You don’t need formal research to show that more people are shopping online every day due to COVID-19. 

Right now, more than 25% of consumers are buying products online, and 43% of consumers say they plan on transitioning to online shopping if the coronavirus continues. With this recent transition, people are more reliant on reviews from others to help make their purchasing decisions.

Reviews can have a measurable impact on your company, both good and bad.

Luxury skincare company Sunday Riley settled with the Federal Trade Commission after an accusation that it had been posting fake online reviews to Sephora’s website for years.

A user on Reddit exposed the company back in October 2018. The whistleblower was allegedly an employee at Sunday Riley and posted an email from an executive in the company encouraging employees to post fake positive reviews on Sephora’s website. Employees used a VPN so their computers were untraceable. The company also requested that employees dislike any negative reviews, because with enough dislikes, Sephora would remove the negative reviews.

Many skincare brands don’t test their products long enough to have solid scientific evidence that they work, so they rely on online reviews to build brand recognition and loyalty. What Sunday Riley did was deceptive and unethical. Companies should earn authentic positive reviews from customers.

What brands can learn from this

Sunday Riley should have focused on reaching out to customers instead of its employees to write reviews. The brand has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media as well as customer emails it could market to. Additionally, since the focus was on obtaining online reviews, Sunday Riley could have posted signs in stores asking for feedback on review sites including Sephora.

From this scandal brands can learn that customer service should come before reviews. By giving the best experience possible to a customer, good reviews will flow in on their own. And ReviewMaxer can help make that happen.

What consumers can learn from this

Customers are getting better at evaluating the credibility of online reviews. Buying a product based on glowing reviews and then finding out it was all a lie is infuriating. Ultimately, when companies try to trick consumers, it turns them into smarter shoppers. Consumers should learn not to trust reviews at face value and how to spot when a review is fake, so in the future, they can find a brand they can trust.

Learn customer service strategies from other companies

When it comes to your company’s online customer reviews, sometimes you have to sift through several bad ones to get to the good ones. Occasionally, you might come across a truly ugly one that makes your blood boil, but how do you respond? With anger or love?

Companies, whether small or large, need to be at the top of their game when responding to customer feedback. This requires them to be prompt, witty and gracious. The goal is to earn public approval with exemplary customer service. Take a hint from these businesses in learning what to do and what not to do with your customer service strategy.

Here are the good, the bad and the ugly examples that represent some dos and don’ts of customer service.

The good: An example of a company doing it right

JetBlue is scoring points with customers due to its awesome customer service track record. The airline is serious about pleasing its customers and is willing to go the extra mile for a positive review. The company has more than 1.8 million followers on Twitter, more than 1 million likes on Facebook and hundreds of positive reviews on Yelp.

A tactic that JetBlue employs is that it doesn’t leave its customers hanging. The company responds to complaints and feedback quickly – most times within 10 minutes. The airline doesn’t stop there; it works toward surpassing customers’ expectations. For instance, when one customer, Alexa Burrows, was flying home to Boston, she went on Twitter to express her happiness about arriving home and jokingly tweeted for JetBlue to throw her a welcome home parade. JetBlue’s Twitter team sent a message to the Boston airport staff to throw Alexa a welcome home parade when she arrived, which they did. How awesome is that?

One secret to JetBlue’s top-notch customer service is that employees engage with customers cleverly, using their wits and creativity. They can’t make everyone’s wishes come true, but they do selectively respond to the online comments that provide an opportunity to add value to the company.

The bad: An example of a company doing it wrong

American Airlines is doing it wrong and customers are noticing. The airline is known for its over-the-top positivity, even when its optimistic responses don’t make an ounce of sense.

Customers suspected that something was up when American Airlines kept replying to customer complaints on Twitter with repetitive, upbeat responses. No matter what the commenter said, American Airlines replied with something along the lines of “thanks for your support.” Confused customers quickly got on Twitter to tell American Airlines that the jig was up and that robo-tweeting is lame.

Sending automatic responses is tricky. In the case of American Airlines, the automated responses didn’t make sense in the situation. The lesson: Have robotic responses, but also have humans to address the public when the situation turns sour.

The ugly: An example of a company doing it really wrong

If you are running a company, your first priority is to satisfy your customers, especially those who dislike your company. One restaurant’s response to a negative online review provides a perfect example of how not to treat your customers – ever.

The chef at Pigalle in Boston lost his cool when a patron lambasted his cooking skills on Facebook. She wrote that the pumpkin pie tasted like vomit and that it wasn’t worth the price she paid for it: $200. Instead of offering a free meal or refund, the chef responded viciously and rudely – with several expletives. It took some time – and a public and very nasty online exchange – but in the end, the chef realized his mistake and made amends with the miffed customer. Let’s hope he learned his lesson and leaves the “angry chef” gimmick to Gordon Ramsay.

Regardless of what a customer says about your company, you have to handle it with grace. If you do anything else, the entire Internet may turn against you – and ruin your company.

Responding promptly to online reviews and complaints is an important step in providing terrific customer service. It’s also extremely time-consuming. ReviewMaxer is an online review management software application that helps companies manage customer feedback and also improves their online reputation. ReviewMaxer efficiently monitors, collects and promotes your online reviews from one central dashboard. Sign up for a free demo to see how this cloud-based software can save you time and protect your company online. Read the ReviewMaxer blog for more tips on how to handle negative reviews and how to get your company at the top of search listings today.

Photo credit: 123RF Stock Photo

Written by: Paul Cook

5 ways to respond to unhappy customers and improve your company’s reputation

Before the Internet, a customer called or visited a business to complain. The only people to hear the angry customer’s complaints were the customers in the store at that time who may gossip to their neighbor about the incident. As a result, there was little negative effect on the business due to a customer’s frustration.

Now that unhappy consumers can take their complaints online, it’s a different story entirely.

When customers complain, they don’t spread the news by personally telling 10 people. Instead, they post their complaints on sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Google + and even Twitter. One comment attracts several others and has the potential to reach millions of people. As a business owner, what can you do?

The first step is to make unhappy customers your number one priority, doing what you can to make sure they don’t post a negative review about your business. In the event you are dealing with an angry customer, always address the individual with kindness. If a person posts a negative review or complaint about your business online, here are some useful strategies you can use:

1. Automate the customer review process.
   Invest in an automated system that notifies you when a customer has posted a review about your business. Online review management software allows you to send customers a request for a review. And, it gives your customers options to post their reviews on several different review sites.

If they do post negative feedback, the system provides them with an option to post on review sites that people rarely visit to search for reviews. If customers leave positive reviews, the opposite happens, and they get sites such as Yelp and Facebook, thereby pushing your more positive reviews and comments to the top of the search engine listings.

2. Be gentle with your responses.
   When you read a negative review about your business, it often leaves you fuming. Your anger is certainly just, but you don’t want to lose a customer or create a bad impression for others. You should pause to regain your composure, and then respond to the customer with kindness and sincerity: “We apologize about your bad experience with us. How may we fix the situation?” or “To make it up to you, we can offer you a discount on your next purchase with us.”

Think with your head and not your heart. Your heart will want to rip the bad reviewer’s comment to shreds, but your head will want you to maintain a good relationship with the customer.

3. Think human, not robot.
   Put yourself in the shoes of the customer to see how you would like the company to handle the situation. When you draft a reply, make sure you put some human elements in the response. A robotic reply will not appease your customers and may only fuel their anger. Be as humane and sincere as possible with your responses.
4. Reply to most reviews.
   If you are unable to respond to every review on the site, employ someone to do it. The reviews you shouldn’t reply to are those from people who seem inexplicably prejudice toward your business or those who are making unreasonable requests that you can’t fulfill. Train your employees to identify comments such as these and avoid responding. Also, instruct employees how to handle general complaints, such as accidentally charging someone too much for his or her food – perhaps by apologizing and giving the customer’s money back or offering a free meal.
5. Make customer satisfaction your mission.
   Make customers your business’s top priority. Tell your employees that even if they have to go the extra mile to make sure a customer leaves satisfied, they should. Adopt customer satisfaction practices such as sending flowers, upgrading shipping or offering refunds. You can also tell your employees to think outside the box when trying to please customers. When your business focuses all their efforts on ensuring the happiness of its customers, reviewers are sure to celebrate the company’s customer-centric approach on review sites.

It’s difficult for businesses to keep track of everything being said about them on the Internet. But it’s critical to manage and control the reviews and complaints in order to protect your brand and reputation. Take control of your online reviews today with ReviewMaxer. This powerful, cloud-based software provides its users with a proactive review strategy to quickly and easily manage reviews and comments from more than 500 sites. Sign up for a free demo to see how the ReviewMaxer software works and read the blog for more tips and resources to protect your company’s reputation and strengthen your business.

Photo credit: 123RF Stock Photo

Written by: Paul Cook

Learn ways to improve your online reputation

We live in the digital age where positive online reviews are a valuable asset to restaurants. Four- and five-star ratings solidify the decisions of potential customers who are considering their dining options. These ratings offer credibility to restaurants because anyone can go online through social media and review sites to share a positive or negative review.

If you own a restaurant, here are five reasons why you need to care about your online reviews:

1. Good reviews build trust with your new customers.

According to a 2013 survey by Dimensional Research, 90 percent of customers say online reviews influence their buying decisions. Positive reviews indicate that a restaurant offers amazing customer service, an awesome atmosphere and top-quality food.

2. Positive reviews are a great way to market your restaurant online.

A good review can easily be worth its online marketing weight in gold. A local consumer review survey in 2014 by BrightLocal revealed an interesting insight into the growing importance of online reviews and their outcomes. The research showed 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations in their purchasing decisions. Another study showed steady growth in online reviews, with 72 percent of consumers saying positive reviews help them trust a local business. Keep in mind that a steady and frequent online presence makes a huge impact on potential customers.

3. Search engines and mobile apps help attract customers to your restaurant.  

Search engines and mobile apps are a great way to encourage people to visit your restaurant who might not know about you or might be visiting your area. Not only do they help drive business, they also give you a chance to make a lasting first impression. Try updating your website or offering online coupons and loyalty points on your website or mobile app. Apps such as Yelp, Foursquare, Urbanspoon and Zomato provide ways to improve your online reputation and allow you to interact with your customers.

4. Bad online reviews are hard to overcome.

Let’s face it: Negative reviews are tough for business. They drive potential customers away from your restaurant and make your existing customers question whether they want to visit again. If negative reviews happen, remember that you can't control every customer experience, mistake or circumstance. Counteract your negative reviews by highlighting more positive reviews from your other customers. Also, use a negative review as insight. This will show you care about your customers and will improve your customer service and customer experience.

5. No online presence makes your restaurant invisible.

When you don’t have any online reviews for your restaurant, people may not think of your restaurant at all. No matter the size of your restaurant, having no online presence or reviews can be just as detrimental to your restaurant as having negative reviews. Facebook and Instagram are great social media outlets that almost everyone uses daily and provide a terrific platform to get your restaurant noticed. Once you’re comfortable on social media, try taking the next step and registering your restaurant on a popular online review website.

Restaurant reviews online play a critical role in driving business. If you aren’t actively managing your online reputation, you’re missing out on a great way to add revenue. If you’re new to online reviews or the process seems overwhelming, try online review management software like ReviewMaxer. ReviewMaxer is an affordable and easy-to-use system to manage your company’s online reviews and reputation. Use ReviewMaxer to promote your positive reviews and interact with your customers to resolve negative reviews. Sign up today for your free demo or check out the ReviewMaxer blog for advice to improve your restaurant's online reputation.

Photo credit: Pablo

Written by: Justin Hamilton