Each week, we curate some of the best advice for small businesses from around the Internet. We think you’ll find their advice both useful and applicable, no matter your industry or business type.
This week, these four articles caught our attention:
- Brian Lindamood – 5 ways to turn bad reviews into great customer service
- Janet Attard – How to get your customers’ attention
- Laura McLoughlin – Using events to bring in more customers
- Jeff Bullas – Six SEO secrets your small business can learn from review and comparison websites
Turning bad reviews into great customer service
A reality that most small business owners face is the inevitability of a bad review here and there. Fortunately, though, there are ways to both combat bad reviews, and also ways to turn a bad review into an example of great customer service. @BrianLindamood has “5 Ways to Turn Bad Reviews Into Great Customer Service” posted on his LinkedIn page. Read it here.
Our takeaway: Since it’s impossible to prevent all bad reviews, their impact can be diminished or even turned on its head with an appropriate response. Responding quickly, being courteous and specific, and asking for follow-up reviews, will help you win the review game.
How to get your customers’ attention
How do you get your small business to stand out in today’s market? On her vacation to Monterey, Janet Attard made some observations about the types of business features that attract customers. She shares her findings in her post here.
Our takeaway: Come up with a list of traits and features you offer that set your business apart from the pack and reap the rewards of deeper connections with your customers’ biggest needs.
Using events to bring in more customers
Laura McLoughlin delves into how Facebook events help with first-time customer discoveries, brand recognition, and engaging your existing customer base. “Event marketing gives spark and energy to the world of marketing, if only we know how to best harness it,” McLoughlin says.
The takeaway: Utilizing the data you (should) have available makes your marketing dollar and efforts more efficient, and is key to engaging new and existing customers.
Relevant side note: If you’ve been keeping an eye on our blog this week, you may have seen that Womply has added an exciting new tool that allows you to utilize existing and incoming data to engage your customer base by automatically sending an email invitation to your customers when you create your next Facebook event.
Six SEO secrets your small business can learn from review and comparison websites
Jeff Bullas explores how small businesses can compete with larger companies with bigger budgets dedicated solely to SEO management. It may seem daunting, but the good news is Google prioritizes local search results. Following some of these simple tips can yield big results and even give you an upper hand. Read the full post here.
The takeaway: Utilize and ask for more reviews. The #2 tip on Jeff’s list involves review site rankings and making the most of customer feedback. Google allows searchers to filter results based on rankings, which can make you stand out or disappear from search results entirely. Same goes for Google Maps: Google will automatically highlight businesses with higher rankings, particularly in dense business areas.