How to Get a 5 Star Google Rating
This post will go into detail about the best way to get and keep a 5 star Google rating for your business. If you have any questions about the information in this post or would like to inquire about our negative review removal service, contact us at (866) 993-1674 or info@truesocialmarketing.com
If you are a business owner (with a conscience), leaving a client or customer dissatisfied with your product or service is a huge bummer. I know for me personally, as a business owner making money is a byproduct of delivering a great product and not the overarching objective. The only thing that can make losing or upsetting a client worse is when they leave a negative review, not only have you now let a client down, but you let them down in such a profound way they felt the need to tell the world.
When this happens, as a business owner you need to take stock of the situation, evaluate where you fell short, make the necessary adjustments to try an ensure it does not happen again, and finally, apologize to the client. After all, we are all human and make mistakes. I know that seems trite, but it is easy as a consumer to think of a business, especially a large or important business as being run by infallible robots. The reality is that all professions, no matter the level of education required or money being made, are run by people, flawed, imperfect, people.
HOWEVER! All relationships, including working relationships, are a two-way street. As a business owner we have all come across client’s who were born dissatisfied, the kids today call them “Karen”, most of us just call them a-holes.
All business owners know this type of client, but for the sake of clarity, lets lay out the basic attributes:
- Rude during any interaction where they do not feel like they have the upper hand.
- Plays mind games and or lies about their interactions with your business to try and improve their odds of getting something at a discount or all together free.
- Makes idle threats about legal action or negative reviews to keep you “in check”.
- Has unrealistic or even implausible expectations of you and your company.
- Acts as if they are the first and only client who has ever spent money with you and as such has now become company royalty.
Simply put, these are the clients that require you to take a deep breath and brace yourself when you see their name on caller ID. Unfortunately for any business owner with a Google Star Rating, the Karen’s of this world are the only clients that are likely to leave a review without being prompted. In today’s world, fair or not, your Google Star Rating is gospel to all potential future clients and as such needs to be a high priority.
But enough pontificating, if you’re reading this article, it is to learn the best way to get and keep a 5 star rating on Google, so lets get into it.
1. Be more selective about your clients / customers and know when to back away slowly.
These impossible to please clients we are talking about almost always have red flags from the word go. Keep an eye out for and avoid getting into working relationships with these people all together. Things like asking for special treatment, oversharing personal tales of woe, making rude comments, and my favorite, explaining how all previous companies or business partners have let them down or cheated them.
As the saying goes “If you run into an a-hole in the morning, you ran into an a-hole. If you run into a-holes all day, you’re the a-hole.”. When you see one or more of these red flags, take whatever action is necessary to end the transaction before it begins, even if you’re going to take a small loss.
2. Actively ask clients for feedback on Google.
Most clients, no matter how satisfied they are, will not leave a review. The simple act of asking a client for honest feedback will dramatically increase the odds of you getting positive Google Star Ratings. Even if you have a few already, never stop asking. Think of all these positive reviews as body armor. This way when you inevitably run into a Karen and get a 1-star review for not returning their call at 11:00 pm on Saturday, it does not hurt as much.
Consumers are not dumb, if the overwhelming majority of your reviews are positive, they will see the few 1-star reviews for what they are, crazy outliers and not the rule.
3. Maintain steady and honest communication with clients.
Most dissatisfied clients, (Karens excluded) just want to know they are being heard. A simple phone call and a genuine apology can go a long way in keeping things from escalating to the point of a bad Google Review.
4. Get any inaccurate or dishonest negative Google reviews taken down. (Yes, this can be done.)
When some bag of mixed nuts or a competitor leaves a dishonest review on Google, there are a few things you can do to try and get it taken down.
This is where I am supposed to slyly steer you toward contacting True Social Marketing for more information, but I am going to skip that part and just say that we are a business and as such do not give out hard won knowledge for free.
If you have bad reviews on Google that are inaccurate, untrue, misplaced, or embellished and would like to try and get them removed, give us a call at (866) 993-1674 .
We also do SEO PR and can help to hide or remove negative articles or websites that show up on search engines when you or your business are searched. (We DO NOT offer this service for results pertaining to criminal charges or convictions.)
