This is the third installment of the Small Business Growth Strategies series presented by Acuity Scheduling, an online scheduling platform that improves thousands of small businesses. It saves them time by allowing customers to sign up for appointments online without creating an account.
2. INTRO
Online reviews have never been such an important
part of running a successful business, but what are
the best ways to get customers talking about you
online?
In the following slides, we’ll go over some strategies
and best practices for increasing positive online
reviews. If you follow these guidelines, you’ll be sure to
see an increase in reviews.
3. INTRO
Online reviews have never been such an important
part of running a successful business, but what are
the best ways to get customers talking about you
online?
In the following slides, we’ll go over some strategies
and best practices for increasing positive online
reviews. If you follow these guidelines, you’ll be sure to
see an increase in reviews.
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5. You can and should encourage customers to review
your business online!
Just make sure you follow the rules (details on slide 12).
Some business owners feel uncomfortable asking for
reviews. Don’t! Most customers understand the
importance of online reviews these days and will be happy
to help.
6. Resource
Get Five Stars
Get Five Stars is an online tool that
makes reaching out to customers for
reviews simple and allows you to share
the best reviews on your website. They
have a great video on the homepage
that explains exactly how it works.
Even if you decide not to use it, it’ll
give you a better idea of how to ask for
and measure reviews.
7. Creating business profiles on review websites will
allow you to keep a close eye on customer feedback.
You should ask customers who give you positive reviews
to share their experiences on these websites:
Yelp
Yahoo Local
Citysearch
8. Not all online reviews come from websites liked Yelp.
In fact, if your customers aren’t regular Yelp users, their
reviews may get pushed to the bottom.
It’s just as important to maintain active and engaging
social media pages so that customers can interact and
easily recommend your business to friends and family.
11. You can’t pay customers to give you positive online
reviews. This includes offering any kind of incentives
for saying nice things about you.
Another way businesses get in trouble is having employees
create fake profiles to review the business disguised as
customers.
12. Consequences
In New York this year, 19 companies posting fake
reviews of their businesses and negative reviews
of competitors were busted by the government.
You can read more about it in these articles from
The Guardian and The New York Times.
Collectively, the companies paid $350,000 in
fines.
13. It’s important to have a plan in place to deal with
angry or disappointed customers.
You must be reachable, have the appropriate contact
(someone manager level or higher) respond to the
customer quickly and take the conversation offline.
14. “Thanks for taking
“Thanks for taking
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the time to view our
presentation. For
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Acuity Scheduling
Small Business Growth Strategies
@AcuitySchedulin
15. About Acuity Scheduling
Acuity Scheduling is an online scheduling platform that saves thousands of
small businesses time by allowing their customers to book appointments
online, on their own time, at any time, from anywhere in the world. For more
information about services and pricing, visit AcuityScheduling.com.
