P.O. Box 311 Mercersburg, PA 17236

P.O. Box 311 Mercersburg, PA 17236

The Power of Reviews: How to Leverage Them to Benefit Your Business

HomeMarketingStrategiesThe Power of Reviews: How to Leverage Them to Benefit Your Business
16AugThe Power of Reviews: How to Leverage Them to Benefit Your Business

Whenever I meet with clients we always talk about reviews.  In this day and age, reviews can make or break your business.  It’s not just bad reviews that can damage your business’ reputation, it’s a lack of reviews, a lack of recent reviews, or even how you choose to respond (or not to respond) to reviews.

A question I always ask my clients is this: If you’re looking for an Italian restaurant within a 10-mile radius of your location, what do you do?  The answers rarely differ.  They go to their preferred search engine and query for results.  Most search engines will show results in two formats, a list next to a map or links to the business’ website.  Many choose to use the results next to the map to see where specifically the Italian restaurant is located.  Scrolling through the results shows you a few things: name, cuisine, location and reviews (if they have any).  Let’s say there are three Italian restaurants near you.  How would you choose which restaurant to eat at?  You’d probably turn to the reviews. 

As a business owner, you can’t please everyone, every time.  At some point, you’ll end up with at least one less than stellar review.  And that’s okay.  How you respond will determine how customers will choose to interpret the review and help determine whether they plan to frequent your business.

Bad Reviews

Okay, let’s just jump right into the mix here.  As I mentioned above, you can’t please everyone.  We also need to take into account who is most likely to leave a review — is it someone who received standard service?  Or will it be the person who received above or below standard service?  That’s right.  An individual is more likely to leave a review if they’ve had a phenomenal experience or what they believe was a terrible experience.

Bad reviews can break a business, especially a small business.  However, just because someone left you a bad review doesn’t mean you just let them have open season bashing your business.  You have a powerful weapon in your arsenal… a response.  When potential customers are perusing your reviews, they want to see that you’re responsive and that you’re taking action.  Responding to negative reviews can be crucial, especially the right response.

Let’s talk about an appropriate response.  You should never  respond in anger. Present the facts without breaching any confidentiality issues.  Remain objective, avoid emotional responses and provide a solution – even if it’s just saying something like “I’m sorry you feel that X did not meet your standards. We’d like the opportunity to make this right if you would give us a call at (insert phone number).”  That way, if potential customers look at your reviews they will see that you are not only responsive, but looking to provide excellent customer service and address the concerns of those that were left wanting.

Lack of Reviews

Chances are if you’re just starting out you may not have many reviews, if at all.  It’s not the end of the world, but it could definitely mean the difference between a client choosing your competitor’s business over yours.  There is no harm in asking your clients to leave you a review.  And why not make it convenient for them?  Provide links that take them directly to your company’s page on Google My Business, Yelp, or any other relevant review based platform.  There’s even software out there, such as Birdeye, that makes asking for reviews an automated process.  It can send your clients an email or text message assisting in the review process and even send reminders and surveys if they weren’t very happy.  The point is, don’t be scared to ask for reviews. 

Recent Reviews

This is another one that isn’t a total make or break for your business.  However, if you were getting some great five star reviews in 2016 and it’s 2019 now, this may bring people to wonder what happened between then and now. 

Online Reputation Management

We get it. You’re busy trying to run your business and may not have time to stay up to date on what so-and-so said in their review.  This is where Pendragon Consulting can help.  We offer an online reputation management solution to help combat any negative reviews.  Our advanced technology allows us to pull all of your review sources (i.e. Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.) onto our client dashboard so you can easily see all of your reviews in one go.  From the client dashboard, you’re also able to respond to those reviews without having to log in to each and every website someone may have left a review on.  Give us a call today at 443-343-2313 or send us a message via our website and let’s have a conversation.

How to leave a Google review without a gmail account

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Heather T.

Facebook and Instagram took down my boosted posts. Those posts were the only way I was getting any income. I started to freak out. I met with Jess, and she showed me a whole new world of Facebook advertising. She helped me get my posts back up and within 48 hours my entire weekend was booked. I’m forever grateful for her and her knowledge. I’ve even bought her books to gift to my entrepreneur friends. I highly recommend Pendragon for your marketing needs!

Heather T.

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I have hired Pendragon Consulting, LLC to help me revamp my business because of COVID-19. The Pendragon Team sat down with me and notified me that my website was not displaying on Google for ranking. They also explained the difference between advertising with Google and Facebook. My profit margin has increased during these uncertain times. I would highly recommend Pendragon Consulting, LLC for your business.

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I’ve worked with Pendragon for a year now, and they are timely, responsive, and great in our marketing needs, adding visibility and legitimacy to the work we are doing in our marketplace. I’ve referred them to three partners already and plan on referring them to more soon! A great team to get you started in the digital marketing world.

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Kurt H.

Jessica and her team at Pendragon have been incredible to work with. The creativity they have brought to my social media marketing has made a huge impact on my business. I have felt completely comfortable turning this over to them which as allowed me to focus on other areas of the business and drive growth.

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Excellent customer service and professional results! Highly recommend this business.

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Barbara N.

Jessica has offered us smart suggestions and implemented a very creative product. Good partner to have!

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Absolutely professional, friendly, dedicated, creative, resourceful and dedicated to their clients. Jess went above and beyond to make sure I got exactly what would work for my services website. I look forward to continued work with her and have referred a few people to Pendragon. No complaints and all satisfaction.

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Tina W.

We have been working with Jessica for the past 9 months and she has taken the guessing game out of how to manage and grow our social presence. She was very quick to understand our products and services and now she manages and writes all of our social media content. Jessica is also amazing to work with, extremely responsive, willing to share best practices and her insights.

Tina W.

Pendragon Consulting, LLC is a veteran owned digital marketing agency based out of Pennsylvania, proudly serving clients across the nation.

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PA 17236

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