When it comes to responding to an online review, how timely are you? Do you even know where to look? In this episode of the Million Dollar Playbook, Sunny (filling in for Sharran) invites Jackie Reid and Taylor Byers from Beyond Fifteen onto the podcast to talk about handling online reviews (be they positive or negative) and tackling online leads. Most importantly, they’ll share their go-to website for checking your consumer reviews.
3 Key Points
- Acknowledge and respond to both negative and positive reviews, by thanking the reviewer for taking the time to leave the review.
- When responding to a review, timeliness is important—if you’re responding more than a month later, you’re too late.
- Always make sure your response is posted publicly where anyone can see how professional you reply to both good and bad reviews.
Show Notes
- 01:26 – Jackie and Taylor recommend Yelp as a review site
- 02:18 – It’s more common for people to leave reviews when they encounter a bad experience
- 02:27 – If people have a good experience with you, reach out and ask them for a review
- 03:02 – Remember, good reviews are critical for your credibility
- 03:59 – You can also ask for a testimonial
- 04:16 – Include a link to your reviews in your email signature, and any other digital documentation you have
- 04:59 – Add reviews directly to your website
- 05:14 – You can copy Zillow reviews if you put it in quotations and reference it
- 05:50 – Don’t be afraid to comment on your reviews and let people know you have read and appreciate the feedback
- 06:16 – Be unique and different in each comment because you want to come across as genuine
- 06:47 – Acknowledge what the reviewer says, thank them for the feedback, and ask—if positive—ask for a referral
- 09:22 – Addressing Negative Reviews…
- 09:36 – Assess whether or not what the person is saying is true
- 09:47 – When a negative review is untrue, do not hesitate to reply and correct it
- 10:17 – People are fallible and post inaccurate reviews all the time
- 10:27 – Before submitting a reply to a negative review, type it out in a Word document so you can review it for accuracy and relevance
- 10:48 – Address everything the negative review said without being defensive
- 11:04 – And if there is ANY truth to a negative review, address it in a respectful way, and thank the person for giving a feedback
- 11:55 – Do it on a timely manner—24 to 48 hours is a good window
- 13:00 – Do not respond to reviews that are more than a month old—your response will look like an afterthought
- 13:13 – Focus on getting positive reviews and address negative reviews as they come up
- 14:31 – Do not get defensive
- 16:21 – A lot of times, clients are willing to update their review if you reach out
- 16:48 – Do not be afraid to ask someone to update their review
- 17:37 – When would it be a good time to ask Yelp to remove a review?
- 17:45 – It’s very uncommon (hard) for Yelp to remove a review
- 18:41 – Yelp likes to keep the people giving reviews as legitimate as possible
- 22:39 – An example of a negative review
- 22:45 – The agent was name called and told that she was not helpful
- 22:55 – The reviewer also wrote “AVOID THIS AGENT”
- 23:28 – Sharran’s response included a sincere apology and asked for an opportunity to discuss the matter with the reviewer and also thanked her for giving a review
- 24:11 – Do not discuss the specific agent in the comments
- 27:36 – Sharran’s contact details were posted in the comment and the public can see the offer he made to the reviewer
- 28:12 – This is a good example of how to handle a negative review
- 22:45 – The agent was name called and told that she was not helpful
- 29:22 – Noemi focuses on Zillow reviews and got two reviewers giving her four stars even though what they said were positive reviews
- 29:55 – She asked someone who gave a review why he only gave her four stars
- 30:01 – The client says he is the type of person who does not give five stars
- 31:04 – It comes down to the relationship you have with the reviewer and if you can explain to them how important the five-star rating is for you
- 33:22 – Prospective clients look at the reviews more rather than the stars
Join my VIP List and get the best content of the week directly to your inbox.
[emma_form]
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives