As a local business, ratings and reviews play a large role in your online reputation. If you're not sure what ratings and review sites say about your business, this LocalVox SlideShare presentation will help you take back control of your online reputation so you can grow your business. -- Tips and best practices for managing online reviews -- The ratings and reviews sites you should care about -- Ideas for generating new reviews -- How to turn a negative review into a positive one Eliminate the sense of dread you may feel when someone mentions "a review they saw online" -- you'll be confident they are referring to a positive review!

1. Improve Your Online
Reviews & Reputation

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✓ Importance of reviews and social reputation
✓ The most important reviews sites
✓ How to respond to reviews
✓ 8 tips to generate more positive reviews
✓ Turning negative review ! positive
✓ Additional resources
✓ Q&A session
Webinar Outline

3. Why Your Online
Reputation is Important

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+ How it Affects Your Business
✓ 88% of people trust online reviews as
much as personal recommendations
✓ 44% of customers make their
decision after reading a review
✓ 85% of consumers consider
user-generated reviews
extremely valuable
Digital Word of Mouth

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✓ Free customer feedback
✓ You will reach consumers where
they are searching for new
products and services
✓ SEO improvements from
active profiles and responses
that contain keywords
✓ 75% of reviews are positive
Benefits of Online Reviews

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✓ 33% of negative reviews turn
positive when you respond to them
✓ A one-star improvement on Yelp
translates to 5-9% revenue increase
✓ 95% of unhappy customers will
return if an issue is resolved quickly
…and Turn Bad Reviews ! Positive Ones
Put the Fire Out Quickly…

7. Top Review Sites

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✓ 4 out of 5 Yelpers visit the site when they
plan to spend money
✓ 98% of Yelpers have made a purchase
at a business they found on Yelp
✓ 55% of Yelp users take action with a
local business frequently/every time
they visit the site
✓ Claim your Yelp page with Yelp for Business
The Current Monopoly for of Review Sites
Yelp

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✓ There are 7.6 billion local
searches every month
✓ Google My Business allows you to
manage reviews
✓ Searchers see your reviews
alongside your posts, photos,
videos, etc.
Growing Presence for Local Reviews
Google

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✓ 30 million small businesses have
Facebook Pages
✓ 1.39 billion active monthly users
✓ 71% of consumers are more likely
to make a purchase based on
social media referrals
Help Users Decide Where to Spend $$
Facebook

11. Responding to Reviews

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Every review should be responded to
in a similar way
Review Response Formula

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✓ Respond in a timely manner
✓ You are saying “thank you” to a
customer that went out of their way
✓ Responding to positive reviews is now
seen as a best practice
Respond to Positive Reviews

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✓ Make sure the negative review is surrounded by
positive ones
✓ A Harris poll shows that customers actually trust
businesses more when they see a few bad apples
✓ Be sure to respond to the negative review quickly to
show that your business is addressing the problem
Use Negative Reviews to Your Advantage

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✓ Address the problem directly
✓ Identify the underlying issue and lead with an
apology
✓ Establish empathy by adding a human element
to your response - this will help mend the wound
Proactively Respond
STEP1

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✓ A short response is less likely to
trigger additional negative feelings
✓ Never accuse the customer of
wrongdoing or lying
✓ Always be polite and professional
Keep it Brief + Polite
STEP2

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✓ Always avoid back-and-forth arguments online
✓ Suggest you bring the conversation offline and bring in
a manager or owner (if applicable)
✓ Include a name, direct phone number or email to
establish credibility and show you are truly trying to fix
the problem (not just save face online)
STEP3
Take it Offline

18. 8 Tips to Generate
More Positive Reviews

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✓ Nobody knows your business better
✓ If you’ve done work for family and friends, there’s nothing
wrong with asking them to leave you a review
✓ Pace your requests; you don’t want to use all your
resources up front
Ask Family + Friends
TIP#1

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✓ There is a strong chance you email customers,
vendors and partners on a regular basis
✓ “Have we done business together? Please review us
on ____!”
Email Signature Links
TIP#2

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✓ Make a habit of asking for
reviews whenever the
opportunity presents
✓ You may be surprised at how
many people are willing to help!
✓ People love sharing their story
Never Stop Asking
TIP#3

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✓ Do you have positive reviews
on other sites?
✓ Reach out to those reviewers
and ask them to leave you
feedback on another site
✓ You already know that they
write reviews and that they
like your business
Ask Previous Reviewers
TIP#4

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✓ Did you just have a great phone
conversation with a customer?
✓ Did a previous customer leave a
“review card” with their phone
number?
✓ Ask them to review their
experience!
TIP#5
Ask During Phone Calls

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✓ Include instructions that tells
your customers how to
review your business
✓ Provide links to a specific
network
✓ Distribute at your point of
sale (i.e. cash register, final
bill, in the mail, etc.)
TIP#6
Create a “Cheat Sheet”

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✓ Add in a reviews page to your website
✓ Provide links to your online profiles with review instructions
✓ Make the URL to your review page easy to remember
TIP#7
Reviews Landing Page

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✓ Ask for reviews in dedicated email blasts or build into
your existing templates
✓ Link to your “Review Page” on your website
✓ Take mobile payments?
Build into “thank you for
your payment” email template
TIP#8
Email Marketing

27. How to Turn
a Negative ! Positive

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✓ Give previous reviewers an update
on your business
✓ Provide deals or offers on review
site pages
✓ Tell reviewers about new products/
services
Reach Out to Previous Reviewers

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✓ Try to resolve the problem!
✓ 95% of unhappy customers will
return if their issue is resolved
Respond to Recent Negative Reviews

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✓ Don’t try to change every review
✓ Once you’ve responded to a review and resolved the
issue, don’t worry about turning it positive
✓ 85% of consumers read up to 10 reviews (positive and
negative) before deciding on a business
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

31. Additional Resources

32. Title TextMore Local Marketing Resources
E-Books
DOWNLOAD
localvox.com/resources
Blog
SUBSCRIBE
localvox.com/blog

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Managing Reviews Has Never Been Easier
Email gethelp@localvox.com for a free demo
✓ Organizes all your reviews
✓ Alerts you to take action
✓ See entire conversations on
1 screen
✓ Smarter metrics
Social Inbox (new!)

34. LIMITED TIME OFFER
Sign up for LocalCast by May 31, 2015
and receive $100 off your first month of service
Contact us at (646) 545-3400
or gethelp@localvox.com

35. Questions?
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