Local businesses have a big problem today. The Internet has lowered the barrier to entry. This means more competition fighting for roughly the same pie. Of course, there are new markets that have been created in some industries which have increased the size of the pie. But, the fact remains that standing out from the competitors in the industry and rising above them as the preferred choice is what a business must do in order to compete and win. This is where Jack Schoenberger comes in, to “position” these local businesses.
“Let’s get into this whole idea of the ‘me too’ mentality,” Schoenberger says, “It’s very confusing for business owners online right now because things change so rapidly. The one thing that doesn’t change that’s unique to each business is their reputation. Unfortunately, even companies with great five-star reputations aren’t marketing that. If they actively start marketing that, it’s the one thing that can help them stand out.”
“However,” he adds, “It’s of little use if you don’t have a process for both what to do and how to do it.” Schoenberger explains, “We have a feedback form we install on the client’s websites, then we encourage our client to ask their customers and clients to fill it out. Our client can set the software to notify them if the feedback is one or two stars so the company can fix the problem. If the customer leaves a four or five star review our system can be set up to notify the customer to please post it publicly on Google, Yelp, or other review sites.”
Schoenberger recommends using a combination of customer service people verbally asking for reviews, technicians handing out review cards that have the URL or a QR code to make it easy for customers, and reminder e-mails. He feels these are the way for businesses to go in today’s environment. “As busy as people are, it’s hard to get good results without using multiple communication channels,” Schoenberger adds.
Another differentiator companies can do is set up systems to track their advertising. Many companies do this, but it’s surprising how many others don’t. Very few companies actually have different and specific tracking numbers on each type of advertising so they can track their phone calls.
“I just formed a relationship with a dentist out of North Carolina. His biggest frustration was not being able to track his ROI on phone calls. He paid money to hire tech guys and develop his own software he’s named Call Tracker ROI. He’s a full-time dentist so is marketing the software through resellers. I just got approved as a reseller,” Schoenberger says.
Business owners should make it an organizational priority to ask for and market their positive reviews and five-star reputation. Second, owners should start tracking their website ads as well as what advertising is spurring people to call in. Standing out in today’s crowded business environment is the royal road to dominating an industry.
Learn more at Jack Schoenberger