When a consumer chooses a new business, one of their first major concerns is whether or not the company has a positive reputation. One of the best and most efficient ways of looking into a company’s reputation is through reviews left by previous customers.

As top consumer review sites such as Yelp, Google+ Local,  and Certified Consumer Reviews begin to hit the web and rise in popularity, many small business owners are eager to get their name out there and fill up these web-pages with positive reviews to provide quality feedback for their customers.  

Businesses are doing everything they can to build up high numbers of strong, positive reviews for their companies, but some are going about it the wrong way. Companies will spend precious time and money on efforts encouraging customers to leave reviews and will sometimes even go so far as to leave their own fake reviews. These practices are inefficient, and in some cases, unethical. Instead of focusing on how to get more reviews, businesses need to spend their time creating real, authentic customer satisfaction by focusing on the customers themselves.

The key to positive reviews is simple; provide a great product and excellent customer service.  When a customer receives a genuine and quality experience from a business, they will be more naturally inclined to leave a positive review and share their experience with others.

Above all, customers want to know they are important and that they are a top priority for the company they choose to do business with.

Focusing more on the customer will help you build a stellar reputation for your business, both online and offline. If you take the time to go the extra mile for a customer, they will, in turn, be more likely to take the time to write out an excellent review for you.

In this way, even customers that may have initially had a poor experience are more likely to leave a positive review (or are at least less likely to leave a negative review). When a customer sees that you are committing time and effort to quality customer service, they will show appreciation for that.

Taking the customer’s experience from just “OK” to a “K.O.” will increase revenue and put your company a step above the rest.

Your business will be a top choice for potential customers who have done their research. When past customers are excited to share the great experiences they had with your business, new customers will be excited to get started with great experiences of their own.

For more information and ideas on to improve your customer service and review ratings contact Reputation911 at 866-MY-REP-911.