Tag: Google My Business

How To Respond To A Frustrated Client

December 27, 2022

By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior SEO and Marketing Strategist Everyone has been there. Something did not go as planned, and the irritation in your client’s voice is obvious. Maybe you even made an honest mistake at some point in the process. Obviously, nobody is perfect. At some point in your career, you’ll miss a callout, or you’ll simply have to work with someone who behaves unreasonably. Conflict is a natural part of running a business. Though there are plenty of strategies that you could employ to avoid it in the first place, sometimes friction is unavoidable. You’ve found yourself there, and the question is, what do you do now? According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, the average disgruntled client shares their experience with 9 to 15 other people, and 13% of dissatisfied people tell more than 20. Addressing frustration is one of the most important things a small business owner needs to learn. Let’s review a few go-to tips to de-escalate frustrated clients, whether in-person or online. Remember To Keep Calm Whenever you encounter a client whose experience did not line up with their expectations, it is important to stay calm. Tensions can easily rise over

Best Ways to Ask for Reviews

June 15, 2021

By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s SEO and Marketing Specialist It can’t be stressed enough how essential review gathering is to forming a strong presence for your business online. Living in the digital age, you have to take advantage of it or risk being left behind. Especially as younger generations, namely Millennials, are hitting the age where they’re ready to buy a home, reviews are a necessity. If it’s been a while since you’ve marketed for reviews or if you haven’t ever started, here are a few ways to get the ball rolling. Why do you need to stay connected? So how important are reviews in someone’s final decision? Great question! While Millennials do tend to be more plugged in, the general statistic for people that make a choice on who to do business with based on reviews alone is over 90%. Over 80% trust them like a personal recommendation, and nearly 70% decide whether you’re a quality business in as little as 3 reviews. That means you don’t have much time to make a great first impression. Not only are positive reviews important, but stockpiling them is as well. If you only have low-star reviews, a handful of reviews, or

Integrating Google Posts on Your GMB Listing

October 27, 2020

By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s SEO & Marketing Specialist Your Google My Business listing plays a key role in growing your business, and it’s important to know how to get the most out of it. There are many nuances with a GMB listing, but knowing each aspect will help with converting clicks to clients. One underused feature that Google offers for listings is the “Posts” section. What the Post Feature Does Integrating the Google Posts feature on your listing gives you a more well-rounded business profile. Along with linking to your web page and providing updated hours, posting on your GMB lets clients know what you’re up to. They get a better understanding of the work that you do by seeing it come directly from you. Being able to communicate effectively through Posts acts as an ice-breaker between you and a customer before you even meet. Google Posts + SEO You’ve probably heard how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) contributes to customers finding your business through Google Search. Having the Posts feature enabled on your listing will increase traffic to your site and boost your SEO ranking. Google likes to “reward” those that are active on the site, and posts is

Benefits of a Google My Business Listing

August 6, 2020

By Adam Kiesel, NPI, Inc.’s Digital Marketing Assistant Getting your name out to customers has never been easier than it is right now. Thanks to digital media, you can easily post content to reach potential clients. In addition to utilizing tools like social media, you can integrate a Google listing to further draw traffic to your business website. So what benefits does a Google My Business listing have to offer? Keep reading to learn more. What is Google My Business? Google My Business (or GMB) is a free service that helps business owners promote their services to local customers. Using GMB’s suite of tools and features, you can easily manage how you appeal to prospective clients. In a way, GMB is today’s version of the Yellow Pages, which means that if you have a listing, anyone with an internet connection can find you. Almost half of people who search for a business are trying to find goods and services in their immediate vicinity. Showing up near the top of Google My Business local listings goes a long way in putting you ahead of the competition. Customers Can See Your Location As mentioned above, a large portion of those searching for

The 6 Biggest Mistakes You Could be Making with Your Google My Business Listing

April 27, 2018

By Stepha Vesper Google processes more than 40,000 searches every second–that’s 3.5 billion searches a day! Needless to say, your Google My Business listing is a key piece (if not THE key piece!) of your digital footprint. Below, we’ll tell you the top six mistakes business owners make with their listing as well as the best ways to optimize Google My Business for happy customers and maximum return. Not Choosing the Right CategoryWhen you first create a Google My Business account, you’ll be prompted to select a category for your business from a drop-down menu. While this tiny task is easy to brush aside, choosing the wrong category has less-than-tiny consequences. That’s because the category feature is one of the primary ways Google accurately indexes your listing in local search results. Accidentally selecting the wrong category can “hide” your business from the right customers and confuse anyone who comes across your listing. If you set up your Google My Business listing years ago, it’s more than worth it to re-confirm your category choice. Google does allow you to add multiple categories to your business listing, but keep in mind that order matters. If you perform multiple services, you’ll want to

Your 5-Step Guide to Handling Customer Complaints

April 4, 2018

By Zach Vesper When you’re running your own business, it’s inevitable—there are some people you just can’t please. To make things worse, these customers are almost three times more likely to leave you a review online than happy customers who had a great experience. As scary as they seem, bad customer reviews have their place in the online reputation ecosystem. For example, a business with nothing but rave reviews can seem suspicious, because people live in the real world and expect to see some customer complaints. In this way, the occasional bad review can lend credibility to your overall rating on sites like Google, Facebook and Yelp. The real trick is understanding how to handle bad customer reviews when they do appear. If you react to them the right way, they’ll make your business look more professional and trustworthy. Here are the things you’ll need to remember when you’re addressing a negative review about your business. 1. Enhance your calm.As soon as you see a complaint appear on a review site, your first impulse is probably to get defensive. You believe in what you do and provide a great service that people love, so bad reviews tend to cut right