Take Control of Your Company's Online Presence

Restoration and cleaning firms should examine all of their online reviews, not just the good ones, says Liz Trotter, a partner with the consulting service Cleaning Business Builders. She says the first step in taking control of the business's online presence is regularly monitoring online review sites, responding to all reviews, good and bad. Responding to each bad review should include thanking the customer, apologizing for mistakes, and thanking them again. "Apologies are powerful because they acknowledge that a customer's complaints have been heard," she says. "Take time to write several apologies and save them as templates on your computer. That way when you need one, you can easily send it out without having to think too much in the heat of the moment." If the situation requires more than an apology, call the customer with an offer such as a free cleaning or a discount. Check in afterward to see if the customer is interested and then ask if they need anything else. After defusing any negative reviews, the next step in improving your online reputation is garnering more positive reviews. Trotter says this can be done easily using an evaluation card for clients to fill out that they can use to write an online review, holding a contest to gather positive reviews for your staff, and encouraging customers to write reviews with a small discount or gift.

Cleaning & Maintenance Management (01/02/19) Kathleen Misovic