Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Spring 2017 - 21

GreaterReadingChamber.org
GreaterReadingChamber.org

Kristi Gage-Linderman, PHR, SHRM-CP, Gage Personnel

You should do this for any directory sites though which
customers in your industry search for companies. These should
include Yelp, YP, and, the grand-daddy of them all - Google+.
Because Google controls search results, and because you want to
show up in those search results, having a claimed Google+ page
with a significant amount of reviews is an absolute must! Once
you start to gather reviews on Google+, you will start to see the
stars showing up under your search results. Since Google controls
about two-thirds of all search results, I'd recommend focusing your
efforts on gathering Google+ reviews first.
Once you've claimed the business listing, go ahead and
complete some of the information. Verify your name, address and
phone number (known as "NAP"), fill in your hours of operation,
and add a few photos to make it personable.

Answer EVERY Review
The fun part is reading all of the wonderful, glowing reviews
you'll receive from your loyal customers. And you should strive
to answer every one of them. This can usually be accomplished
by setting aside fifteen minutes once a week. So, what do you say,
without sounding like a repetitive robot?
1. Personally thank the reviewer. Acknowledge that it has
taken some time on their part to leave their feedback. You may
address him or her by first name or more formally. I also like to
let the reviewers know that their comments will be shared with
the employees who worked with them, and with the management
team. This helps to show that we really do care what our
customers have to say. "Thank you so much for taking the time to
leave your kind comments for us, Ms. Smith. We will share your
compliments with Joe and his supervisor."
2. Acknowledge the reviewer's specific comments. Make
it clear that this is not an automatic response by addressing
something particular about their review. For example, if the
comments stated that your employees were "professional and very
knowledgeable," you could respond with "We take great pride in
having a professional team of technicians, and strive to keep them
on the top of their game with monthly training."
3. Extend the offer to continue doing business in the future.
Without being presumptive, tell them how much you appreciate
their business and hope to keep earning it in the future. "Thank
you for choosing UGI Heating, Cooling & Plumbing for your
new furnace installation. We look forward to serving your family
for years to come!"
Continued on page 22

PROVEN POSITIVITY AT GAGE PERSONNEL:
Check out what the management team at Gage Personnel has
been doing to inspire positivity throughout their organization
and in the community through simple Gage Positivity
Challenges!

Creativity can help improve reviews, ratings and
company morale! Can you bring out the best in your
employees, your customers and the community? It's all too
easy for people to highlight the negatives when we should
really be trying to maintain focus on the positives. Here are
some simple ideas to encourage others to share their positive
experiences, and help further the overall sense of pride for your
employees to be a part of a great organization!

Challenge #1: Highlight the positive reviews!
Statistics show that people are more inclined to leave negative
reviews. The best way to address the negative? Respond
respectfully, but even more importantly: Highlight the
positive. Here's a creative way to encourage people to share the
positive stories and experiences they've had with your business.
For each positive review earned on Google, Yelp or another
social media platform, employees can earn rewards: Cash
incentives per review, raffle prizes, or anything else you think
your employees might appreciate! Just remember to set a
cap on your rewards in order to make it a fun competition
amongst your staff, and to create a sense of urgency for this
positivity challenge. The staff at Gage Personnel earned up to
$500 in just one week by asking people to share their positive
experiences!

Challenge #2: Catch your co-workers doing
something great! "It takes teamwork to make the dream
work!" If you have several employees doing a great job, going
above and beyond, or simply being a great team player,
encourage your employees to highlight the positive and
submit their co-workers'names along with a brief summary
of what they're doing that's great. Names can be entered by
management into a gift card to announce one winner each
month. Within just four months, over 20 Gage employees
were "caught" doing a great job by their co-workers!

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Spring 2017
