Managing your reputation online is more important than ever before. The Internet can be unforgiving and rush to judgement even before all the facts are in. That’s why you need a proactive plan in place to make sure that you are on top of what clients and others are saying about your services and the products that you offer. A proactive online management effort should include the following:
Monitor review and social sites
- Review sites: While Yelp is one of the most well-known sites, there are many others where your clients may be sharing their thoughts about your services. Others include Better Business Bureau, Yellow Pages and Manta.
- Google: You can key in the name of your spa or massage business and see what is being said about you online. Make it more convenient by setting Google Alerts to get updates from blogs, websites and news – once a day, weekly or as they occur– that include mentions of your business.
- Facebook: In addition to monitoring comments to your Facebook posts, check what others are saying on competitive sites. You may find that your spa or massage practice comes up in a comment. Also search for products that you offer in your spa or massage practice to what kind of reception they are getting in the marketplace.
- Twitter: Use Twitter Search to find clients and others are saying and sharing about your spa or massage business. You also can set advanced parameters to search by dates, links and even a particular person.
Respond
By responding, you let your clients and prospects know what they say about you matters. You’ll want to respond quickly, too, especially if the comment is negative. A quick response can make a significant difference in turning around a negative opinion. Just avoid getting defensive over negative reviews. Tact is the best way to handle bad reviews. Respond by pointing out where the information may be wrong. If the negative review is correct, thank the reviewer for raising the issue and indicate what changes you plan to make. At the same time, be appreciative of positive reviews and comments and show it. Thank the individuals for their kind remarks.
Participate in Online Conversation
Don’t wait for reviews, be part of the conversation on social media. Keep your clients and prospects informed about your spa or massage practice, special treatments, new retail offerings, trends in the industry and more. Not only will you have to shape the conversation, your involvement shows that you are accessible and want to hear what your customers have to say.
Follow-through
Be sure to make any changes that you’ve committed to. If someone complained about a service treatment and you offered to provide another treatment at a discounted rate, make sure to follow through or have someone else in your spa or massage practice do so. If a customer did not get the promised results from a retail product and you offered to make an exchange, make sure that you do.
Monitor
After you make any necessary changes, make sure to keep monitoring your sites and see if the comments change and if overall reviews change in the direction you want.
Your reputation has always been important but the speed in which it can change in today’s online world makes managing it even more critical.