A Guide to Online Reviews
The Hidden Importance of Google Reviews and how to obtain them.
The same is true when it comes to funeral service. At the time of need, if a family doesn’t know where to go, they turn to the internet. Over 2,000 people every month Google the phrase, “funeral home near me.”
That means that potentially 2,000 families every month don’t know initially which funeral home to use at the time of need. This statistic isn’t surprising when you know that the average American moves 11 times in his/her lifetime. The days of the local funeral home serving the same family for generations are all but gone, and funeral homes need to adapt.
Your online profile is how families in your community not only find you but form an opinion about who you are, and how you do business. Your reviews play a major part in how your community perceives your business. Your rating and number of reviews are the most important factors. But people also look at how you, as a business, respond and interact with reviewers. It reflects what type of business you are.
Here are some tips on managing your reviews. At the end, you’ll find suggestions on gaining more positive reviews.
Positive Reviews
Respond
When someone takes the time to leave a review for your funeral home, especially a positive one, that effort should be rewarded with a response from the funeral home itself. A simple, “It was a pleasure to serve you” or “Thank you for the kind review. We do our best to make sure every family has a positive experience with our staff” goes a long way. It helps the family know that they are still important to you.
Promote
One of the best marketing messages you can have are testimonials from actual customers. Once you have several positive reviews, you now have social proof that you are the type of business that others should want to do business with. Share your positive reviews on your website and tell price shoppers to look at your reviews when making a decision. A strong online reputation is a surefire way to growing your call volume.
Negative Reviews
Just because you got a one-star review, doesn’t mean that you don’t offer excellent service. And it doesn’t mean that you can’t still win business through your reviews. It just means that you have to work a little harder. People understand that there will always be people who find reasons to get upset. How the company deals with those people can help sway a lot of new families your way.
Apologize
The first thing you should do, whether the complaint was real or not is to apologize. When apologizing, acknowledge the frustration or feelings of the customer.
Stay Calm
It can be frustrating to read a negative review. Especially when you know that you went above and beyond for that particular customer. When responding and apologizing, it is important not to let emotions get in the way or to become defensive. Staying calm and maintaining a cool head will ensure that it doesn’t escalate any further.
Offer a Solution
In your response, show that you are willing to make things right. Offer a personalized solution for that specific family. If you are offering the same answer for every family, it won’t seem personal anymore and may come across like you don’t care.
Move Things Offline
The last thing you want to have with a disgruntled customer is a long, back-and-forth dialogue that lives on your online profile forever. The best thing you can do is refer them to someone on your staff who can serve as a customer service rep and help remediate the situation. It’s easier to communicate over the phone and will be more personal for the individual.
How to Gain Reviews
Funeral homes work hard to serve the families in their community and offer a very valuable, important service. Unfortunately, that value is often so personal and infrequent, that it doesn’t always compute in the minds of your families to leave a review.
When trying a new restaurant they like, people are eager to share that with friends and family so they can have the same positive experience. With funeral service, families don’t want their loved ones to experience a funeral soon. This might be why funeral homes have a tougher time obtaining reviews.
That doesn’t mean that the service isn’t appreciated and very valuable; it just means that the funeral home has to be a little more proactive.