The word is out; everybody is talking online

If you're the type of person who always wants to know what people are saying about you, just imagine the plight of the conscientious business owner.

These days, with people so closely tethered to the Internet, they have metaphorically hoisted a megaphone to their mouths by voicing their opinions on a plethora of online review sites that are relatively simple to track. Moreover, study after study consistently shows online surveys are enormously influential in shaping consumer opinions – and behavior. Consider:

• A survey by Dimensional Research found 90 percent of 1,046 respondents said that positive online reviews influenced their buying decisions; 86 percent said their decisions were influenced by negative online reviews.
• A BrightLocal study of nearly 5,000 consumers found nearly 92 percent of all consumers read online reviews.
• The same study found 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations and that 85 percent of consumers read as many as 10 online reviews to vet a business.

Delegate without delay and then educate yourself

On balance and assuming no punitive ill intent, positive reviews do not appear out of the blue. They are usually the result of a positive experience a customer wishes to share. Similarly, negative reviews do not appear out of the blue. They are usually the result of an unfortunate experience – but one that a savvy business owner can deftly turn to his or her advantage.

Still, it's natural that most business owners want more of the former than the latter. So how do you encourage positive reviews? And how do you capitalize on the opportunity to display class and showmanship in the presence of a negative review? Moreover, how can you possibly track online reviews if you're not even sure where to find them?

If you're a business owner who already has a full plate, cultivating and managing reviews might very well be one of those tasks that should be delegated to a trusted, tenacious member of your marketing team. Reviews are vital to your business and require a timely, if not immediate, response. They cannot afford to “wait until tomorrow”; they should be treated as a top priority, because they are.

Once you place reviews in the hands of a trusted colleague, treat them as you would any other marketing initiative: educate yourself so you're prepared, on a moment's notice, to step in, make key decisions or even become the reasonable “voice of reason” for your business. In doing so, you'll be setting an important tone – an apropos stance for an increasingly important function.

The most common business review sites

Your marketing team member may have his or her own ideas, but you should agree on the fundamental mission of an online review list: It's a work in progress. While your long-term goal is to place a profile of your business on sites that are most popular with your customers – and that will lead more customers to you – you obviously have to start somewhere. So turn to some of the most popular sites first. Then ensure everyone in your business is an active participant in honing the list. This means:

• Regularly asking customers where they “heard about you” (a smart business practice if there ever was one; it's a form of tracking)
• Actively listening to customers as they frequent your business; they can reveal a virtual gold mine of information you might not be aware of.
• Staying current with online trends – another reason this task should be delegated to someone who has the time to treat this task seriously and monitor it zealously

The following sites, listed here in alphabetical order, should serve as a sound foundation to get you started:

• Angie's List, one of the most respected online directories.
• Bing Places for Business, an affiliate of the search engine that allows listings for multiple locations in one profile.
• Citysearch, where the gold standard is a “best of Citysearch” designation.
• CitySlick, where you can also upgrade a profile to include paid advertising.
• Facebook, which has transformed the meaning of “like” with a simple touch of the button
• Foursquare, where you also can review analytics and reward customers.
• Google My Business, an affiliate of the search engine king that also allows customers to find you via its Search, Maps and Google+.
• LinkedIn, which shouldn't be dismissed as a professional networking site. Here's why: You can create a public company page for your business, which will link to people on LinkedIn who list themselves as an employee.
• Local.com, which, as its name suggests, is where many people look first.
• Manta, a fast-growing site that also offers wide-ranging, industry-specific research for the asking.
• MapQuest, which can direct customers right to your door.
• Merchant Circle, geared to small businesses.
• Superpages, a top online resource for consumers who want insights about businesses.
• Yahoo! Local Listings, where you can profile your business among 60 sites.
• Yellow Pages, which is worth a visit just to see how it has reinvented itself to include a full array of marketing tools.
• Yellowbook, whose business profiles include a website link and (if you have them) video links.
• Yelp, a resilient go-to review site that allows businesses to offer deals and promotions.

How to encourage reviews

All of these sites will lead you through the process of building an online profile – the first step in cultivating reviews. While writing a description of your business, listing the hours of operation and downloading pictures can be time-consuming, try to view the process as an opportunity. After all, creating an online profile is a form of advertising (and usually a free one).

Expect some sites to quickly become your favorites, but don't be too hasty in discounting others that might strike you as unappealing to your target customer. Until you have given the sites ample time to “produce” – meaning, once you vet them thoroughly – you're probably in for a surprise or two along the way.

After you've set up profiles on these sites, you can take some simple steps to encourage people to write a review of your business. These steps include:

• As soon as a customer compliments your business – in person, over the phone, via email, via text – simply ask him or her to share the experience. While a happy customer strongly suggests a positive review, be careful not to coach the language. You'll risk losing credibility and annoying the customer, which can backfire into a negative review. Suggest a review site you like best, but if the customer suggests an alternative, accept it graciously. Finally, don't be shy about repeating the request if a customer forgets to follow up and write a review.
• Set up several other avenues for customers to share their positive experiences and make this “gateway” simple to navigate. For example, set up several links on your website for customers to leave reviews and do the same on your company newsletter, emails, newsletters and other outreach initiatives.
• Create a deft and subtle incentive program for reviews. You never want to be viewed as trying to “buy” a good review; the backfire could be toxic. Instead, host a monthly giveaway to customers who offer to write a review, without specifying that you expect it to be a positive one.
• Surprise favorable reviewers with a discount or free product or service after they have posted a review. Ideally, they will become a goodwill ambassador for your business, spreading news of your generosity to others.

How to word a formal request for a review

While there is much to admire in these subtle approaches, there might be times when a more formal, direct technique seems appropriate – as well as in your best interest. Naturally, these customers must be chosen with great care. Two examples might include a customer who is thrilled about a new product or service you're eager to spread the word about or a customer who is an opinion leader in a large, respectable company.

In these cases, you might write a short and friendly email like this:

Dear John,

In case I haven't told you lately, I appreciate that you've been one of my most loyal customers. I value our relationship and am always interested in knowing how I can better serve your needs.

At this juncture, I could benefit from your assistance as I develop my online business presence. To this end, I am wondering if you would be willing to spend 10 minutes to write an online summation of your experience with my company on (name of site, with directions about which link to click on to make a submission).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I thank you in advance for the benefit of your time and look forward to serving you in the future.

Best regards,

Your name

Before you send the email, take some time to write a fitting subject line. As you know, subject lines affect email open rates. So instead of writing a nebulous subject line such as, “Quick question,” be equally direct and personal and say something like, “I value your opinion – and need your help.”

How to address positive reviews

Whether or not you solicit it a review, it's equally smart and courteous to acknowledge a positive one. Conventional wisdom holds – and studies consistently show – people are more inclined to formulate their thoughts into words when they're displeased, not satisfied, so a positive review should never be taken for granted.

Instill these protocols as a matter of good business practice:

• Thank the customer for a positive review. Acknowledge the time spent in writing the review.
• Now a line of communication has been opened, capitalize on the opportunity to burnish your reputation by asking what you can do even better. Underscore the point that your goal is to not only meet but exceed expectations.
• Suggest that you hope the customer shares his or her positive experience with others and consider offering an incentive to encourage him or her to do so.
• Share the positive review with your team and especially those who may have been party to the review. Your generosity of spirit will bolster morale.
• Incorporate the review in your sales and marketing efforts, most obviously on your website's “testimonial” page but also with sales people who might see an opportunity to dangle the review in front of similar potential customers.

How to address negative reviews

Like all forms of criticism, a negative review can sting, even if it has merit. And if doesn't? You're only human, so of course your first instinct might be to call the customer and vent your displeasure.

You're not wrong in assuming other people will read the negative review. But don't underestimate your ability to turn a negative review into an opportunity to present you and your business in the classiest light possible. Other people will read your response, too.

For all reasons, now is the time for your calmer instincts to kick in. Think of addressing negative reviews as a form of reputation management. With the stakes fairly high, it requires a two-step approach: putting the review into perspective (take a deep breath now) so you can respond rationally and intelligently and without sounding defensive.

Assess the source – or at least the source's tone

Naturally, it helps if you know the customer so you can assess the situation holistically. If not, take stock of whether any one (or more) of the following conditions, fair and unfair to you, might have triggered the review:

• The customer might have a legitimate bone of contention.
• The customer might have a legitimate complaint but exaggerated the circumstances or implications.
• The customer's review is fabricated or otherwise groundless, so he or she simply may be a malcontent (or worse).
• The customer is clearly not the right fit for your business, as evidenced by the expressed needs and expectations that are incompatible with your own.

Adopt a positive mindset

No matter what you conclude, resign yourself to the reality of responding to all types of negative reviews and from all types of customers. Remember people are most likely to communicate when they're unhappy, so leave open the possibility that the negative review isn't the problem; a negative review is the consequence of a problem. In fact, a widely quoted study by Lee Resources International showed that for every customer who complains, 26 others remain silent.

Knowing this, a negative review presents a twin opportunity: for you to respond to the review with style, which others will notice and then fix the problem, too. If you're fortunate, you'll benefit from what marketing professors Michael McCollough and Sundar Bharadwaj call the “service recovery paradox,” or the ability to create a level of customer satisfaction even greater than what would have been possible without a “service failure.”

To ensure you do indeed recover from a negative review, take time to cool off, if necessary and don't write a word until you feel you can exude regret, empathy, compassion and a sincere commitment to making the situation right. Then follow the lead of those world famous people pleasers at the Disney Institute, which maintains “customers will likely care as much or more about how they are treated as they do about the outcome itself. This is why you must see the person, not just the issue.”

Disney employees champion service failures by practicing the HEARD technique:

• Hear: Listen carefully as the customer tells his or her complete, uninterrupted story.
• Empathize: Convey understanding and validate a customer's feelings.
• Apologize: Even if you disagree with the circumstances, you can still apologize for the way the customer feels. “Sometimes, this is all the customer is looking for,” Disney says.
• Resolve: Repair the situation without being afraid to ask, “What can I do to make this right with you?”
• Diagnose: Without pointing fingers at anyone on your team, focus on fixing the process so the problem does not occur again. Then follow up with the customer and let him or her know the review was valued and led to real change.

How to monitor reviews and ratings

Now you've established protocols for cultivating and managing online reviews, you know your efforts will go to waste unless you monitor them, too. At this point, you might worry you've created another full-time job for yourself – or a trusted marketing team member. But worry not. Although it's always a good idea to peruse your vetted, online review sites, several online tools can help you stay on top of what people are saying about your business. They include:

• Google Alerts, which, as its name implies, allows you to create an alert that will inform you whenever your business name is mentioned online. You also can adjust how often you wish to receive the alerts and to whom they are sent.
• Hootsuite, which provides analytics and reporting about Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. It also works in real time.
• Independent tracking services, which often offer a dashboard that can display all of your review sites as a group. “Similar yet different” might be a good way to summarize these services, like the one offered by Review Trackers. Its software is used by “tens of thousands of businesses worldwide,” but it is “specially designed for businesses with dozens or thousands of locations.” In other words, if you're looking for a long-term tracking solution, it pays to spend time choosing the service that represents the best fit for you.

Yes, the word is out, alright. Everybody is talking online. But instead of causing your ears to ring with fear, online reviews can play like music to your ears now that you know how to cultivate and manage them.