People are constantly searching online for services that they need. A new chiropractor, pest control service, handyman, accountant, insurance agent, and just about anything else you can imagine!
But how do you guarantee that they call YOUR business and not your #1 competitor across town? You may have great branding, funny commercials, and amazing customer service…BUT there is one thing that can tear it all down with only a 10 second Google search.
Your online reputation.
What are people saying about your agency online? And what are they saying about your competitors? And who will they choose when it’s time to make a phone call?
If you don’t know, it’s time to find out!
We’re going to look at a snapshot of your online reputation in under 30 minutes. Just answer the questions below, fill out the chart, and you’ll quickly be on your way to dominating your local market.
What is online reputation?
When someone searches for an insurance agent on Google, they see the results listed based on what is closest to them. This is called local search and typically shows a map at the top with the business locations, as well as their contact information.
But what else shows up on the search? Have you noticed? It’s the average number of stars that people have given the business and the number of reviews that have been written about them! This is their reputation – also called reviews or testimonials.
Because we’re so used to reading reviews, our brain is trained to judge a business by its star ratings.
Let’s look at a few examples!
Here is a screenshot of local insurance agencies. You’ll notice that the first one has an average of 5 stars (a perfect score) with 8 reviews. (The # of reviews is shown in parentheses after the stars.)
The second agency simply says No Reviews.
And the third agency has 5 stars with 11 total reviews.
Do you think anyone is going to automatically call that second listing? Probably not! Even with a strong brand name like Allstate, he’s giving no local credibility compared to the other two agencies, who appear to be well liked!
Let’s look at another one…
Here are the top 3 local results for plumbers in this city. The first has No Reviews. The second has an average of 4.8 stars with a whopping sixty-nine reviews! And the third has 3.8 stars with 4 total reviews.
Once again, unless a prospect has a strong reason for calling the other two and are just looking for their phone number, the odds are they’re going to choose the very popular and highly rated franchise plumber!
And our final example looks at local chiropractors. Once again, there is a clear reputation winner. The first Dr. has 16 reviews averaging 4.9 stars. The second has one 5-star review and the third has two 5 star reviews.
Now do you see why you could be losing new prospects from Google search? So what are we going to do about it?
Detective Work
First, you must gather some information to see how you stack up.
Don’t worry about if your agency is showing up in the top 3 results for your industry. Local search is dependent on where someone is located – so results will vary based on where the prospect is searching from. (You can test this out by searching from your phone at home, at the office, or at any other random location around town. You’ll see different top results.)
What’s important is your average star rating on Google (and a few other important review sites) and how many reviews have been written.
You’ll go gather this information up online and fill out the handy chart I’ve included below.
Look at your business Google listing, your business Facebook page reviews, Yelp, and any other review site that is critical in your industry. Enter the results in the chart below on the “My Business” line.
Next, decide on your top 3 local competitors. These are the people you compete with the most for business and that you feel could be stealing your prospects! You may have more than 3 and it’s fine to look them up, but I wanted to keep it simple to start.
Look up their information and fill it in the chart below.
Now you should have a pretty clear picture of where you stand. Look at each platform (Google, Facebook, etc.) and compare to your competitors. Is your reputation winning or losing?
If you clearly have the most reviews and overall the highest star rankings – congratulations! People are going to notice your business above the rest. You’ll want to maintain this position and keep getting new, strong reviews from your customers!
But if you DON’T or there isn’t a clear-cut winner – don’t freak out. There is PLENTY you can do to fix it! Your happy customers are always willing to leave great reviews, they just need to be asked and sent in the right direction.
What’s The Next Step?
No matter your situation….it can be improved in a simple, automated way. First step is to see what people are saying about you online now!
Enter your information below and click the Scan My Reviews button to get an instant personalized reputation report and see how your business appears on local review sites.
(See our Privacy Policy here)
Check it out now and let me know if you have any questions!
Create A System
The fastest and easiest way to get great reviews is by asking for them! But it can take a lot of work to make this happen. You need to email or text a client multiple times to remind them to go and leave you a review. And you need an easy way to get them to the right place.
Our new Agency Feedback service is the perfect way to make this happen. In fact, most clients receive multiple 5 star reviews within only a few days of starting! Check out all the details here!