Bars and restaurants depend on their online reputation to gain new customers, so investing in online reputation management is a no brainer. The problem is figuring out how to make this happen in a way that’ll give you back control.
More and more hospitality services are now focused on getting the best deal with internet providers and cultivating their online accessibility, and so it’s only healthy to consider how your reputation disseminates through such tools.
The following are a few tips that will give you the power to steer your online reputation in a positive direction.
Perform An Audit
One thing you’ll need to do is perform an audit. This will give you a sense of what your online reputation is at the moment. You’ll have to find where your customers talk about your restaurant or bar. Perform a deep audit based on your findings so that you’re able to see where you’re at right now. Once you’ve done this step, you can start creating a plan of attack. Find out where your customers agree and focus on that. Your customers could be agreeing on something negative or positive. If it’s negative, this is definitely an issue felt by most of your customers and should be the first thing you address. Emphasize positive things because these are your strengths.
Take Charge And Ask for Reviews
An effective way to get reviews to sway your way is to ask for reviews. This step can get hard to accomplish on your own, especially as the number of customers grows. You could ask your waiters or servers to remind customers to leave you reviews, but that’s still awkward. You could also start using customer review software to help you out. This software makes it easy to ask for reviews with the touch of a button. If you play your cards right and use data you’ve assessed from your customers, you can target customers that are happy with your services, which usually includes repeat customers. These folks continue to come to you because you offer something other restaurants or bars don’t. Some of these folks haven’t left you a review but might if there’s a prompt making it easy for them to do that.
Take An Active Role
Once you’ve found where your restaurant or bar is online, you can take a more active role. Make it a point to respond to reviews as honestly as possible. Don’t shy away from dealing with negative reviews. Talk to them to find out who these folks are and what your restaurant or bar can do to so solve these issues. You might not be able to go back in time, but you can make changes that’ll make these customers feel like you care about their feelings. Make an effort to discuss in detail the changes you’ve implemented because of the negative reviews. You may win back these customers, but even if you don’t, potential customers will see that you value customers. They might give your restaurant or bar a shot.
Live Feedback Monitoring
If you’re able to take control of your online reviews, you’ll be able to get notifications when new reviews post. These reviews are important, especially if you’ve implemented changes to your restaurant or bar. You’ve done your homework on these changes and think they’ll be good for your business, but nothing gives you more insight as to how these changes are making customers feel than your customers. If you closely monitor your reviews and customer experience feedback results, you’ll be able to refine the changes you’ve made to your restaurant or bar. Get rid of anything you see isn’t working out. Pay close attention to customers who have been with you for a long time because these folks are your bread and butter.
Be Sure To Show Appreciation
A powerful way to take control of your online reputation is to invest in appreciation. Show customers, especially those who’ve been with you for a long time, that you value their business. There are various ways to do this, such as introducing rewards for visiting your restaurant or bar often. You could offer free drinks or desserts without a reason because you wanted to surprise customers. To do these types of gestures, you’ll have to make sure you get to know your frequent customers. Maybe make a note of the folks who come to your restaurant often, and offer some of these gifts of appreciation at the right time. Maybe some days you’ll tell them the bill is on the house that day.
Taking control of your online reputation is one of the smartest things you can do for your establishment. Folks depend on these reviews and will continue to depend on them as your business grows. Don’t let negative reviews drive your business, which is exactly what’s happening the longer you don’t take control.
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