New Guy Responding to your online reviews - second in a series

[Robert Armerding]

This is the second of what will be a series about responding to your online reviews.
Question: Why even respond in the first place? Answer: To show that you are more than an order taker. To show that you care about the people involved in the sign project. It is an opportunity to honor your client. To share a smile. To show that you are here to make the world a better place.
Your client is your primary audience. Each touch with your client is a relationship event. Let’s enrich your rapport. Keep your client for a lifetime.
The next audience is your own sign making team. In your response you can give kudos for work well done.
Your daily audience will be those who are searching for a sign shop. When they look at your response, we want them to see that you are accessible, engaged, and value relationships. We want your prospective client to know that if they reach out to you, they will be seen, heard, and appreciated.
Let me ask you, does this make sense to you? I am open to discussion about this. And, I am here to team up with you to craft your response to your reviews. It is an art.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

This sounds more relevent for a retail business or restaurant than a B2B sign shop? We haven’t received any reviews in over 10 years and there’s no way I’m the only one. I hear what youre saying but don’t feel like this is the best avenue to pursue for maintaining customers in this setting.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Let me give some real advise on getting a negative review..

If you get a negative review, find out who the customer is and call them to see how you can make it right. Verizon Wireless did a study and found that customers that have had a problem with them, and they fixed the problem, were more loyal than customers that never had a problem with them in the first place. Those customers stayed with them longer and became more profitable. The conclusion was that the customers knew how they were going to be treated when the chips were down VS the unknown of switching to someone else.

If a customer has a problem with something you did, there is an opportunity there to make a hyper-loyal client out of them (assuming you want them). Always quickly fix whatever problem they have. If you spend more $$ so be it. A bad review will cost you much more than whatever $$ you'd spend making it right.

Respond to the review with sincere regret and promise to fix their problem. If you already resolved it ask them to change the review or post a response saying you fixed their problem and thank them for bringing it to their attention. DO NOT respond in sarcastic ways or give repetitive canned responses of "I'm sorry, please reach out to us".

Don't get yourself in a jam in the first place. Usually people will bring up a problem BEFORE going online. Fix it right away.

 

[Robert Armerding]

Let me give some real advise on getting a negative review..

If you get a negative review, find out who the customer is and call them to see how you can make it right. Verizon Wireless did a study and found that customers that have had a problem with them, and they fixed the problem, were more loyal than customers that never had a problem with them in the first place. Those customers stayed with them longer and became more profitable. The conclusion was that the customers knew how they were going to be treated when the chips were down VS the unknown of switching to someone else.

If a customer has a problem with something you did, there is an opportunity there to make a hyper-loyal client out of them (assuming you want them). Always quickly fix whatever problem they have. If you spend more $$ so be it. A bad review will cost you much more than whatever $$ you'd spend making it right.

Respond to the review with sincere regret and promise to fix their problem. If you already resolved it ask them to change the review or post a response saying you fixed their problem and thank them for bringing it to their attention. DO NOT respond in sarcastic ways or give repetitive canned responses of "I'm sorry, please reach out to us".

Don't get yourself in a jam in the first place. Usually people will bring up a problem BEFORE going online. Fix it right away.

Texas_Signmaker, very good advice. Your input is very much appreciated.

 

[Gino]

Mentor, it could very easily be, one would hafta hire someone just to read all the reviews and then write back whether it be good or bad or trying to fix something. Some shops have many many jobs going out a week. You want an employee to waste time doing this ?? If you're all about mom & pop shops, you want them to waste their time reading all the reviews ??

 

[Mike Drysdale]

Hi All: Thank you Robert for the great advice regarding responding to reviews. Very often when asking potential clients how they found us, they respond "Yelp" or "I Googled signs". The second thing they will say is you had good/great reviews. There is a lot of positive effect in those reviews and I also believe responding to the good and bad reviews helps a potential client to decide whether to spend their time contacting you. The reviews are also searched by Yelp and Google, so definitely use keywords for your industry. Mike Drysdale

 

[Mike Drysdale]

Mentor, it could very easily be, one would hafta hire someone just to read all the reviews and then write back whether it be good or bad or trying to fix something. Some shops have many many jobs going out a week. You want an employee to waste time doing this ?? If you're all about mom & pop shops, you want them to waste their time reading all the reviews ??

Hi Gino: I hear what you are saying about the time involved, but it is relative to the size of the shop and how you want to promote your business. It does take time but is well worth the amount of time it takes. If you have reviews and replies to those reviews, you should be able to charge more for your products, the type of client you are attracting will be better and more thoughtful and you are setting yourself apart from the shops that do not respond. I think it makes a difference. Mike Drysdale

 

[Notarealsignguy]

People use companies to manage this stuff for them, just like their social media pages. Is that what this is all about?

 

[ColoPrinthead]

I suppose most of us would have the time to work with the reviews if we weren't screwing around on this site all day

 

[Solventinkjet]

I suppose most of us would have the time to work with the reviews if we weren't screwing around on this site all day

Hey technically when I'm on here I'm working! Still couldn't agree more though!

 

[Robert Armerding]

People use companies to manage this stuff for them, just like their social media pages. Is that what this is all about?

I am aware of those companies. What I post here is for sign makers who want to do their own responding.

 

[Reveal1]

If I had enough customers leaving reviews that it would take a lot of time to respond, then I would double my efforts to do so. Either they are happy and prime for more business, or unhappy which from the classic definition can account for 10 times the negative impact as 1 happy customer can generate. That said, my B2B customers leave very few reviews even though many interact initially from online ads.

Mentor - you've been grilled pretty hard so far. Hopefully you will survive the hazing and the posts will continue to evolve and be more relevant. No problem here with you wanting to make some $$ providing expertise as long as it's relevant.

 

[Robert Armerding]

If I had enough customers leaving reviews that it would take a lot of time to respond, then I would double my efforts to do so. Either they are happy and prime for more business, or unhappy which from the classic definition can account for 10 times the negative impact as 1 happy customer can generate. That said, my B2B customers leave very few reviews even though many interact initially from online ads.

Mentor - you've been grilled pretty hard so far. Hopefully you will survive the hazing and the posts will continue to evolve and be more relevant. No problem here with you wanting to make some $$ providing expertise as long as it's relevant.

Reveal1 - I am happy to be here. If I find only one sign maker that wants to thoughtfully respond to their reviews, as far as I am concerned, it will be well worth it.

 

[Johnny Best]

I also wish you luck on here, nice to learn something that I know absolutely nothing about.

 

[Robert Armerding]

I also wish you luck on here, nice to learn something that I know absolutely nothing about.

Johnny Best - thank you for wishing me luck. I appreciate it.

 

[Robert Armerding]

Hi All: Thank you Robert for the great advice regarding responding to reviews. Very often when asking potential clients how they found us, they respond "Yelp" or "I Googled signs". The second thing they will say is you had good/great reviews. There is a lot of positive effect in those reviews and I also believe responding to the good and bad reviews helps a potential client to decide whether to spend their time contacting you. The reviews are also searched by Yelp and Google, so definitely use keywords for your industry. Mike Drysdale

Mike Drysdale - thank you for your encouraging words. I appreciate it. Keep up the practice of asking potential clients how they found you. That is an important tactic to keep using. Best regards, Robert.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Mike Drysdale - thank you for your encouraging words. I appreciate it. Keep up the practice of asking potential clients how they found you. That is an important tactic to keep using. Best regards, Robert.

Funny how your so called "client" who vouched for your services in another thread ends his posts the same way you do. "Best Reguards, *name*" https://signs101.com/threads/58-x-6...he-doesnt-want-any-seams.115965/#post-1180161

He hasn't posted anything on this site for 6 years till you come along.

I'd be interested to see if an admin or mod here could look at what IP address you use on each account and see if they are the same.

 

[Robert Armerding]

Funny how your so called "client" who vouched for your services in another thread ends his posts the same way you do. "Best Reguards, *name*" https://signs101.com/threads/58-x-6...he-doesnt-want-any-seams.115965/#post-1180161

He hasn't posted anything on this site for 6 years till you come along.

I'd be interested to see if an admin or mod here could look at what IP address you use on each account and see if they are the same.

Mike Drysdale has been a member in s101 for over 14 years. You can check his profile.

 

[GAC05]

Funny how your so called "client" who vouched for your services in another thread ends his posts the same way you do. "Best Reguards, *name*" https://signs101.com/threads/58-x-6...he-doesnt-want-any-seams.115965/#post-1180161

He hasn't posted anything on this site for 6 years till you come along.

I'd be interested to see if an admin or mod here could look at what IP address you use on each account and see if they are the same.

Come on Nancy Drew, slow your roll. I thought Texas folks were supposed to be all friendly and stuff.....

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Friendly only applies to driving...