Do you feel prepared to handle any online reputations mishaps?  The top 10 review sites grew over 158% within the past year.  That means there is a lot of new conversation happening about your brand and your customer experience.  Your residents and prospects trust those conversations. 

92% of consumers trust online reviews posted by other consumers.
75% of consumers mistrust advertising.   

We spend a lot of time talking about how reputation management begins with a company’s culture, customer experience, and employee empowerment.  Because of that, just the idea of managing your reputation can sound a bit intimidating.  Let’s take a step back and focus on simple tasks you can do weekly to prepare you for any mishaps that might happen.

Listen.
Google is your BFF.  Consistently do searches for your name, services, address, etc to stay ahead of any problems.  Also look at image results.  You would be surprised what you can find there.  If you want to make life easier, set up a Google alert and other free social media monitoring tools to do the searching for you.

Ask for reviews.
Honest reviews, not glowing reviews, help establish you as real and credible.  Ask for honest reviews and feedback from your advocates and happy residents.  Make it a point to ask at least two residents a week.

Respond.
Consistently respond to reviews in a timely manner, the bad and the good.  If you make this part of your daily habits, it is much easier to manage.  When you respond, also think about any follow-up questions they might have and address them at the same time. 

Claim your social profiles.
This one might seem a bit obvious, but it often gets missed.  Claim ALL of your social profiles and share your positive content.  If you don’t claim them, someone else will, and it could be an unhappy resident.  Focus on claiming one or two a week.

Be nice.
And be patient.  Our tone is often more important than our words.  You can say all the right things but be perceived as being insincere.  Choose to care and take a minute to truly create positive service.

Reputation management doesn’t start and stop. Be proactive and effective while you are building the foundation and strategy for your customer experience.