In this day and age, we’re all aware that a positive review is a hot commodity. As a consumer, we live in a time when combing through reviews is a common practice, especially when making important purchasing decisions. What tends to be thought of as a “black spot” are negative reviews. However, positive and negative reviews build consumer confidence, increase knowledge and validate the offered services.
Isn’t that crazy!?
That means a customer’s one-star-review about after-hour access issues is just as valuable as the five-star review, which details the excellent customer service and wide drive-aisles.
Both reviews bring value by verifying the product offered, storage services. In the one-star review example, a customer tried to access their unit at 1 am and was frustrated, leaving a strongly worded review about their inconvenience. In the five-star review example, another customer found the wide drive aisles a huge convenience! Same property, two different perspectives, each providing valuable information about what can be expected AND providing the owner with an opportunity to reply as well as resolve.
While we’re on this topic, let’s talk about replying to reviews. What strategy are you using? Are you waiting until the following business day to reply to that new review or are you immediately posting a response? Want to know the best practice? Don’t wait! How quickly you respond to a new review exhibits your commitment to the reviewer as a patron of your business. They’ve taken the time out of their day to leave a review, take the time to provide the same courtesy when replying.
Let’s ‘park’ the conversation here for a little longer. What technique are you using when it comes to posting your responses? Are you spending a little extra time making sure every review gets a unique reply? Handcrafting each response on a case-by-case basis ensuring that no two are the same? Or have you opted to create response templates? A handful of unique replies, a few specifically for the highly coveted positive review and another bunch just for the not-so-positive? One is not better than the other. Choose the one that works best for your processes. You may have personally read a review that seemed robotic or worse – generic. Regardless of if you’re creating these replies or selecting one from a list, be sure that it is personable and sincere.
Here are three tips that should be used when replying to any review:
- Thank the reviewer for taking the time to leave you a review. Using their first name is encouraged.
- Keep your response simple, short and sweet. Try not to get into the details and overshare online.
- Remind them of ways they, or you, can take action.
Here are some response examples using all three tips:
- Positive review: “Ed, thanks for taking the time to leave us this amazing review! Don’t forget to tell your friends and family about our current promotion! This month only, the first month is free on all units.”
- Negative review: “Ed, we appreciate you for sharing this valuable information. We are constantly learning ways to provide nothing but the best service. When you have a moment, please give me a call. You can reach me at 800- 266-8959. I look forward to speaking with you.”
As an owner, you might spend a good deal of time monitoring your facility’s reviews. Looking at a list of different sites to see what is being said about your company, the team members and the service that they are providing. To make the most of the new reviews, consider the below questions:
- How are you being notified about a review?
- Are your associates at the storage facilities seeing them as well?
Both are very valid questions. Let’s look at Google My Business (GMB), for instance. If you’re managing the GMB listing, you’re sent an email any time a new review is posted to your listing. Being notified of new reviews/new posts is a standard function for most sites. Facebook comes to mind immediately; Yelp, another platform that, like Google and Facebook, sends you (if you are the admin) an email alert when a review is done.
If you manage more than one listing, take a second to apply a rule in your email that pushes all review emails to one specific folder. You’ll get back those few moments that you would’ve spent weeding through your inbox. Next, create another rule that sends review emails to the property that received the review. Positive reviews sent immediately to the team at the facility provide a moment to celebrate – instant gratification! Negative reviews providing an opportunity to reply and if needed, resolve.
By: Pohailani Mahiai-London, Marketing Success Manager, Absolute Storage Management
