Local Businesses: Get Help from Yelp

By: Jeremy S. Griffin | September 1, 2009 | View Comments

Recently, I went to a new restaurant with my friend, in hopes that our experience would be one I could enjoy and talk about later. As it turned out, I did talk about my experience later, but I certainly not because I enjoyed it. (I won’t name the restaurant here, but if you are savvy, I’m sure you can find my review if you really want to.) Anyway, here are a few things I learned from my experience, and what local businesses can learn from consumer review sites like Yelp.

There is no mediocre

While some people will write a review if their experience with a restaurant or service is mediocre, it is more likely to happen if their experience is very good or very bad. Even if the review is to say how mediocre an experience was, it still translates to “bad.” No one will read a mediocre review and say, “hey, let’s go there, it sounds just ok.”

Don’t be all things to all people

Everyone has different tastes. In the area where I live, there is a lot of diversity when it comes to class and age demographics. However, that doesn’t mean that local businesses should cater to being all things to all people. Stick to your guns, and concentrate on doing the things you do very well. People will be grateful that you know what you are.

Be honest and transparent

There is no shame in having advocates for your business contribute reviews for you, as long as there is transparency involved. If you work at a restaurant, let’s say, and you want to bolster your credibility, be upfront about who you are. It can show other users that you really do appreciate the place where you work, which can say a lot for the rest of a customer’s experience.

Get a website, already

It is somewhat disconcerting (read: tragic) when I can’t find a website for a restaurant or business I want to try. Seriously, it is easier now more than ever to create a website, and they can make a huge difference in how you are perceived. Before you put another ad in a local city rag, invest in a decent website with your menu, hours, and photos. You don’t need music or flashy graphics, though. To use a beauty analogy, make-up should be there to accentuate your best features, not hide the fact that you are ugly.

Listen and adjust

It is sometimes frightening when I read reviews on Yelp that are consistently bad over time. Local businesses should be aware of what their customers are saying no matter what, but they should also take the time to adjust the things that need it most. If a dozen reviews blast the bad service, then maybe it is time to figure out how to manage your team better. This is not to say that every customer is going to get what they want (refer to tip #2), but if there are problems that repeat, be sure to get on it ASAP.

Though the customer is not always right, he’s the one who is going to pay your bills at the end of the day. So make his experience as good as it can be. Above all, know that even though you should be listening to the reviews of your customers, they are there to speak to each other. It’s just up to you to overhear their conversations.

(awesome picture via Cat Macros)

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Comments

http://www.gravity7.com/blog/media/ gravity7

Jeremy,

This is a very interesting topic and issue for social media design folks. Yelp suffers from users who try to game the system, and the quality of its reviews not only takes a hit but abuses seem to attract even further abuse. Methods for constraining social participation in ways that discourage or preempt distortions and bias are difficult to come by. But the issue is a hot one.

Should yelp have allowed merchants in from the get go, to create a bit of a checks and balances system (readers, writers, merchants, instead of just readers and writers?). Should it attempt voting, community flagging, or some other method? What's interesting is that in many ways a lot of users aren't really reviewing merchants, but are disclosing themselves.

Yelp provides users a way of creating a personal profile written around what they like and why. It's a way of expressing personal taste, style, and social pastimes and habits. This introduces bias insofar as the review is a form of profile: it's about "me" as much as it's about the merchant I'm reviewing.

I'm sure this was an unintended consequence, but that's often how social media evolve: practices stick that weren't in the intended and designed set of desired outcomes.

The review genre is still learning what works, and what doesn't.
http://virtualimpax.com virtualimpax

Jeremy.

Long ago - when I began my career in "traditional" media and advertising - my mentor taught me that our client's satisfied customers would tell 3 people about a positive experience - and that their dissatisfied customers would tell 12 people about a negative experience.

So the fact that we're more likely to gripe and bitch than rave is nothing new. What IS new is that we now have the every magical land of social media in which to air these gripes and raves. However, unlike the old days - that negative review will not only will spread farther - it will live longer. It will be around to dog the restaurant owner for a LONG long time.

The situation just gets WORSE when they don't have a website. The next unsuspecting tech savvy prospective diner goes online to search for info about the restaurant - they're more likely to see YOUR review than a message lovingly crafted by the restaurant.

This is certainly a case where ignorance is NOT bliss. Many local business owners don't know that Yelp exists. They're equally blissfully unaware that somewhere - a blogger is probably talking about them as well. Again - ignorance is ANYTHING but bliss.

GREAT image by the way!!! PERFECTLY depicts the "issue" many find themselve in today.