As a business owner, there’s no greater feeling of accomplishment than hearing glowing testimonials from happy clients, and in shouting those kinds of reviews from the rooftops. The euphoria – as well as the marketing benefits of those great reviews – can quickly be snuffed out, however, by just one scathing review.
Home care reviews carry an incredible amount of weight with consumers. In fact, as many as 92% of consumers in the US and Canada read online reviews when researching products and services, and 88% of our population read – and trust – online reviews; as much as they trust advice from friends and family. And research done by Caring.com revealed that home care agencies with 15 or more reviews receive 1.5 times more leads than those with only one or two reviews. This puts agencies in a bit of a home care marketing dilemma: should they provide a forum for online reviews that can be seen by the rest of the world, taking the chance that they’ll receive only positive comments?
Let’s face it; none of us are immune to criticism. Case in point: J.D. Salinger’s classic “The Catcher in the Rye” received this online review:
The man who wrote this should be in an asylum. This book was a complete waste of paper.
And how about this one directed at Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”?
This was a horrible book. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!
Although it can be a frightening prospect to open up your agency to negative comments from disgruntled clients, the home care SEO value from online reviews is actually well worth the risk, and, let’s be honest, negative reviews aren’t all bad. Receiving a negative review online opens up an opportunity to respond to criticism in a positive way and show that your business is empathetic and listens to its customers. They can even help you turn around a negative experience for a customer. But even if the original reviewer’s mind can’t be changed, those reading the reviews during their own research will see that your company is responsive, positive, and open to feedback.
Balancing the Bad with the Good
Online reviews are all about balance. No one expects any business to be flawless, and, quite frankly, it might look a bit fishy if you never received anything less than five stars in your online reviews. But is there a way to help prevent too many negative reviews from less than happy customers, while still encouraging happy clients to sing your praises? Yes! Yes there is.
corecubed’s RISE reputation management program provides home care agencies with a method for happy clients to easily review your services, and although RISE cannot totally prevent negative reviews, it allows you to take the necessary action to turn those negatives into the constructive action that actually enhances consumers’ trust. With our RISE system, clients receive emails asking them for feedback, making it easy for those who’ve indicated positive feedback to review your agency on the online review sites of your choice. Customers who input negative feedback are routed to a page asking for suggestions on how to improve your performance, allowing their concerns to be heard and giving you an opportunity to improve your service. Win-win.
Contact us at 800.370.6580 x1 to learn more about RISE, or watch this short video to see how it works.
You’re also invited to join us for a free webcast, “How to Get Faster, Better Online Reviews for Your Home Care Biz” on November 9 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time and learn how to generate feedback and turn that feedback into positive online home care reviews, improving both your agency’s reputation and your website’s SEO.
Don’t let the fear of negative home care reviews keep you from realizing the benefits of sharing the incredibly positive ones from happy clients! Partner with corecubed and watch your reputation RISE!