Adapted from Tricia's Customer Service Success Blog. Your customers look online for reviews whenever they make a purchasing decision. What steps should your company take to create a positive image online while addressing any negative comments or reviews? Learn how to manage your company's image through proactive responses and positive content. Read more of Tricia's blogs at www.parature.com/blog.

1. 5 Tips to Maintaining
Originally Posted on
December 28, 2011
a Positive Business
by Tricia Morris Image Online
(Even if You Receive a
Negative Comment)

2. For businesses, having a strong web
presence is vital. People now use
smartphones, search engines and social
media daily to find information for
companies they are interested in doing
business with or making purchases from.

3. It’s not just your own website that
When making
is generating online information
purchase decisions,
about your company or internet users trust
organization. Yelp, Google, recommendations
Merchant Circle, Foursquare, from people they
Living Social and other know and opinions
posted by unknown
aggregating websites are consumers online
providing business listings more than ads on TV,
complete with the ability to submit radio, in magazines
customer reviews. Facebook also and in other traditional
media.
offers an easy way for customers - Nielsen Online
to find and comment about your
business online.

4. 90 percent of consumers trust
peer reviews, while 70
90% of percent trust online reviews.
consumers trust People are paying attention,
peer reviews, and even seeking out
70% trust online customer comments to make
reviews. their own purchasing
- American decisions. So, what can you
Marketing do to keep your business’s
Association reputation positive, even if
Survey someone posts a negative
comment?

5. NUMBER ONE
ACTIVELY MONITOR WHAT’S NEING SAID AOUT
YOU BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATION ONLINE
Monitor your social media venues daily and
Google your business’s name frequently, or
set up a Google Alert to inform you if and
when your business name is mentioned
online. Take any customer comments on your
site or another site seriously. Be sure to thank
individuals for their positive comments.

6. NUMBER TWO
IF YOU REVEIVE A NEGATIVE COMMENT,
WHETER IT’S ON YOUR OWN SITE, ANOTHER
SITE, OR A SOCIAL MEDIA VENUE SUCH AS
TWITTER OR FACEBOOK, DON’T IGNORE IT OR
DELETE IT- ADDRESS IT
Especially on sites other than your own, it may not be
possible to delete a negative comment, so any negative
reviews become part of your company’s virtual record
and will most likely appear in the search engines when
someone enters your company’s name.

7. If it is an individual you can reply to that has
posted a negative comment or customer
complaint, quickly and politely respond to their
comment online and offer assistance. When
the issue has been resolved, post a final
comment thanking them again for bringing
their concern to light; note that it was your
company’s pleasure to serve them, and
ensure that they can contact your company or
organization at any time for further assistance.

8. If it is an individual you are unable to reply to, or
someone who has posted anonymously, post a polite
follow-up offering assistance. “Thank you for taking the
time to offer a comment on our company’s services. Our
goal is to provide complete customer satisfaction, so we
would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you
personally regarding the experience you described
above. Please contact us at _________.” makes your
company appear attentive to customers and committed
to customer service. If users do read the negative
comment online regarding your business, they will also
see your prompt and polite effort to resolve any issues.

9. NUMBER THREE
PROVIDE YOUR OWN CONTENT
It’s within your power to make sure your
company holds its own in the search engines
with frequently updated blogs and website
content and at least once-a-week social media
posts. The more quality, positive content your
company generates about its offerings, the
more likely it is that this content will appear
near the top of the search engines rather than
information generated by another website.

10. NUMBER FOUR
MAKE SURE CUSTOMERS CAN EASILY CONTACT
YOUR COMPANY DIRECTLY
Make sure your organization offers several
customer support channels. One main
reason that individuals post negative
feedback on Facebook, Twitter or on a site
other than your own is because they found
it difficult to make contact with you via your
website, phone or email.

11. Offering multi-channel customer service
ensures that if a customer does have a
question, concern or complaint, they can
easily make contact with your organization
directly rather than feeling the need to
comment on another site.

12. NUMBER FIVE
ALWAYS ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
Be prompt, polite and proactive in every customer
engagement experience. The majority of online
comments about businesses are positive, but it
never hurts to be prepared. As the saying goes,
life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how
you react to it. A negative review is your chance
to turn a bad situation into a positive one through
a prompt, polite response, and maintain your
company’s positive image online.