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Anybody who creates anything cares what people think.
So when your creativity is your livelihood, word of mouth matters. It makes your professional reputation as a florist what it is.
In today’s world, online reviews build trust, with no less than 85 percent of consumers saying they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Asking customers for reviews achieves three business objectives:
Investing a little time into getting feedback is a serious investment in your business.
When you’re the topic of somebody else’s conversation, people will always pay attention.
So is your investment worth it?
Absolutely!
Subject lines like… [Customer First Name], how does [Recipient Full Name] like their flowers?
– are known to get you more responses.
So invest in the best — YOU!
Your Google reviews can be viewed by typing your business name into your Chrome browser.
To the right of the results, your business is displayed prominently. All your relevant business information and select reviews are shown there. At the bottom of the reviews section is a link: “View all Google reviews.”
Click the link and view all your reviews.
This is the place where you are the headline news, so READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Always cross-reference Google reviews against your orders.
This is potentially a painstaking task, but important. You really need all the facts at hand to make sense of what is being said.
Also, ensuring Google reviews are genuine is necessary. Fake Google reviews, unfortunately, are not uncommon.
Once you have all the available information at hand, you are in a great position. Knowledge is power, after all, and this is serious information about your business.
So how to deal with it?
When replying to negative reviews, you need to eliminate negative feelings.
Always be positive. It’s harder than it might seem, but very important.
Nothing is personal in this space. It’s all business.
From fake reviews, to plain unfair reviews, you’ll eventually come across them all.
Never be defensive.
If a review is genuine, but possibly unfair, always be sorry that an experience wasn’t all it should have been.
Offer to make it right in some way.
This way, you diffuse the anger of the reviewer and, if public, people will feel safe about doing business with you.
Things do go wrong, but what a professional, caring person!
This approach really works and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Looking for trends is incredibly valuable.
If you find negative reviews complaining about one element of your service, you can fix it. If you find positive reviews praising one element of your business — carry on!
Finding trends in Google reviews can be tough.
Essentially you need to search for negative reviews, for example, then search for commonalities, taking notes as you go.
The potential for improving elements of your business that aren’t as strong as others is very powerful using this method.
As is the opportunity to find out what does work, what the strong points of your service are, and where the differences lie.
And why.
You have the ability to control the conversation around your business and to boost your reputation greatly as a result.
This is actually more than just good business practice.
You will feel great when you respond to an angry review in an empathetic and friendly way, and find yourself completely winning that client over.
And keeping their business.
The power of word of mouth is understood in every business, of every size, but it isn’t always understood that, in today’s digital age, online reviews are word of mouth.
Or that controlling the conversation is a choice.
A really easy one!
20 Corporate Park Rd
Suite B
Hopewell Junction, NY 12533
e. help@lovingly.com
p. (800) 533-1787
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