“The art of conversation lies in listening.” Malcolm Forbes
The art of listening matters not only on a one-on-one level but to the business sector as well.
Why?
Because, in the business world, options are endless with new brands making their way in, which gives the power of choice to people to move on from your brand as they wish. With the advent of technology, word of mouth occurs on a large scale, and if today your business ignores the comments, concerns, and stars your customers are taking out time to send out, your business might be forced to bear consequences that’ll be hard-hitting on your revenue.
Whether your brand is investing a fortune on coming up with new products or promoting it on social media, it’ll need a solid reputation management strategy for 2022 and you’ll know exactly how.
Pen down your business’s current digital reputation
For a large or small business to survive today, monitoring the perceptions and conversations about your brand, and proactively unleashing a strategy to sustain your reputation is what ‘reputation management’ is all about. So, the first assignment for business owners is to take a step back and analyze how your business is doing. The easiest way to begin is by observing the reviews on all platforms. Further, a well-planned move can help solve their issues and make their experience comfortable.
Other ways are calling and interviewing your most loyal customers, and churning out a way to efficiently solve their concerns.
Acknowledging all mentions (good or worse)
Today, the power of social media can be utilized for putting out sweet, bitter, or constructive reviews. Setting up a team for acknowledging these comments and having a promising and transparent response for it is way too powerful than you can imagine. One strong response for a comment of any kind can make someone aware, change their perception, or fall in love with your brand even more. If you do the math, you’re basically turning potential leads into customers with just one response.
Giving limelight to the stars that matter
A messaging platform, Podium conducted a survey on 2,376 people to understand how review stars affect their decision-making ability. 3.4 is the minimum star rating of a business, consumers would engage with and only 13% of consumers will consider settling with a 1 or 2-star rating. One way to go about this is to have your loyal customers give a testimonial or be a part of your strategy to highlight the features of what makes your brand trustworthy.
Response in the face of crisis (Case Study)
Can you imagine a chicken restaurant being out of chicken? It’s hard to even believe that a giant chain like KFC ran out of their prime ingredient, and was brought to the center of attention on social media but tackled it by addressing their beloved fans and unhappy but loyal customers in a cheeky way in the British newspapers. Their message came along so transparent and so was accepted well. It was a learning lesson for brands to showcase integrity which goes a long way, even in the face of crisis.
Reputation management is a high priority
Your customers are spreading the news about you every single day with each review (good or bad) they leave for you. A dedicated team helping to appreciate your customer’s feedback at any time can ensure that you’re climbing up the ladder in the ocean of brands. Feedback can be turned into a campaign, a push to improve, or a tap on your back for doing it right.
So, treat your customers like your business depends upon it because it does.