No matter the industry, online reviews matter.

It’s one of the axioms of branding that the best kind of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising. One person telling another about their experience, positive or negative, is more powerful that fifty TV commercials. The problem has always been, “How do we generate word-of-mouth advertising?”

Before the Internet and “Web 2.0,” this was a very difficult thing to do, requiring grassroots events, surveys, testimonials and other expensive and difficult-to-execute programs. Now, in the age of connectedness, it’s not at all. Because of the proliferation of online review sites, and the way Google and other search engines have started aggregating; these reviews from all over the web, word of mouth is simply a part of your online presence, whether or not you sought it out.

That’s a powerful thought – every single person that seeks you and your products out now has a forum to view others’ experiences and results. And if you think back to your own experiences in buying on the web – a book at Amazon, a pair of shoes from Zappos, etc. – you have almost certainly looked through the reviews on the product before you bought it.

Two of the top three sources are word-of-mouth!

That’s the new word-of-mouth. Are you going to buy a product with one star? Are you going to buy the one that has only been reviewed once? The answer to both questions is probably “no,” and for good reason. So think about your own business. Google it and look at the accumulated reviews in the local business listings.

If you’ve never looked there before, you may be surprised. Because, and this may just be common sense, most people who go online to review a business or product, if they have not been prompted to do so, are the people who are disgruntled and need a place to vent their frustration. This is especially common with car dealers. So most of the reviews that you may find are going to be negative, and reflect poorly on your business.

How do you combat that?

Many clients that I have worked with want to ask, “How do I get rid of those bad reviews?” The truth is you can’t, in most cases. You might file a grievance with the site hosting the review, but unless it is outlandish and egregious, you’re not likely to get them to remove it. So what’s the solution to combat it?

Simple:  Ask all of your customers to review their experience online.

I know what you may be asking. “Shouldn’t I only ask the ones I know are happy?”  The answer is no, and I’ll tell you why:  the great power of the Internet is not in being able to reach people with your products and services.  That’s the Internet of the 1990’s and early 2000’s.  The great power of the Internet today, and into the future, lies in the fact that people can reach back to you, and share their experiences with you. 

Why do you care?  Three reasons:

1. It gives you the opportunity to get honest assessments of your practices and your personnel.  If you have a salesperson who is driving customers away, it’s good to know that.  Likewise the reverse – if you have a salesperson who is consistently getting great reviews, then you have a better idea of their value to your team.
2. It gives you a forum to respond to negative word-of-mouth.  Most sites will offer the opportunity to respond to reviews as the business owner.  So, when you see a review in which someone describes a negative experience, you can respond with an apology and offer to rectify the situation.  This is a good move for two reasons.  First, you may be able to satisfy that customer and turn their experience from a negative to a positive.  Second, and I believe this is the more powerful, everyone sees that you care enough about your customers to make the effort.  The key factor you need to remember here is that you have to come strong – you cannot appear to be sniping or fighting back.  If you don’t think you can be contrite, for whatever reason, do not respond publicly.
3. It gives you an opportunity to brag.  If you’re doing the right things and your reviews are positive, you have the opportunity to share that with the world. 

Here is an example of a car dealer that took this advice and ran with it: Gene Reed Toyota (website), Gene Reed Toyota on DealerRater.com.  Notice that they have a person dedicated to responding to every review personally, and investigating every negative review.  And on their website, they feature their relationship with DealerRater.com.  In their store, they have brochures on every table, and they request that every person visit their DealerRater.com page.

Going back to a point I made earlier, the new power of the Internet in the age of Web 2.0 is that your customers can reach back to you and share their experiences.  And if you’re doing the right things, their responses will be generally positive.  And if you’re not, you’ll have the tools and feedback necessary to take corrective action.  The deeper implication of all of this is that taking these opportunities to have personal, one-on-one communication with your customers is the best way to guarantee your success online.