Common Reputation Management Mistakes to Avoid

If there is one fact that holds true for every business today, it is that you never know how or where a potential customer will hear about your business. That’s why you need to manage your image in a positive way in as many venues as possible – and this includes the digital sphere.

Managing your online reputation is not easy, though. It requires continuous monitoring and purposeful strategy. Obviously, many companies make the mistake of neglecting their reputation management altogether, but that isn’t the only mistake that can put a damper on your brand image. Our McCauley Marketing Services team knows reputation management inside and out, and we’re filling you in on the most common reputation management mistakes to avoid.

Responding Defensively to Negative Online Reviews

You’ve put a lot into growing your business, so it’s understandable that if a patient or customer posts a negative review, you have an emotional response. It’s important not to respond to reviews in anger, though, or to become defensive in your reply.

Yes, the reviewer will read your response, but most of the people reading it will be potential customers. You want to show them that you’re a professional, even if the reviewer’s critiques are unreasonable. You don’t need to assume the blame or apologize for things you didn’t do wrong, but you do need to be compassionate and restrained when replying. In the course of this, however, if your business is a medical practice, you must be sure to be careful not to violate HIPAA, even by confirming that the reviewer is a patient.

This is why it’s helpful to have marketers like our professional copywriters who can write your review responses with your input. We can do it in a more objective and strategic way while also keeping HIPAA in mind.

Directing All Reviews to One Place

Reputation management can take a lot of time, especially if you’re monitoring half a dozen sites where patients or customers are leaving reviews. It can be tempting to try to steer all your patients toward one site or platform to leave their reviews so it saves you time, but this does more harm than good.

In reality, you never know where a patient or customer will come across your business. Whether they find you on social media, Google, a medical health site, or elsewhere, you want them to see plenty of positive reviews so they form a great first impression of you. To improve your online reputation, make it easy for patients to leave reviews on a variety of sites including Google, Yelp, Facebook, and more, including Vitals and Healthgrades if your business is a medical practice.

Assuming Patients Will Post Reviews

It’s incredibly frustrating to work hard to provide every patient or customer with a great experience but to not see that hard work pay off in your reviews. The truth is that your patients are busy people and unless they have an overwhelmingly good or overwhelmingly bad experience, the idea of posting a review for you probably never crosses their minds.

That’s why you need to make a point to prompt happy patients to leave a review. Reputation management campaigns are extremely important and can bring you more business. You can get great results from something as simple as emailing patients after their visits, asking them to post a review and giving them links they use for those review sites.

Keeping Your Staff Out of the Conversation

Online reputation management isn’t just the responsibility of your business’s leaders and administrators. In fact, from our experience, the vast majority of our clients’ reviews make some mention of the office staff, like reception staff, phone staff, medical assistants, and so on.

Your employees play a vital role in your reputation no matter what, so it’s best to bring them into the conversation. Keep them informed about the trends you’re seeing in your reviews, how their actions affect the business, and what they can do to help the business get more five-star reviews.

There’s no way around it: online reputation management requires a well-planned strategy and ongoing effort. If you prefer to leave it to the professionals, call McCauley Marketing Services to find out how we can help. For more marketing tips, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.