<span class="hide-blog-title">The Franchise Informant</span>A resource for National Property Inspections and Global Property Inspections franchisees, aspiring entrepreneurs and real estate professionals.https://npifranchise.com/Blog/PostsThe 6 Biggest Mistakes You Could be Making with Your Google My Business Listinghttps://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/PostId/45/the-6-biggest-mistakes-you-could-be-making-with-your-google-my-business-listingMarketing,Social MediaFri, 27 Apr 2018 16:02:00 GMT<p><span style="font-size:26px;"><strong><span style="line-height: 1;">THE 6 BIGGEST MISTAKES YOU COULD BE MAKING WITH YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS LISTING</span></strong></span><br /> <em class="fa fa-calendar"></em> April 27, 2018 | <em class="fa fa-folder-open"></em> <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts?Category=marketing">Marketing</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts?Category=social-media">Social Media</a> | <em class="fa fa-tags"></em> <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/google">Google</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/google-my-business">Google My Business</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/seo">SEO</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/digital-marketing">digital marketing</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/business-website">business website</a></p> <p class="emphasis-primary"><em>By Stepha Vesper</em></p> <p>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.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">Not Choosing the Right Category</span><br /> When 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 add the category you do the most business in first, then follow with the other services you offer. This will create a hierarchy for Google’s algorithm and boost your chances of coming out on top.</p> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-6"> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">Having the Wrong Photo as Your Cover Image</span><br /> If you update and add to your Google My Business photos on a regular basis, great job! There are just a few things to keep in mind to get the most out of your efforts, starting with the cover photo.</p> <p>The cover photo is the main image that shows up for your listing in Google search results. That means it’s essentially your first chance at making a great impression on potential customers. You’ll want to make sure that your cover photo is high-quality and highly relevant. Either a professional picture of you or one that relates directly to what you do on a daily basis is best.</p> </div> <div class="col-sm-6"><img src="http://www.npifranchise.com/Portals/npicorp2/Assets/Blog/Additional Images/google-my-business-blog-624x416.jpg?ver=2019-03-12-132850-897" style="margin: 20px 0 20px 0" width="100%" /></div> </div> <p>If you have any photos that could be better, now is a great time to replace them. Since Google+ is incorporated with your listing, make sure that any photos you post are up to snuff and highly relevant to your business.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">Having a Duplicate Listing</span><br /> Regrettably, Google makes it relatively easy to unwittingly create a duplicate Google My Business listing. Most often, this happens when you move, forget the account or password associated with the listing or simply can’t recall making one years prior. But despite the ease with which you can create a new account, duplicate listings remain one of the biggest don’ts of all when it comes to your Google My Business listing.</p> <p>Duplicate content of any kind will drive down your ranking significantly. If Google detects multiple listings with similar information, there’s a big chance your business will suffer the same fate. Multiple listings also confuse customers, and sometimes reviews end up split between the two. Trust us—it’s far better to have 20 reviews on one listing than it is to have 10 on one and 10 on the other.</p> <p>If you have multiple listings, the best course of action is to contact Google directly. That way you won’t have to guess about whether you’re taking the right steps toward getting that second listing removed. You’ll also have a better chance of getting the issue resolved quickly.</p> <p><strong>NOTE:</strong> Wait times for Google representatives can vary, depending on time of day and several other factors. We recommend setting aside an hour for the task of calling in and speaking to a rep.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">Not Keeping Your Information Up-to-Date</span><br /> This one is a no-brainer. You should always keep your phone number, hours, services and any promotions you’re offering up to date on your Google My Business listing. But this one extends to other platforms your business might be listed on as well.</p> <p>Google’s algorithm is designed to pick up on consistency for your business across platforms. That means that your address, phone number, services and hours should be an exact match across your web presence. This includes street abbreviations versus spelling out words and including country codes versus not including them. The best practice is to have other platforms, like Yelp and Facebook, match your Google My Business information exactly. You should also make sure your business name matches exactly.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">Not Directing Reviews to Your Listing</span><br /> Nothing speaks to the success of your business more than glowing testimonials from your very own customers. The best way to set your business apart from your competitors’ and rise to the top of the local 3 pack is to have the best and the highest number of reviews under your listing.</p> <p>Pushing review numbers up can be surprisingly challenging, and it all comes down to busy day-to-day life. Meaning unless you give them a friendly nudge, there’s a chance your customers won’t make time to review your business, no matter how happy they are with your services. Sending them an email with a link to your Google My Business listing, a kind word and an invitation to leave feedback can go a long way. Remember, incentivizing reviews in any way is against Google’s Terms of Use, so you should never offer goods or discounts in exchange for a review.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">Responding to Reviews the Wrong Way</span><br /> Getting critical feedback is never a great feeling, but there are ways to handle it gracefully and still come out on top in future customers’ eyes. For one, if you have several reviews, a lower rating or two can actually legitimize your business. No one is perfect, and most people understand that a bad review once in a blue moon is realistic for any business. Best of all, you can respond to any review and show clients that you have their best interests in mind.</p> <p>When responding to a negative review, it’s important to never get defensive. Whether your customer is painting a clear and accurate description of their inspection results or not, your main objective in your response is to demonstrate that you hear their feedback and care about their satisfaction. Resist the urge to insult or correct the customer or to type a long-winded explanation of exactly what happened. This is between you and your client, and politely stating that you’ll reach out to them privately is your best bet when it comes to reaching a resolution. In fact, many customers will actually change a review to a higher star count if they feel you’ve heard them out and treated them with respect.</p> <p> </p> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-3"><img src="https://www.npifranchise.com/Portals/npicorp2/Assets/Blog/stepha-05.jpg?ver=2019-03-11-142624-157" width="100%" /></div> <div class="col-sm-9"><span class="emphasis-secondary" style="font-size: 130%">About the Author</span><br /> <span class="emphasis-primary">Stepha Vesper, <em>Marketing Communications Specialist</em></span><br /> Stepha has more than five years’ experience in marketing, content creation, SEO and copywriting. Her favorite part of her job is assisting franchisees with their digital marketing strategies so they reach their goals that much faster. When she isn’t at work, Stepha is going on adventures with her husband, Zach, perusing used bookstores, reading or writing.</div> </div> 45Your 5-Step Guide to Handling Customer Complaintshttps://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/PostId/47/your-5-step-guide-to-handling-customer-complaintsBusiness TipsWed, 04 Apr 2018 16:06:00 GMT<p><span style="font-size:26px;"><strong><span style="line-height: 1;">YOUR 5-STEP GUIDE TO HANDLING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS</span></strong></span><br /> <em class="fa fa-calendar"></em> April 4, 2018 | <em class="fa fa-folder-open"></em> <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts?Category=business-tips">Business Tips</a> | <em class="fa fa-tags"></em> <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/client-satisfaction">client satisfaction</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/small-business">small business</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/google">Google</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/google-my-business">Google My Business</a>, <a href="https://npifranchise.com/Blog/Posts/Tag/facebook">Facebook</a></p> <p class="emphasis-primary"><em>By Zach Vesper</em></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">1. Enhance your calm.</span><br /> 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 to the heart. It’s completely natural to want to take these things personally, but the best thing for your business is to be as cool and collected as you can be. Don’t respond right away when you’re angry or upset, because often you’ll regret what you say in the heat of the moment. Also, don’t assume that what you say now can be changed later—treat your reply like it’ll be set in stone.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">2. Understand their perspective.</span><br /> Once you get your emotions in check, start thinking about the problem from your customer’s perspective. Do they have a point? How would you feel if you were in their situation, and what would you want someone to do for you to resolve the problem? Use their review as an opportunity to identify areas of your business that could use improvement. Don’t take it personally if you get multiple complaints about the same issue—instead, treat this as incredibly valuable information that you can use to grow.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">3. Acknowledge their problem.</span><br /> After you’ve come to understand the problem from your customer’s perspective, you need to communicate in your response that you’ve heard their criticism and want to come to a resolution they’re happy with. This won’t be possible with some people, but the vast majority will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to hear them out and are responsive to their concerns. To others reading the negative review and your response to it, this approach goes a long way in displaying your professionalism and integrity.</p> <p>Now what if the bad review is totally off-base? In cases like this, you’re responding more for the benefit of other potential customers reading your reviews. You should explain your perspective clearly and succinctly, always maintaining an even-handed tone. At the end of your reply, you should invite them to contact you directly if they have any further concerns—this will show others that you’re willing to maintain open communication with every customer to resolve their issues.</p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">4. Offer a quick resolution.</span><br /> Sometimes an upset customer won’t be happy until they get a full refund, but it’s not likely to come to that. Most upset customers are reasonable people, and they’re defused easily when they see that you’re willing to listen to them, solve their problem and offer some kind of concession for their trouble. Whether you offer them a discount for a future service, a free upgraded warranty or something else that’s valuable to them, they’ll walk away feeling like you care about them. This is the best way to turn an angry customer into an advocate for your brand.</p> <p>Here’s an example of a perfect response to a negative review that accomplishes everything we’ve talked about above:</p> <p><i>“I’m so sorry to hear that you are less than satisfied with your NPI/GPI service. I take constructive criticism very seriously and would love the opportunity to right my wrong. You can expect a phone call from me so we can further discuss your concerns. Again, I apologize that you are unhappy with your inspection and look forward to getting in touch with you soon.”</i></p> <p><span class="emphasis-secondary">5. Move on with your life.</span><br /> Once you’ve crafted and delivered a professional response that solved your customer’s issue, you have to learn not to dwell on it. The bottom line is that bad reviews happen to the best of us, and they’re not the end of the world. As long as you handle customer complaints with composure and understanding, you’ll come out with a clearer idea of what your customers need so you can deliver even better service in the future.</p> <p>If you’re a current NPI franchisee, we’re always here to help you craft professional responses to customer reviews! Get in touch with us at <a class="color-secondary" href="mailto:marketing@npiweb.com">marketing@npiweb.com</a> for one-on-one help.</p> <p> </p> <p><span class="emphasis-primary">Looking to start a National Property Inspections franchise?</span><br /> Request your free, no-obligation info packet at <a class="color-secondary" href="https://www.npifranchise.com/learn-more">npifranchise.com/learn-more</a>.</p> <p> </p> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-3"><img src="http://www.npifranchise.com/Portals/npicorp2/Assets/Blog/zach-05.jpg?ver=2019-03-11-152018-130" width="100%" /></div> <div class="col-sm-9"><span class="emphasis-secondary" style="font-size: 130%">About the Author</span><br /> <span class="emphasis-primary">Zach Vesper, <em>SEO and Marketing Specialist</em></span><br /> Zach brings more than six years of SEO experience to the table, making him your go-to web optimization specialist--he knows how to help your website reach the first page! He's always more than happy to answer your questions about all things Google. Zach is a film buff, an old-fashioned connoisseur and an avid reader of science fiction. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife, Stepha.</div> </div> 47