Category : Educational

May, 2020

Responding to Negative Reviews (With Examples)

Your online reputation matters – in fact, it matters so much that calling it your “online reputation” is fairly redundant. With over 90% of consumers checking online reviews before deciding where to go, your online reputation is your reputation, period.

When your business receives a negative customer review, it not only bruises your ego but directly affects your bottom line. While you probably already know this, you might not know that responding to negative reviews can be a powerful opportunity to showcase your company’s ethos, integrity, and offer transparency— all of which make your business look better.

Remember, when you respond to negative reviews, you’re responding to the customer as well as everyone reading your reviews. How well you do this can not only redeem the situation for that specific customer but also create a stronger, more positive brand identity to others watching.

Let’s take a look at three key things to keep in mind when responding to negative reviews:

1. Respond quickly

The case for replying within 24-48 hours is twofold: First, the situation is still fresh, and catching them in that window increases the likelihood that you’ll be able to offer an actionable solution (that they’ll take you up on). Second, it decreases the amount of time the review is sitting unattended on the web. The faster you respond, the fewer people will see the review on its own and potentially be negatively influenced by it.

2. Apologize and offer to make it right

Whether the complaint is due to a real mistake or based on circumstances beyond your control, the customer is frustrated or disappointed and you won’t get anywhere without acknowledging that first. Starting your response with a sincere apology that directly addresses their complaint will go a long way in neutralizing their pain and showing that your team cares about your customers.

Remember: This isn’t a court of law. Whether or not you think their complaint is valid, this person had a bad experience with your business and took the time to tell you and others about it. Address their experience directly and you’re already ahead. And after apologizing, offer your best solution to their problem.

3. Keep your tone friendly and sincere

No matter how unfair the criticism may feel, responding with sass or firing off a response that matches their vitriol will make the situation even worse— and looks really, really bad to anyone else reading it. Do your best to take your emotions out of it. Remember: It’s not a matter of winning a battle against the person who wrote the review, but rather showcasing that you care about your customers and want to make the situation right. For prospective customers who are deciding whether or not to work with you, it’s much more likely they’ll be attracted to a business owner that is kind, thoughtful and has a “the customer is always right” attitude rather than an angry or spiteful one.

Responding to online reviews should be a priority for every business owner. In a time when customer reviews can directly influence the amount of new business you’re getting, no one can afford to let negative feedback sit unattended. Every business makes mistakes, and sometimes customers are responding to situations beyond your control, but each review is a powerful opportunity to put your ethos and integrity on display. In short: responding to reviews is an easy way to look really good.

If you don’t have time to monitor every social media outlet and review site (who does?) a tool like Business Warrior is the easiest way to get on top of it. Business Warrior aggregates information from the most popular review sites so you can see every review from one powerful dashboard.

Want to try Business Warrior? Get started with your free trial here.

Here’s to a stronger, growing business.

May, 2020

By Rhett Doolittle

How Online Listings Affect Your Business

There is no question that search engines have transformed the way businesses approach their marketing strategy.

“According to a Local Consumer Review Survey, 97% of consumers used the web to find a local business last year”

It’s no surprise that having accurate online business listings is more important now than ever. Inaccurate business listings create more problems than you may be aware of. A slight error in your address means that customers may not be able to physically find your business. Even worse, they may show up ready to buy from your business only to find an empty parking lot, locked doors, and dark windows.

Not only is having incorrect online listings inconvenient for your customers, but it also takes a significant toll on your search results ranking and SEO. For example, if your online business listing information is inaccurate and a customer decides to report it, Google will take measures to protect their own brand and severely penalize your listing. This can push your business down to the bottom of page rankings and make your business nearly invisible to new customers looking for you. Everybody loses in these situations – except for your competition. If customers can’t find you, they may just look at the next business in their search results and take their business elsewhere.

“But my information is already up-to-date”

This may be true, but online listings stored in business directory sites are changing constantly. Your business information can change as often as every week!

While all of these changes can seem inherently dangerous, there is one way this works in your favor. Many of these listing sites are constantly searching the internet for information on *other* sites about local businesses. So, if you target a primary site or listing database, chances are high that the correct and updated information will make its way to another listing on a smaller site.

Even if you focus on just a few primary sites, it can be a part-time job monitoring your listings each week for accuracy.

The Importance of Visuals

One thing many business owners often overlook is the importance of adding visuals to their online listings. Adding photos of your business and examples of your products/services significantly increases your monthly impressions and interactions (calls, in-store visits, etc). Google reports that “businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location from users on Google, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t have photos.”

Having accurate, in-depth information on listing sites may seem like a relatively small thing, but it can have a very real effect on the flow of customers to your business.

Small Changes, Huge Impact

Very few business owners have the time to maintain a consistent online listing management schedule. Even then, finding a quick and easy solution can be confusing and complex.

Business Warrior is a solution for business owners who want to control their listings but don’t have the time to devote to constant monitoring. With Business Warrior, owners and managers can visualize where their listings are incorrect and act fast, without the tedious time it takes to research each individual search engine listing. Once you’ve made optimizations and updates to your information, you’ll get a weekly alert when something changes – so you can adjust as time goes on without added stress. Most customers are going to search for your business before they visit your physical location. If 97% of consumers are going to use the information they found on the web, make sure it’s accurate.

Try Business Warrior for 14 Days

Start using Business Warrior to drive higher foot traffic today! Try your free 14-day trial by clicking here.

Nov, 2018

By Rhett Doolittle

5 Tips for Small Business Saturday

5 Tips Small Business Saturday

Nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Small Business Saturday, a day that gives the owners of our favorite mom and pop shops their chance to shine. According to PwC, brick and mortar shoppers are planning to spend an overage of $467 in-store, and shoppers now care as much about the shopping experience as the gifts they get. This puts small business owners at an extreme advantage.

With all the preparation your merchants will be doing for the largest shopping event of the year, it’s vital to make sure they have everything they need to operate as smooth and efficient as possible. We’ve crafted the perfect list of things you can share with your merchants to help them prepare for the crazy holiday shopping rush that is Small Business Saturday.

1. Inspire Customer Loyalty

Offer loyal buyers something exclusive
Be more active in the community – give back to a local charity

2. Showcase merchandise that would make a great gift

Customers will be shopping for presents for themselves as well as their friends and family
Putting a small sign on a table saying “Excellent gift for dad”, or “A great gift for grandparents”
Restaurants can also promote Small Business Saturday deals and offer gift cards

3. Make sure your merchant(s) have all of their printing materials ready for marketing purposes

FedEx offers a 20% discount on printing for Small Business Saturday-related promotional materials through Nov. 26

4. Utilize Bluume’s BrandIQ for social media content and online engagement

Craft social media content for Small Business Saturday
Schedule it ahead of time at once so you can spend more time focusing on in-person marketing necessities
Manage online listings and reviews before the massive holiday rush

5. Introduce Bluume POS

Bluume POS has the latest software and hardware, small businesses need to thrive, including increasing sales and saving time and money
Inventory flexibility, staff management, and real-time tracking
Latest in payment technology for safe and secure transactions

Small Business Saturday is your merchants time to shine! Make sure you prepare them with the above tips and tricks so they can quickly navigate through all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and even perform better than they ever thought possible.

Jul, 2018

By Rhett Doolittle

Update Online and Local Listings

Did you know that local searches lead 50% of mobile visitors to visit stores within one day, so why lose out on this opportunity with incorrect information on your local listings?

Having uniform, accurate listings across Google, Facebook, Yelp, and many other sites ensures that potential customers are getting consistent, correct information and helps your search engine optimization (SEO).

With Brand IQ, you can easily identify which listings have errors, and fix them too.

What each label means:
Errors: Something on your current listing is incorrect
Not Found: No current listing on that site
Found: No issues found, you’re good to go!

If a listing has errors, you can click onto it and see which item on your listing is incorrect. Some items may also be missing and should be added.

Quickly get your listings fixed and get your new customers in the door, same day!

Still Confused? Check out this short video on Listings!

We hope this simple solution was helpful and drives more customers in to your store.

Jul, 2018

By Rhett Doolittle

Getting Started: Business Warrior Setup

Getting Started: Brand IQ Setup

Congratulations on getting logged into your Brand IQ account! Follow this step-by-step guide to setup your Brand IQ profile.

Step 1: Update Your Account with Correct Business Information

Having inconsistent business information across different channels is a headache for your customer. It’s important that business information like phone number, address, website, and hours of operation are the same across all listings.

Take a look at your current business information and verify everything is correct. (Click here to look [link to the exact page])

Step 2: Invite Your Employees to use Brand IQ:

We understand that owning a business is already difficult and can get very busy. Having an extra set of eyes on your BrandIQ account can be helpful during those busy times, so invite your employees to help!

Here’s a quick email template you can use to invite your employees to use Brand IQ.

(Put this in the middle with smaller italicized font maybe shown in an email format?)
“Hi Team (or to whom it may concern)!

We have started working with a new software that will help us manage our social content, reviews, and listings. We are excited to see how well it performs, and helps our business flourish like never before.

Here is your login credentials:

[ADD YOUR OWN LOGIN INFORMATION]

Thank you and let me know if you have any questions,
[YOUR NAME]

Step 3: Connect Your Social Media Accounts

To do this, hover over the drop down in the left hand corner on Brand IQ and click on “Social”

In the top right corner, click on the button that says “Add Social” as seen here:

Follow the prompts to connect your social media accounts.

Step 4: Schedule Posts

Now that your social media accounts are connected, it’s time to start scheduling your posts. You can schedule posts up to a year in advance!

On the Social page, click on “Posts” and then “Compose Posts”

Here is where you write your caption, attach photos, and schedule the time and date you’d like your post to be published.

In the right hand corner, choose to post on Facebook, Twitter, or both:

After you’re finished with your posts, you should be able to see a list of them in one easy and convenient spot located under “Scheduled Posts”

Step 5: Respond to Reviews

As all of your accounts should be connected (including Google and Yelp) it’s time to manage your reviews!

To do this, hover over the drop down located in the top left corner and click on “Reputation”

This is where you will find all of your customers reviews. To respond to them, click on the “Connect and Respond” button on the bottom right-hand side of each review:

Congratulations, you’ve successfully gone through the process of setting up your Brand IQ account.

Now that you’re basically an expert, let’s see what it can do for your business.