Thursday, April 12, 2012

Yelpers Look For ROI on Purchases


 Consumers want the most bang for their buck. They are becoming more empowered and reaching out to secondary sources to find information on organizations before they conduct business with them. Popular sites like Yelp are putting all consumer feedback into one place for other consumers to investigate. Yelp can help bring new customers to a small business but on the other side, drive potential customers away.

People are leaving reviews about your company whether you own your page or not but it is better to own it and be active with your page in order to listen and interact with your consumers. It’s ridiculously easy to set up. Make sure to keep track of your reviews and respond. When someone leaves a positive review, a simple “Thank You!” or ‘Can’t wait for you to visit again!’ is a great, simple response.

Unfortunately there may be the occasional not-so-nice comments. If the complaint is legitimate, apologize and try to remedy the problem. After you solved the problem, invite them back to leave a review on what you did. If it is not fixable, a refund or an offer for a future visit always helps. If the negative feedback is not legitimate, do NOT offer them an explanation or argue, simply apologize.  The non-legitimate posts are usually transparent to your audience.  No matter how negative the review, other people like to see that you took the time to respond in a professional matter. It shows your potential customers that you value their opinions and are willing to go the extra mile to better serve them.

If you have great reviews, promote, promote, promote! Use them as testimonials on your website, blog or Facebook. It is also a good idea to ask for reviews from your clients. You could have a sign in your storefront with a Yelp testimonial and then a call for action to visit Yelp and share their personal experience. Never be too pushy, as this will come off as desperate and not genuine.

 
With Yelp being named one of the most popular apps for smart phones, it is the consumers’ deepest source of information right before they want to buy something for lunch, get a manicure, buy a new piece of furniture, etc. So it is important that you have the correct address, hours and phone numbers to ensure consumers who are looking for you can easily find you—even more of a reason to own your Yelp business page.

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