Brand advocates are those who enjoy your product or service so much that they’ll happily spread the word about it. The customer’s ability to rate and review a company’s online reputation empowers them to speak out more when they use your service. Turning your customers into brand advocates is an important process since they’re your biggest advertising tool.
Respond to Reviews
Whether is a positive or negative comment it’s best to acknowledge this person took time from their day and make a comment about your business. Of course, when it’s a positive comment a simple, thank you, or sign of gratitude is all that’s needed. The negative comment requires more problem solving and resolution skills. Understand the customer’s core problem, offer an apology, and if a solution can’t be resolved immediately make an attempt to further provide them a resolution offline with a follow-up call. The ability to solve problems in a timely manner breeds loyalty and confidence amongst the other people reading your online review.
Don’t Trash Talk The Competition
Even though you believe your product or service is superior to others it’s equally important not to talk down about your competition. Your objective is to build your brand and sell the benefits of being a loyal customer to potential clients. Tearing down your competition is not an effective way to build your brand and create loyalty. In fact, it usually makes your customer doubt how well your product or service performs. The only way to build brand loyalty is to promote yourself and let your customers decide who has the best product.
Build A Relationship
Building a lasting relationship with your customers isn’t always easy. The key to not only developing a relationship with customers but making it a lasting one is to listen first. Similar to any relationship, communication is key, the more you tune into the needs of your audience needs, the better you’ll be able to meet their needs and make them feel important. This tool is not utilized enough by brands because most of the time companies jump the ahead by talking at their customers but never listening to their feedback.