This book will provide you with an action plan to deal with taking a proactive role when it comes to reviews, from joining the online conversation to knowing just when to respond to reviews.
Bill Tancer
A comprehensive action plan for dealing with user generated review communities is a lofty promise, but Tancer is successful, offering the framework for a multi-step plan that starts with set up and ends with a detailed four-step-plan for dealing with negative reviews. Highlights from the book include:
Your own business – define your vision statement so that you know what you are trying to attain and have a means of measuring success and failure
Your competition – analyze both a successful competitor and a failing competitor with regards to your own vision statement in order to find ways to improve your own business
Communitarian – an individual who is participating in the review process in order to connect with other users to forge friendships and relationships
Benevolent – these reviewers typically want to support local businesses by providing positive reviews
Status Seeker – user generated review sites often have recognition programs for high volume participants, such as Yelp’s Elite Squad, with invitations to special events, or Amazon’s top reviewers who are invited to participate in their Vine program, which provides its reviewers with products for review free of charge
One-Star Assassin – these users have no interest in community building or business promotion, but use these sites as a place to air their grievances
Thank You – always start with a sincere thank you for having taken the time to share their feelings
Tailor Your Response – cookie cutter responses won’t build genuine relationships, so make sure that you respond to each review individually
Explain The Problem – this is where you validate the reviewer’s concern and share with your community that you are using the feedback to improve your service
Reiterate Your Vision – let the user, and anyone else reading your response, know what you are striving for and that which they can expect on their next visit to your brick and mortar store or, in the case of service professionals, on their next experience with your staff.
Offer to Connect Directly – always offer the option to connect via email or phone, so that the conversation remains open and customers know that you are open to ongoing communication
With 80% of people consulting reviews before purchasing, it is crucial for businesses to harness the power of user generated review sites. Tancer enables small business owners to cope with online communities and, after reading Everyone’s a Critic, I feel confident in my ability to handle negative reviews and to manage my user generated review communities.