The type of reputation you have can either destroy your business or make it great. It’s as simple as that—and statistics from leading analysts support this rather logical explanation, which follows to show that if you are seen as a bad company, you will not receive business; conversely, if you are seen as a good company, you will receive business.
So how do you improve your reputation? How do you allow the public (your potential customers and existing customers) to know that your business is good?
There are many angles a business can use in order to improve its reputation. Many use advertising and great marketing techniques to showcase their great services and customer-centric attitudes; many use expert writers to ensure content is always excellent, which generally tells the customer that their business is professional. — However, many businesses shy away from the importance of ‘reviews’. There’s a good reason why businesses run away from dealing with reviews: they have no control over them.
The importance of online reviews
iPayTotal, being truly a client-centric payment solutions company, believes that this fear of reviews and the seeming inability to ‘control’ its outcome is indeed the area in which businesses ought to pay greater attention.
Davnia Mungroo, a seasoned relationship manager and recently appointed Chief Experience Officer at iPayTotal, shares some of her techniques in managing online reviews. Mungroo explains that, “Although we cannot control what people or clients choose to write about their experiences, the one thing we can control is how we manage such reviews.”
According to Mungroo, each review is carefully analysed and addressed case by case, in which she and her team think deeply on the review and try to find the best solution through such investigation.
“I always believe that with negative reviews, a business should never reply with negativity: it’s a general rule of thumb for me that only positive reinforcement can outweigh negative reviews.”
Mungroo goes on to explain that on one of the platforms, Trustpilot, she uses any reviews as a positive way to improve any areas of the business immediately and shares such points with the relevant departments. Defamatory reviews are not supported unless overwhelming evidence is provided. Moreover, all reviews are monitored carefully and diligently to provide the best service to clients.
It is clear that iPayTotal uses reviews in the best way they can to improve their business and customer support. Businesses across the globe can benefit from using online reviews in a positive and impactful way rather than as a bane to their reputation.
Facts to consider
Surprising research has shown that businesses ought to pay more attention to online reviews. Here are a few facts that may jump-start your company to consider reviews as an important facet to your business growth, just as iPayTotal does:
- 91% of online users trust reviews as though they were personal recommendations.
- 93% of online users use reviews before deciding on making a purchase.
- 97% of online users use social media as a method before making purchases.
What can you do to improve your reputation?
iPayTotal has taken heed to the shift in the way people use reviews to help make decisions. Although iPayTotal has had its fair share of negative reviews, as many companies around the world will inevitably experience, the company has taken it in its stride to use anything written as a way to improve its reputation and rapport with its clients and the wider online audience.
“Some reviews are simply fake. It’s a sad reality we live in, in which there are fake reviews. There will always be people who misuse platforms for their own agendas. Still, we feel that it is important to show a positive and graceful means of supporting online reviews to improve our business and to help others see the fruit of our business and not unfounded slander,” remarks Mungroo.
Here are some tips & advice to improve your reputation online, thanks to iPayTotal’s experience:
There’s a thing called “social proof”. This is something that is vital for all businesses to consider understanding and managing correctly.
According to well-known research, customers don’t merely give a star rating and move on; indeed, they tend to write their buying experience and, through this, there is a thread of social proof through which others can read, and others, as seen in the statistics above, generally trust such social proof more than anything else.
Since customers are willing to spend 31% more on companies with a positive review or positive social proof, businesses must invest in offering a social platform in which they can engage and help buyers make the right decisions.
“We ought to be active online, aware of what’s going on and involved in the sales funnel from the beginning,” Mungroo explains.
Since reviews, according to this statistic, can be responsible for an 18% uplift in sales, it’s important to focus on reviews in a responsible and active way.
- Be proactive in requesting feedback
Always ask your customers to leave a review on your website. Adding positive feedback to your website will help other customers see the benefit of your business and services/products. When a customer writes a review, potential customers will trust it and use it in their buying decisions.
- Never take a review personally
Often the review comes across as a personal attack. However, in business, it is important to keep a level head and to think of the greater audience. Never take it personally and always manage it professionally, no matter how ‘indecent’ the review is.
- Don’t spend all your effort in trying to remove the review
A massive mistake businesses make is trying their utmost to remove the review instead of managing it appropriately. Take the time to investigate the review and try your utmost to resolve it there and then. You may be surprised when you see your effort pays off in turning an unsatisfied customer into a converted one.
“This,” Mungroo adds, “is the best ‘win’ a company can make because such customers become true advocates of your brand.”
Final tip | Offer 24/7 Support
iPayTotal offers 24/7 support. This is not just a great way to offer customer support for general enquires and assistance but is significantly reduces the chances of customers writing false or negative reviews online. By having a dedicated, responsive team online, 24/7, customers can feel comfortable to complain, discuss, ask and find a resolution in real-time.
iPayTotal never discards reviews. They take them into account as a message of feedback from users of their services. By using reviews in a different light and viewing the importance of them in a more positive way can indeed improve your business’s social standing and reputation, which will indubitably improve revenue.
iPayTotal has invested greatly in using reviews as a positive means in building a better business, and one that is an active participant in the world, especially in the online payments industry in which iPayTotal operates.
If your merchant account needs more advice on reputation management, please feel free to contact iPayTotal on +44 800 776 5988 or email info@ipaytotal.com.
