Tea at the Ritz

What follows is a promise and, we suppose, a challenge.

Recently we have won competitive pitches for the review management accounts at some of the UK's premier estate agencies.

We would like to think we are the equivalent of 'tea at the Ritz' in the professional review management business:

• not the biggest
• nor the cheapest 
• but the best 

But now we part company with that venerable Hotel. While not everyone can have tea at the Ritz (you have to be in the West End of London to begin with - and the price may discourage some) there are very few businesses that cannot afford our Dialogue™. More importantly there are very few businesses that can afford not to embrace professional review management. And professional review management means Dialogue™.

Take ten minutes to read some of these articles and then decide for yourself:

1. Reviews matter: if your first question about reviews is "Why do we need them?" then this is the article for you. It shows you what Harvard Business School and Cornell University found when they both commissioned studies into consumer behaviour and reviews
2. Case Histories: the business which is the subject of this article started out with no reviews at all. Here's another take on the same story (this time showing results for all their branches)
3. Many people reading this will be wary of inviting reviews unless they attract unfair or misleading negatives: read this reassuring story about a lovely B&B in Cornwall that fell victim to an online troll, making it all the way to the national press.
4. What is the point of reviews if they are not written by genuine customers? Credibility is key, and "You cannot believe their reviews" shows you how you can demonstrate that
5. You need to understand why your business needs reviews on its own website and on Google. This article goes some way, and "Reviews: Your customers' journey" shows you just how your potential customers 'consume' reviews. If you think independent review sites are the way ahead read "Independent review sites - yesterday's answer"

That last link uses the Ritz as an example of just why it is so important to make a great first impression on Google.

And finally: 

This is the 507th article on this blog. That's heading towards a million words on the subject of professional review management - all publicly published for anyone to read - and comment on. If you go back to the dark days at the turn of the decade you will see some of our advice and predictions - and be able to judge for yourself just how 'professional' we are.

Happy reading!