Business has changed in many ways, as you obviously know. For example, many of you used to carry—or still carry—large binders around with you to show customers reviews, in hopes of establishing credibility. Of course, now with ever-increasing use of the Internet, most consumers already know what to expect from you BEFORE they call you for service. They’ve read all about you online, using one of the many review websites available.
Yelp.com is one of those sites where consumers can find out about various businesses in their community, including yours, by reading reviews posted by other customers. The businesses themselves cannot control what people post—or so was the intention of Yelp when it was launched.
(Side note: If you haven’t looked at your “online reputation,” you should do so immediately. It may shock or surprise you. But it’s still better to know what people think about your company than to be ignorant.)
A recent study conducted by Harvard and Boston universities found that as many as 16 percent of the reviews posted on Yelp in the Boston-metro area are fake! The posts are being created by owners or employees of restaurants in hopes of giving a stronger impression to readers and potential future customers.
The study went on to say that the incentives created by Yelp and other review sites encourage the practice. And that only makes sense? Who wouldn’t be tempted to hop online, create a fake name, and write pages of text glorifying your business, your employees, and your product/services?
Here’s what the study said exactly: In “Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud,” researchers Michael Luca of Harvard Business School and Georgios Zervas of Boston University explained, “As crowd sourced information becomes increasingly prevalent, so do incentives for businesses to game the system. Our findings suggest that unethical decision making is a function of incentives, rather than of unethical businesses. Organizations are more likely to game the system when they are facing increased competition and when they have poor or less established reputations.”
Newer Businesses Are More Tempted to Fake Yelp Reviews
Newer businesses—or those with few reviews—are more tempted to fake it, the study concludes. Researchers mention a trend for businesses to have larger numbers of positive reviews early in their lifecycle as evidence of this. They also conclude that businesses that recently received a bad review may be more tempted to cheat.
Although Yelp filters reviews identified as suspicious by using a proprietary algorithm, site visitors can still view them by solving a “CAPTCHA™” puzzle, the study explains.
And if you’re caught faking reviews? What many don’t realize is that the penalties can be STIFF. For example, businesses recently caught in “Operation Clean Turf” will face a combined $350,000 in fines for fake reviews. The investigation into alleged fake Yelp reviews began last year by the office of New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
Yelp also recently filed suit against a San Diego law firm claiming the company filed fake Yelp reviews.
How to Establish an Ethically and Legally Safe Strong Online Brand
Online reviews will continue to become more important to your business. It’s only natural, as more people are turning to the Internet every day to find information about businesses before making a purchasing decision. By doing simple Internet searches, you can’t help but be deluged with dozens of review sites.
So, how do you make sure you have positive reviews… without fudging them? The answer is simple, yet it will take a bit of work: Ask your happy customers to leave reviews after every call. It’s that simple. Train your techs and salespeople, once the service has been completed, to ask homeowners to visit a specific site, such as Yelp, and spend a few minutes leaving their comments about your service.
You can ask the individual in your office responsible for conducting “happy calls” to remind homeowners to leave feedback on a site such as Yelp, or whichever site you prefer. The key is not to sound pushy, but to ask in a friendly manner. Explain to homeowners that it’s a big part of your word-of-mouth advertising campaign, and if they have a few moments to spare, you would be very thankful for their time.
Will everyone fill out an online review? No, but those who were really impressed by your service will. Positive reviews will help build your reputation among potential customers looking for information online. Even better, these customer-generated reviews will come from actual customers, not you—and won’t potentially cost you $350,000 in fines!