Google Business Profile Guide. Part 3

Google reviews can be of great benefit to your business and help you attract more potential customers.
Reviews also play an important role in customer relationship management. Regardless of whether you receive positive or negative feedback. This knowledge can be used to develop your product or service and improve customer relations.

On the other hand, customers use Google reviews to evaluate their perception of your business.
Using correct practices through rigorous online reputation management allows businesses to communicate with their potential customers and build trust. Such communication helps businesses gain positive feedback.

We're not going to cover options like deleting your Google Business Profile account, but rather discuss affordable options for dealing with your Google Maps reputation.

Option 1. Try to remove it
Sometimes you can receive negative feedback about your business. These are usually posted as spam, or sometimes by an unethical competitor.
Typically, fake reviews will be one-star reviews and or with unfounded complaints in the comments.

Unfortunately, even though the review is fake, and you're sure it is, your potential clients have no idea where the truth is and where the lies are. Fortunately, if a review turns out to be fake, you can take action to have it removed.

The first step when it comes to identifying fake Google reviews is to figure out if the review is fake or real.

If the review is coming from a real and disgruntled client, there is no way to remove that review, the best solution would be to respond to it quickly and leave a response. Fake reviews are usually pretty easy to determine. Here are a few things to look out for when it comes to spotting fake reviews:

• Look at the reviewer's name and see if you have any records with the same name. If you can't find any records, the review is most likely fake;
• Click on the reviewer's profile and check if they have left similar reviews for other companies;
• Sometimes reviewers can confuse your business with another and leave a review. If the review mentions a product or service you don't offer, the reviewer probably mistook your brand for another;
• If you encounter multiple negative reviews in a short time, it could be a spammer or a competitor;
• If a client's review insults the company, staff, or clients the review will be easily removed;
• It is common for a former employee to leave a negative review - Google easily removes such reviews due to conflict of interest.

If you have enough evidence to defend your business, send an email to customer service describing your predicament. We suggest including a screenshot of the negative review and any other information Google may find potentially useful.

Even if you are certain that the review is fake, Google may not remove it. More specifically, Google will only remove a review if they consider it a direct violation of their policy. On the other hand, they may decide that you haven't provided enough evidence. If this is the case, you can get more information.

If Google ultimately decides not to remove the review, it's a good idea to at least respond to the fake review and try to resolve said issue. This response shows future customers that your business actively responds to criticism in a civilized manner.

For example:
"Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We take all feedback seriously, but we can't seem to find any customer records that match your name and information in our system. We would like to discuss this matter further and help you in any way we can. If you have had a bad experience with our business, please contact us at (insert company email address). We will do our best to resolve the issue."

These tips can be key and make the difference between a reviewer turning down a bad review and leaving it in force. Ask the person to contact your company so you can investigate the issue that caused them to leave a bad review in the first place. If the person does get in touch with you, do everything you can to help them have a positive experience.

Here are the Google review rules - read them to understand when you can deal with negativity. Google promises to address the complaint in 3 business days.
Here is the Google article with the steps to request removing negative reviews.

Video from Google to understand their moderation process better:

Option 2. Agreement with client
So we've looked at Google's rules and realized that the review didn't break anything. It's true, it's not offensive, and it's written from personal experience. It can't be helped, you'll have to try on the role of a diplomat. Thank the person for their concern, promise that the offense will be corrected, and offer to leave a contact number to clarify the details of the visit. Call the author, thank them again, and promise a free product or service in exchange for removing the review. Don't forget to address the shortcomings so you don't go broke on gifts and compliments. By the way, there is a case when a negative review in ‘Google My Business’ can not be deleted. If the vast majority of comments about you are positive and one is negative, throw all your energy into writing a thank you comment. Tell how you will work on the mistakes, thank the author, and offer him a discount for helping to improve the quality of your work. Then you'll look like an honest player who listens to the customer and knows how to admit a wrong.

If you manage to reach an agreement with the client and he/she is ready to remove the review, here is a Google article that explains how to do it.

Option 3. Working to get positive feedback
If all the previous options did not help, then you need more positive reviews. You should not order positive fake comments. The flood of positivity, written from empty accounts and in general words, looks unnatural and repels potential clients. It is better to come up with a promotion, during which clients will write honest (let's repeat: honest, objective, based on real experience) reviews in exchange for a discount or other pleasant chip.

Clients can leave reviews both on the Bill&Tip platform when they pay or leave tips and on external review services like Google Reviews and Tripadvisor.

You can redirect clients who leave 5 or 4 stars to external review services (Google Reviews and Tripadvisor), and make all reviews with 3 stars or less visible only for you (or your managers). As a result, the amount of positive reviews will grow along with your Google Maps ranking.

When your client leaves a review through the Bill&Tip platform, your manager receives an instant Telegram notification with the review and can quickly resolve the issue by reaching out to the guests or clients before they leave your restaurant or barbershop.

Here is our article we recommend to read - it will help you to work with dissatisfied guests/clients.

Go to the part 4 of the Guide.

Taking care of you and your business,

Bill&Tip (Bill and Tip) Team.

Want to learn more about how Bill&Tip can help your business or request a consultation from our team, simply follow this link.

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