How businesses benefit from reputation management companies

A business’s reputation has always been essential to attract leads and drive revenue. And in today’s digital world, nearly every business has its reputation on full display online. A bad reputation can turn potential customers away and drive them towards your competitors instead. 

If you’re looking to build or improve your online reputation, you might not know where to begin. That’s where reputation management companies come in. They’re specifically designed to help businesses build and maintain a solid reputation. 

In this blog, we’ll show you how reputation management companies provide a massive benefit for businesses of all sizes and industries. We’ll also show you what makes a reputation management company great and how to find the right one for your business.

What is reputation management software?

When you’re looking for a certain product or service, your first move is likely to go online and search for the highest-rated businesses. You’ll search for businesses with glowing, five-star reviews to decide which is most likely to meet your needs. 

Reputation management software helps your business gain and maintain reviews to build a stellar online presence so customers choose you over the competition. Standard features of the best reputation management platforms are review generation, review management, and review marketing. These three functions help businesses generate more reviews from happy customers, monitor and respond to all reviews, and display their positive reviews online for potential customers to see.

Difference between reputation management software and company

Reputation management companies can seamlessly manage your reputation using software or a dedicated team of employees. So, which is best for your business?

Reputation management software gives you control of the entire process in-house. The software company will provide and integrate the software with your customer relationship management (CRM) system, offer onboarding and training, and give you the means to manage your process from review acquisition to management and marketing.

Other reputation management companies will have a team of employees handling your online reputation off-site. The proposed benefit of having an experienced team managing your reputation is expertise. A company that manages your reputation with an established team and the right tools knows what they’re doing and doesn’t leave you to come up with a plan to boost your reputation. 

However, if you’re relying on personal expertise to help you build your reputation, you may see the quality of service fluctuate as the team loses experienced employees and gains new hires. This is something that you don’t have to worry about with a reputation management software as you’re provided with the tools and training you need to manage your repuation on your own.

Depending on how hands-on you want to be in your reputation management, software or a firm may work best for you. Both of these options fall under the umbrella of reputation management companies, but one provides you the software you need and hands you the reins, while the other relies on a team that takes the process on their own.

White label reputation management software

Another form of reputation management software, white label reputation management software offers the same benefits as those mentioned above, but they can be re-branded to fit your company, and the needs of your customers.

For example, let’s say a company needs a online reputation management software like Birdeye to get more reviews. If that software is offered as white-label, there will be no Birdeye branding in its code, or on the front-end of the software.

The business that was sold or rented the software can customize the software for the direct needs of their customers, and add their branding to it. So, the software itself would be created by Birdeye, but nobody interacting with the software would know it was made by Birdeye. Instead, the name and branding or the company using the software would be displayed as if it was developed by them.

The business can then resell the white label reputation management software as their own. This can be a great way to generate more revenue and tailor the software precisely for the needs of their clients.

Why businesses need reputation management companies

You might think you can handle your business’s online reputation on your own – but it’s not always practical to generate, monitor, and market your online reviews as your business grows. Managing your own online reputation can potentially take time and resources away from other important aspects of running your business.

Reputation management companies can do the heavy lifting while you continue to do what’s necessary to make your business successful. The larger your business is, the more time and resources it takes to manage your reputation in-house. Online reputation management companies have the experience and technology needed to create a strong reputation no matter the size of your business.

What to expect from a respectable reputation management company

Ethical practices

Some companies have shady practices that will help grow your reputation in theory, but use methods that are either frowned upon or downright illegal. That’s why it makes sense to make sure the company helping you build a great online reputation has an excellent reputation themselves.That means acquiring genuine reviews from real customers, adhering to the guidelines that sites like Google put in place, and staying within legal boundaries set by the FTC.

Full transparency

It’s also important that the company you choose is fully transparent in the methods they use to build your online reputation. Reputation management is a measurable service. The company you consider should have examples of previous customers who they’ve successfully helped and how they did it. If they aren’t willing to share how they reach their success, you should consider that a red flag and find someone else.

Industry expertise

Make sure the company you consider has specific expertise in the industry your business is in. While many reputation management companies can help just about any business boost its image online, certain companies have experience and expertise in particular industries. You’ll want to find the right one that knows your industry in and out and can add that expertise to your reputation management plan.

Solutions for specific channels

Depending on the size of your business, a reputation management company should have a specific solution that will boost your online reputation. For example, if you’ve just started a local business in your hometown, you won’t need the same solution as a fully established enterprise. Some reputation management companies are specialized in smaller or larger business solutions while others are designed to handle the smallest mom-and-pop shops up to the largest enterprises. Find the one that’s right for your business to get the best reputation management strategy. 

How to choose a great reputation management software or company

No matter your size or industry, you need to pick the right reputation management company for you in order to improve your online reputation. Here are some things to consider when choosing a solution for your business.

They focus on your customers

Nothing is more important for your business’s reputation than building solid customer relationships. The right reputation management company will use all of their resources to make the relationships with your customers shine. That includes requesting reviews from happy customers, monitoring and managing reviews from all review sources, offering seamless communications, streamlined payment options, and more. Providing all of these tools will help you generate a visibly positive relationship with your customers online, which will boost your online reputation.   

They offer consistent communication

Any worthwhile reputation management company knows that building and keeping a solid online reputation is an ongoing process. Rather than hand you the tools you need and wish you well, a reputable company will remain on hand for all of your needs throughout your reputation management process. Whenever you face a challenge, need technical support, or just need a better understanding of your current process, a great reputation management company will be there to help at a moment’s notice.

Their reputation is stellar

If you want to choose a company that is going to help you build a great reputation for your business online, they better have a strong reputation themselves. If you do your research, you’ll see that Birdeye is the most-awarded reputation management solution according to G2. Not only that, more than 150,000 businesses trust Birdeye with growing their business’s reputation to new heights with a range of solutions to best fit businesses of all sizes. There are plenty of companies that help you manage your online reputation, but none come close to the standard and esteem of Birdeye.

Frequently asked questions about reputation management companies

Make your reputation shine with Birdeye

Birdeye has proven to be the best reputation management platform available year after year. As a direct Google partner, Birdeye seamlessly integrates with Google’s private API making the review generation process more streamlined than any other review management company in the industry. If you want to find out how Birdeye can help you get more reviews and build your online reputation, click the banner below. 

This blog post is part of our Online Reputation Management Guide:




        
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