The start of the new year is a great time for home care agency owners to reflect on lessons learned over the past year, and to resolve to make positive changes as a result. If there’s one change we’d encourage you to consider, it’s making sure you’re enhancing your agency’s online reputation through the use of online reviews.
Consumers are turning to – and trusting – review sites in higher numbers than ever before, and those reviews make an impact. Recent studies reveal that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Additionally, the 2016 Home Care Benchmarking Study from Home Care Pulse confirms that reputation is one of the top five reasons consumers select a home care agency.
These tips can help ensure you’re building a solid reputation for your agency:
- Set up Profiles on Review Sites: Clients can’t leave a review for your agency if they can’t find it, so the first step is to set up your agency’s profile on top review sites, like Google+, Yahoo, Yelp, Facebook, etc., as well as home care specific review sites like Caring.com.
- Ask Your Clients for Reviews: According to BrightLocal’s 2016 consumer survey, the majority of consumers will leave a review for a business if requested. Your clients are receiving much-needed services, and as long as you’ve provided great service, they’ll be more than happy to leave you a glowing review in return.
- Use RISE for More Positive Client Reviews: RISE (Reputation Improved – SEO Enhanced) is a program created by corecubed to help busy home care providers generate more positive client feedback and turn it into online reviews. With RISE, clients, family members, agency employees, referral sources, etc. receive emails requesting their feedback. Those who provide positive feedback are then asked to leave an online review on the sites of your choice, making it easy for them to do so. And when someone leaves negative feedback, rather than being asked to leave an online review, the person is directed to a page asking for suggestions on how your agency can make improvements.
Contact the award-winning home care marketing experts at MOST to learn more about the RISE program or for more tips on helping your agency shine in the new year!
