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Mr. Marketing: Building your reputation one customer at a time

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My father recently told me of a terrible restaurant. Admittedly he’s never eaten there, but he attended an event they catered where service was bad.

“I’d never set foot in the place,” he stated emphatically.

Was the problem management, venue, food, or employee? He couldn’t say, but still spoke ill of them.

It reminded me how important reputation is.

We all spend years building our business, investing significant time, sweat, and money. One marginal experience quickly ruins it.

And with social media so prevalent, that questionable experience influences hundreds, even thousands.

Designer Ken Peterson notes, “Your reputation inevitably precedes you. If it inspires respect, a lot of the (sales) work is done for you before you even arrive on the scene.”

A good reputation means business referrals. I found my chiropractor from a friend, then sent others to him. Same with my salon, dentist, and exterminator.

Which suggests developing a quality reputation online could make a huge difference for your business. Here’s how:

• Cast a wide net: Yelp reviews are great, but don’t forget industry-specific review sites. Get a presence there and fill out your listings fully and accurately to get a step ahead of competitors.

• Don’t be phony: Many firms use fake customer reviews. Customers can usually spot if you’re gaming the system, then think ill of you. Ask legitimate customers to speak on your behalf in their own words.

• Get more reviews: Having only five-star reviews is suspicious. However, lots of decent reviews will typically trump a few phenomenal comments. Customers want someone providing consistently good service. Also remember that recent reviews are important to search engines, so regularly ask folks to raise their voice for you.

• Use social media: Request happy customers share news about you on Facebook. It’s more impactful and less expensive than advertising.

Bottom line: A good online reputation offsets the occasional negative review and positions you to charge higher prices. Calmly countering negative comments with reasons why you’re still a good place to shop (if they won’t remove their comment) also works in your favor.

Finally, you may need to pay to keep positive reviews showing. Read and understand all contracts before signing up.

Like with all marketing, good planning and implementation should help grow your bottom line.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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