Reputation management is an art and science, but should the process center around human interaction or use artificial intelligence? Responding to reviews—on sites such as Google and Yelp—is a way for an organization’s clients to feel heard, regardless of whether it’s a positive or a negative experience. Having visibility into a customer’s direct interaction with your business is a way to gain real-time feedback, understand problems, and offer solutions to help alleviate any pain points. Read on for some of our best practices on a robust reputation management strategy, including whether to leverage AI.
Why Have Formal Review Response Steps?
Having a solid reputation management program can be visible externally and internally. Creating and executing a strong process can be used as a free client satisfaction barometer and to encourage and recognize team members for a job well done. In both external and internal examples, there is power in reporting. Also, positive words from clients can be leveraged in other channels, like social media posts and website content.
How Do I Create a Strategy?
To improve an online reputation, gain more clients, and showcase work that the team does successfully, the first step is to get reviews. Click here to learn more about gaining reviews on Google Business, and click here to claim your business page and get started on Yelp. Both options are free (of course, with optional add-ons for a fee).
Next, set an objective of what rating your organization would like to attain on each channel. When working with our clients, we recommend striving for a rating between 4.5 and 5 stars. Beyond this goal, the reputation management strategy will give management tools for moving the needle to a more positive client experience, as well as an avenue for crisis communication. A program can start with a pilot of select locations in the event of multiple business sites. By starting small, business leaders can determine the process. Our recommendation is to create branded QR code signage or leverage technology like Popcard to collect reviews, each linking to individual locations.
Respond and Review.
Once the actual process is in place, it is time to respond to reviews. Based on testing and industry best practices, our typical weekly process when working on behalf of a client is responding to reviews every three to four days. These responses are carefully designed with the intent of the reviewer feeling listened to, all while offering an avenue for a solution. One-star reviews (and others, as appropriate) were communicated to business leadership and managers to connect for further assistance or problem-solving. We communicated weekly tracking of all one-star, relevant, or five-star reviews to the client. Monthly, the C-suite received a report with all one-star reviews to identify trends and issues happening repeatedly at specific geographic locations.
When executing a reputation management process, tracking and analysis are essential; however, a reputation management program cannot prevent a client from posting about a negative experience. What it can do is collect enough positive reviews to offset occasional negative comments. Additionally, remember that a business’ rating also shows up in places like Google Maps or when searching for a company on the Internet.
Leverage Technology, But Remember Human Empathy.
A complete reputation management process is built around leveraging automation, repetition (i.e., creating approved prompts for specific response scenarios), and shortcuts where necessary while communicating with both empathy and accuracy. At this point, we have monitored AI and ChatGPT for potential use and feel that they are currently too risky to leverage for client communication.
ChatGPT is created to come to the correct response, which is known in the industry for producing “hallucinations” or erroneous or incorrect responses. In our review process best practices, review responses could lead to legal issues in the worst-case scenario. At the same time, the empathy and understanding that comes from human contact is still the best process to craft the response with the right tone and contextual information to make sure a client is heard.
So, Now What?
If your organization would like help creating and maintaining a robust reputation management strategy, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about our solution and how we can help your five-star business shine.