It’s no secret, I love Yelp, and have been an active Yelper since April of 2008. I was reading a discussion on my local Yelp thread today about about a business going in and creating 9 different profiles, and submitting the same company (a computer repair service company – my guess was his) a 5 star review on each one. I get it, you want to try and game the system, figure out how to push the boundaries … but cmon’ that’s just damn stupid!
Not only did the accounts all get removed and banned from Yelp, but the business then proceeded to get real reviews, (for doing so) from real – active Yelpers – and trust me … they are not good. In less then a day, this idiot business owner has created himself a reputation management nightmare that will be very hard to overcome. Yelp ranks well, as he obviously knew, but what he failed to understand is why it ranks so well (much trust), and how the community works. These negative nasty reviews on his business listing (the real one finally – haha) will probably rank above his website, or close to it, and guess what? It’s always going to be there!
Reputation Management
reputation, Reputation Management, yelp
Today I read a post by Matt McGee – 5 Ways Negative Reviews Are Good For Business – I just want to expand on one of them here, but hat tip to Matt for posting this. It really is worth a read!
The point I want to take a closer look at here is: They help you make better business decisions.
You don’t set up a business hoping it receives tons of negative reviews. My guess is most (legitimate) business owners that have a ton of negative reviews are truly sad about them, and didn’t set up their business planning on getting them.
Where I think businesses do fail:
Reputation Management
negaative reviews, Reputation Management, reputation monitoring
For those of you who read yesterday’s blog post, you know that I have had a major bone to pick with the Highland Utah Jiffy Lube. If you are interested in following the saga here is a short update. Today I received 2 voice mails and 2 emails from different high level Jiffy Lubers. (I have to admit, these people have both written and spoken to me as if they know a few things about customer service and I appreciate that – I told you customer service counts!)
David Mink, Reputation Management
Highland Utah Jiffy Lube, Reputation Management, Utah Jiffy Lube
Andy Beal
I want to thank Andy Beal for taking time out of his very busy schedule to answer some reputation management questions for me with this guest blog post today. I have received, (and had on my mind) many questions about reputation management, and what normal businesses can do – including the reputation monitoring software Trackur, created by Andy. I felt I needed to ask the person who IMO is the authority on reputation management. Again, I really want to thank Andy for setting aside some time for me!
Why do YOU feel companies need to make reputation management a priority?
Companies need to pay attention to what their stakeholders have to say about their brand. A stakeholder could be a customer, employee, or even a business partner–anyone that interacts with your brand. Numerous studies prove that, as customers, we trust the reviews and opinions of others “like ourselves” and are less trusting of official corporate communication. With that in mind, it is vital that companies listen to the conversations and, if appropriate, join those conversations.
Reputation Management
andy beal, brand management, Reputation Management, trackur
Ok, I am usually not one for ranting, and especially ranting and then blogging about it but this one has a lesson to be taught so that is why I am going to rant away!
So my Lexus is letting me know its time to take it in to be serviced, and we are also due for a tire rotation so my wife gets online and is looking to make the appointment and come across a coupon for a free tire rotation – SCORE – Right? Wrong! It turns out that when I called to make the appointment and try to use the coupon, it has been expired for over two weeks. So my next question, (promptly) was “why the hell is it still on your website?” and the lady just blew me off like it was no big deal. Here is the coupon code (as of tonight it was still on the site) picture for proof that they are two weeks late in updating their site:
Reputation Management
Reputation Management, superstition springs lexus, website maintenance
