Do's & Don'ts for Acquiring and Monitoring Reviews

Do—have a system that makes it easy for you to get 5-star reviews from long time customers who you know love you and are happy with your products and services

You need to make it really easy and your office needs to work as a team to get real 5-star reviews regularly.

Don't—send out an automatic review request to every single customer on your customer list

You don't need tons of reviews weekly & you might remind an unhappy customer to post a negative review.

Do—try to talk to customers about posting reviews in person

With a smart system, talking to customers in person is the best way to make sure they actually post.

Don't—allow customers to post the review in your office unless they are on cellular (not WI-FI)

Review sites carefully monitor review IP addresses to prevent fake reviews. They will flag you as a fraud.

Do—have a system to answer positive reviews through a third-party company

Answering positive reviews pushes those reviews higher on the list & might even help with search placement.

Don't—respond to a negative review

Responding to negative reviews pushes them higher. A good marketing company can help remove or dilute bad reviews.

Do—have a system to post actual 5-star reviews on your website homepage

Posting actual 5-star reviews on your homepage will make prospective customers more likely to buy your products and services.

Don't—try to monitor your reviews yourself

There are many review sites and you will not find them all – plus you will drive yourself crazy. Use a reasonable outside company to contact you when you get a bad review and strategize how to remove or dilute it.

Dr James Gelfand is co-founder and President of PIMM-USA.com an online marketing company that specializes in small business