I just got off the phone with a moving company that a friend of mine hired. They are absolutely awful. I am actually going to use them for this case in point. My friend moved across the country from IN to AZ. They were having issues getting the moving company on the phone or getting anyone to call them back so I decided to step in and help. I am pretty good about find things and people online ;)
I actually did a little research on the company once she told me who they were and the phone number. It’s a company called Global Transportation if you are curious. They have absolutely horrid reviews. One after another. I’m sure had my friend checked them out first she wouldn’t have hired them but they were in a bit of a hurry. Moving on to the rest of the story, I called the company and actually spoke to a human. She wasn’t able to help me but gave me another number where I finally got the info I needed to pass along to my friend.
In the midst of all of this I brought to their attention the atrocious reviews they have online. All she could say is “we help thousands of customers”. Yeah yeah I know not all the happy people post a review. That is not the point. The point is, how many more customers could you help and how much business are you losing due to bad word of mouth and 0 repeat business from the people who are unhappy (and that is putting it mildly from their particular reviews).
What they should be doing is responding to the negative reviews online just to show they care about their customers. Let’s face it if you or I read a review that says “took 1.5 months to get my stuff…”, we are not likely to hire that company. But had the company responded with an explanation that would have been better. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances.
The takeaway here is you cannot ignore your reviews. You may think you are ok with getting enough business but I invite you to think about the following:
- Are you losing business to your competitors because of your bad reviews?
- Do you think about the fact that the reviews stay online forever? There may be a time when business gets slow and those reviews prevent additional new business from coming in.
- As the younger generation gets older, they do everything digitally. They are where you future lies. You’ve got to plan for that.
- Lastly, if you ever want to sell your business, what are potential buyers going to think about your online reputation.
It doesn’t take much time to set up a Google alert with your business name. At the very least, you can check Google and Yelp weekly for any negative reviews and respond to them. Here’s a tool that allows you to monitor your social media mentions as well.
If you want to keep your business in business for years to come, don’t mistakenly think your reviews don’t matter. Here is a great article on how to respond to negative reviews.
Do your best to live up to, or exceed, the expectations of your customers. If you need help navigating the digital world and how to get great reviews, schedule a call with us today.
