acquisition program to gather new customer (or employee) reviews at appropriate points in your customer interaction process, usually at the completion of a transaction.
• Negative sentiment clean-up for poor online reviews, mediation service to help you change outcomes and – if appropriate – request updates to reviews that were less than stellar.
• Retroactive review gathering from previous clients to build out your volume of online reviews.
• Management of review placement at sites your prospective customers (or employees) are most likely to be browsing online.
• Active, real-time problem solving processes are in place for negative responses to review requests, to help prevent or mitigate the worst reviews that are submitted about your business.
• Multi-location review acquisition management to help you gather reviews for your most important physical locations.
• Monthly or quarterly reporting and trend analysis so data gathered is actionable.

Probably one of the most valuable services we provide is the real-time monitoring of your online reputation and our immediate response for poor reviews submitted. Customers and employees really appreciate immediate action and quick resolution to problems, and it is often helpful to have disputes and misunderstandings handled by a third party. DirectiveGroup’s ability to help you achieve these ends will yield a virtuous cycle of continually improving online reputation, which will pay off handsomely for you quickly, adding increased value over the long term.