‘If your business isn’t on the Internet, then your business will be out of business,’ is a famous saying by Bill Gates. And it holds true today, as an increasing number of customers look for information about a company or individual online. Every user has their own expert opinion, which they readily share on forums, review platforms, and other sites. According to statistics from Reputation House, for 60% of consumers, negative comments online have led to them rejecting a company’s services. For 49% of customers, it’s crucial for a business to have at least a 4-star rating, or they simply won’t give it a second glance. Moreover, if a company’s rating elevates from average to excellent, trust in it surges by 3.2 times!
Interestingly, people are much more likely to share negative experiences than to highlight the positive aspects of a product (15 people versus 11 respectively). If reviews aren’t properly managed, it can damage not only a business’s reputation but also its revenue. As experience suggests, it’s best to delegate the task of managing reviews to specialists like those at Reputation House.
About the Company
Since 2010, Reputation House has been making its mark in the reputation management market. It is a technology-focused company with over 200 employees working across 8 countries. Reputation House is amongst the top 5 global agencies in reputation management and has developed its own proprietary software. Among its achievements is the creation of two AI-based mobile applications for individuals and businesses. With the Reputation House app, users can track public opinions, identify the causes of news spikes, and prevent the spread of fake news. The application aids in monitoring mentions of a company or individual, and detecting negative feedback.
Why Businesses Should Monitor Reviews: Insights from Reputation House
A recent study revealed that consumers are willing to pay up to 30% more for a product or service with a high rating. Businesses risk losing out on converting up to 86% of potential customers if their rating falls to 1-2 stars. Thus, maintaining a positive online reputation is not just about preserving profits, but also enhancing them.
Reputation House identifies several advantages of actively managing reviews:
- Boosting customer loyalty. Online reviews serve as a testament to the quality of service and products. A company can make any claim, but customers won’t hold back the truth. The more positive the feedback, the greater the audience loyalty.
- Improving product quality. Customer opinions provide an external perspective on the business, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. Armed with this information, a company can improve without squandering resources on testing and quality control.
- Monitoring staff performance. If one particular employee consistently receives negative feedback, it might be time to reassess their fit within the company.
- Demonstrating business reliability and transparency. On average, customers require at least seven reviews before making a purchase. If there’s a lack of online feedback, it casts doubt on the trustworthiness of the company.
How Does Reputation House Manage Reviews?
It’s a common misconception that crafting a good reputation simply involves flooding search results with positive reviews. However, to truly achieve the desired reputation, a comprehensive approach is required. This approach encompasses all aspects of building and protecting a positive image for an individual, service, or brand. It’s referred to as Online Reputation Management (ORM), and it consists of several stages:
- Monitoring Mentions: The agency’s specialists create a list of queries, work on semantics, and set up the monitoring system.
- Dealing with Mentions: When reviews about a person or brand appear, the Reputation House response department processes the received information, refutes negative mentions, and supports the positives. A comprehensive approach to handling objections is used, effectively repelling any information attacks. If false reviews appear, Reputation House has the means to have them removed out of court or in court. This mechanism is rarely used, for example, when comments violate the rules of review services, legislation, or do not correspond to reality.
- Guerrilla Marketing: This involves spreading neutral and positive information about a brand or individual across relevant forums, social media, and various groups. Agency professionals actively participate in discussions, subtly promoting the product or service.
- Positive Content Creation and Promotion: This is not just about publishing on various services and platforms. The content is optimized by Reputation House staff in accordance with SERM and SEO requirements, behavioral factors, and other tools for quality promotion.
- SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management): Reputation House also actively works with SERM. Its task is to push negative information, including reviews, off the first page of search results and fill it with positive content. For maintaining a positive image, verified information is posted – articles, discussions, and comments. With SERM tools, Reputation House shapes the correct opinion based on well-crafted reviews, ensuring a consistently positive positioning of the brand or individual on the internet.
Collaborating with the agency does more than just aid in reputation management. Reputation House’s work with customer reviews becomes a great growth point for the company, a tool to scale up and make a name for itself in any market.
