Online reviews are a great innovation. They help us to determine which book to read, if this hotel or that hotel is the cleanest, whether a piece of clothing is true to size before ordering and whether or not we would want to work at a particular company. This open exchange of information helps to inform our decisions.
We, as consumers, have all come to rely on this information regularly or occasionally. 91 percent of us to be exact according to BrightLocal! That’s why, as a business, you need to pay attention to and monitor your reviews.
Feedback Drives our Beliefs and Actions
This feedback provides relevant information to help improve our businesses, increase our sales and even hire the best employees. If you aren’t paying attention to what your customers are saying about you on review sites, you can lose out on opportunities to create a better company. Glassdoor reported the majority of candidates read six reviews before forming opinions about a company and 70 percent of people look to reviews before making career decisions.
In this day and age, our customers and others in the public have strong opinions they aren’t afraid to share.
As Chris Anderson, an American Journalist, put it so well, “Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what Google says it is.”
As a business, do you want to blindly let those reviews inform others? No! Candidates take notice of these reviews and according to Career Arc, 90 percent of job seekers can be influenced by reviews. Evelyn Van Til of Columbus, Ohio told us, “I’ve definitely skipped applying based on online reviews or word of mouth.”
Can you think of a time where word of mouth or a poor review has made you question the reputation of a particular business? The answer is most likely, yes.
Set the Example
We have been in the recruiting, digital marketing and emerging technology space for 15+ years and we see candidates not applying to jobs or even stopping interview processes because of poor online reviews or word of mouth. Scott Meier, shared a great piece of advice he received from a former CEO.
He said you have to change the way you talk to your employees first and they will change the way they talk to their customers.
Scott saw this demonstrated first hand. By intentionally focusing on how they talked with their employees, they saw drastic changes in how employees were working with customers and clients. Now, there was continuous communication between the company and clients. They were sharing feedback and they were listening and responding. They were building trust.
According to the Glassdoor U.S. Site Survey in 2016, 62% of job seekers say their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review.
Today is your day. Take charge. As Mahatma Ghandi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” or in this case, your business. Make those changes now. Start monitoring your reviews. Respond clearly and politely while stating the facts. Accept responsibility when an error has been made and be open to criticism. Take charge of your business and make the necessary changes. Isn’t this how we all learn and grow? And if we all truly want to learn and grow, our company will as well, while attracting the best talent around.