You don't need to leave reviews out of your marketing mix

Stockbroker and wealth manager Charles Stanley has invested heavily in a multi-media marketing and advertising campaign it is calling 'Conversation Starters'.

Anyone who has been out and about in London over the past months will have seen:

And...

They also have a Google PPC campaign running, so appearing - and looking good - in Google searches is important for them:

They conduct customer surveys, and the results are great, and those findings are harnessed  for use in social media campaigns:

So what? Now let's look at the consumer journey - potential investor, in this instance - once their appetite has been well and truly whetted by everything your see above:

The initial search...

...shows the business scoring 4.0 out of 5 with one review. Maybe that review will be helpful?

...not really! And the story is the same for their twenty-two locations across the UK.

Now, we are guessing that Charles Stanley would address this 'Google reviews deficit' if it found the right mechanism, given that achieving critical mass with Google reviews is proven to drive so many clicks and calls. It certainly has a fertile field to plough with over 800 staff and many thousands of clients, so what do we suppose is stopping it currently?

Professional businesses, whether they be in the medical, legal or financial world (or any other service - as opposed to product - arena; estate agency, architecture and so on) need a mechanism that levels the playing field between their customer (client/patient etc.) and their business, otherwise they will be putting their hard-won reputations on the line.

And Charles Stanley is certainly not alone; here are screenshots of the Google review panels of five significant wealth management businesses, all Google PPC advertisers, that are seen by everyone who searches:

The solution

As ever - with apologies to our regular readers - the solution revolves around moderation (for a definition see here). Let's look first at the aspects of reviews - especially Google reviews - that give businesses like Charles Stanley warranted cause for concern:

1. that consumers - clients or IFAs in this instance - will write factually inaccurate reviews
2. that they may write misleading reviews - reviews where the facts are not in dispute but the general thrust of the review is open to misinterpretation
3. that dissatisfied clients will write disproportionately more reviews than happy clients
4. that the business will have no chance to correspond with the reviewer and correct errors of fact pre-publication
5. that the critical business/client personal relationship will be undermined

One by one...

1.  This does happen, and is always picked up in moderation of the review is written through HelpHound. We act as a mediator between the reviewer and the reviewed business. Reviewers welcome this part of our service as much as businesses - unsurprisingly, when you think about it: few reviewers actively want to publish inaccurate or misleading statements about a business.

2.  Ditto point 1. above. And that includes ensuring that the English is comprehensible.

3.  Only the case if either a) the business is inept at customer relationship management (CRM) or b) the business is not proactive in inviting reviews from its clients. Part of HelpHound's role is to ensure that the business and its staff are confident in inviting reviews from their customers.

4.  This is part of HelpHound's core offering: the ability to do just this. The quality - in terms of helpfulness to subsequent readers of the individual reviews - is paramount. 

5.  Extensive experience has shown that professional review management reinforces a business's CRM, not the other way around. It acts as a great marketing tool on the one hand and a valuable early warning of customer dissatisfaction on the other.

Just compare the search results above with those from any HelpHound client, and we're sure you will see what we mean. Looking good on Google - in terms of reviews - is massively reassuring for those making one of the biggest financial decisions of their life, whether that be investing capital or buying property.

The reviews themselves...

And the not inconsiderable contribution to the business leading local search:

So: HelpHound gives service businesses and the professions a safe and secure way of engaging with reviews. With a host of advantages (see 'Further reading' below) but with the objective of driving more business through search and the business's own website always at the core of everything we do:

This is the Google My Business monthly report for just one branch of a client business, for the month after full implementation of our service, showing the 'HelpHound effect'. Imagine what these numbers could do for your business.

Further reading:

• 'Visits up 27 percent thanks to HelpHound': a typical case history
• 'ABC of reviews - Our pitch to you': a full explanation and guide