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Tips for Responding to Positive and Negative Reviews Online

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What is reputation management? Without seeming too obvious – it’s truly the management of your online presence. No matter whether a company wants to be or does not want to be – every company is represented online. Without the consent of a company, an individual is able to leave a review online about their experience, whether it is a positive or negative review. Knowing this, can your company afford to ignore what’s being said about you online?

This post answers some of the basic questions surrounding reputation management. Here are a few questions and answers to get you started with this key element of your branding:

Why should we care about online reviews?

When people have an exceptional experience – whether good or bad – they often like to share this experience with others. It is an unfortunate truth that when people are dissatisfied, they are more likely to share their experience online, which means that negative reviews are more common than positive.

When other people research your company to learn more information, and they find negative reviews on Facebook, Google and Yelp, their opinion of your company can be influenced, regardless of the validity of the review. 

Where can people leave reviews?

People can leave reviews on both social and review sites. The most popular review and social sites for the staffing industry include Yelp, Indeed, Glassdoor, Facebook and Google+. In fact, a recent study by Dimensional Research found that 90% of people are swayed by reviews!  (Read more the findings on social reviews here.)

What should we do when people leave a review?

People are free to leave reviews at their discretion – rating your business as an overall positive or negative experience. Since this person’s experience was strong enough they wished to share it, you want to take note.

On a majority of these review and social sites, you have the opportunity to leave a public or private response to the review.

What is the best way to respond to a positive review?

When you receive a positive review, you may want to simply let the review speak for itself, and not respond to the reviewer.

However, we do recommend that you respond to these positive reviews. Take the time to simply thank a user for sharing their experience and invite them to return or reach out to you the next time they need service. Doing this will not only gratify the user, but will also show others reading the review that your company is compassionate and takes the time to provide great customer service.

What is the best way to respond to a negative review?

When you receive a negative review, you want to be careful to handle this in a very professional manner. The reviewer is already upset for a specific reason, and you want to approach the situation in a way that will allow you to alter their opinion by showing compassion for the source of their dissatisfaction.

While it may not always be simple to fix the “issue,” offering to discuss the matter offline and taking the steps to positively influence this person’s experience can significantly help to change the person’s opinion of your company.

Additionally, taking the steps to show others that your company works to improve a situation with a dissatisfied customer shows overall good customer service and compassion.

Responding to reviews truly helps to influence how your company brand is perceived.

Manage Your Reputation.

Maintaining your company’s reputation is important. Use this guide as a way to get started today, and make sure that customer service is a key part of your business model.

 

Because of the importance of online reviews for staffing and recruiting firms, Haley Marketing has even developed a specific technology platform to help.  This program allows staffing and recruiting firms to help limit negative reviews while encouraging positive reviews and feedback.  Learn more about our reputation management services or contact us today at 888-696-2900.

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