92% of customers say they trust other customers’ feedback more than paid advertisements & sponsored posts. This should tell you everything you need to know about the importance of reviews and online word of mouth when thinking about your business’s success.
How your business is represented online influences the buying decisions of future customers. That’s why you should be focusing on bringing positive reviews from happy customers instead of waiting for reviews to come to you. To do this, you need to make sure that you are managing your business reputation effectively, even better, you should own your online reputation.
What Is Reputation Ownership and How Is it different from Reputation Management?
Reputation management is about tracking reviews and mentions of your business and responding to both positive and negative reviews, while reputation ownership refers to a company’s efforts to turn positive customer experiences into 5-Star Reviews.
Sounds like an easy task? Well, it is. 2 Step Reviews offers a solution for customers to review their experience with you, and allows you to measure the results. We’ve created an easy way for you to ask for the review, capture it, and post it to the right sources for your future customers to see!
The way you ask for the review makes a difference
The 2 Step Reviews Reputation Ownership method starts with how you and your employees ask for the review.
First, make sure your customer is satisfied with the product or service, we call it Qualifying the ask. A simple, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” should do it. This way, you make sure the customer is satisfied before you even bring up the invitation to leave you a review.
If the customer is happy with the service and has no concerns, then it’s time to invite him to leave you a review. Here’s how, “Wonderful, would you mind if I sent you a text to leave me a review? It only takes a few seconds, and it will help me out a lot.”
Now, you’re one step ahead, You’ve started owning your reputation by proactively asking for the review instead of waiting for the customer to take the lead. Did you know 7 in 10 customers will leave a review if asked? You now have seven more reviews by owning your reputation.
Sending a review invite with 2 Step Reviews
2 Step Reviews make it easy for you and your team to send review invites. It only takes a few seconds. All you need to do is open the 2 Step Reviews app and enter the customer’s name and phone number and hit send. The customer will receive a text message with a link to your landing page with the Google and Facebook links to your business. Making it easy for your customer to leave you a review also increases the chances of getting it.
Turning negative reviews into positive ones
Everybody is afraid of negative reviews, but they are not that bad when you own your reputation. If you get a negative review, you can manage it effectively by communicating with your customer immediately (even before responding to it). Many times, a customer will change the review rating after they get an explanation from the business.
2 Step Reviews sends real-time notifications (text messages, app notifications, and email) when a 3-Star review or under comes in. This way, you can proactively take action and reach out to the customer.
In some cases, a negative review will stay negative, and that is also OK. The best way to go about it is to respond to the review openly and professionally, ensuring that the customer’s issues are all addressed. The good news is you can flood your Google My Business and Facebook pages with positive reviews from all your HAPPY customers.
Getting fresh and consistent reviews
Some people believe that having the MOST reviews is the most important factor when it comes to online reviews. But, here’s a secret. New reviews are as critical as the number of reviews you have.
Think about this… When you search online for a product or service, which would you choose?
- Business A: 200 reviews with a 4.5 ranking. The newest review is 4 months old
- Business B: 108 reviews with a 4.4 ranking. The newest review is a day old.
Did you choose B? We thought so. Reputation ownership is an ongoing process to build your online reputation continuously.
Reputation Ownership with 2 Step Reviews
With a solution like 2 Step Reviews, you’ll be able to own your reputation where it matters most, easily.
Your Google & Facebook reviews are all managed from one place. You have the power to read and respond to them without leaving your 2 Step dashboard or app.
Our tool simplifies the process of getting a review from a customer to under a minute. All you have to do is enter their name and number, and they will be texted a link to click, which sends them to your Google or Facebook review page.
This takes out the guesswork in asking for a review and hoping the person takes the time to leave you one when they get home.
So, keep an eye on those reviews
We hope you see that with reputation ownership, you can put out fires online before they grow out of control. By owning your reputation, you will get more positive reviews and ensure that the negative ones are handled effectively.
