Every local business owner eventually reaches a breaking point with their online reputation.
Either they receive a devastating 1-star review that costs them thousands of dollars in revenue, or they realize their competitor is stealing all their traffic simply because they have 50 more reviews on Google Maps.
When you decide to fix your reputation, you have two choices: Do it yourself (DIY) or use Automated Software. Here is the breakdown of which is best for your business.
The DIY Approach (Manual)
The DIY approach involves manually asking customers for reviews at the point of sale, sending follow-up emails from your personal inbox, and individually replying to every Google review.
Pros:
- Free: It costs absolutely nothing but your time.
- Personalized: You can send highly customized emails to specific clients.
Cons:
- Unscalable: If you serve 50 customers a day, you cannot manually email all of them without going crazy.
- High Risk: When you manually ask a customer for a review and send them a direct link to your Google profile, you are playing Russian Roulette. If they had a bad experience you didn’t know about, you just handed them a megaphone to hurt your business publicly.
- Inconsistent: Business gets busy. When things get chaotic, asking for reviews is the first thing that gets forgotten.
The Automated Approach (Software)
Automated software (like Repuspace) involves setting up a system once, and letting the code do the heavy lifting for you.
Pros:
- The Protective Moat (Intercepting Negative Reviews): This is the biggest advantage of software. Software uses a “Routing Engine.” Instead of asking for a Google review directly, the software asks the customer how their experience was first. If they click 1, 2, or 3 stars, the software hides the Google link and instead shows a private feedback form. This single feature saves businesses from public embarrassment every single day.
- Set It and Forget It: Once your QR codes are printed or your CRM is hooked up, the reviews generate themselves while you sleep.
- Higher Conversion Rates: Software allows you to A/B test messaging and automatically offer rewards (like a 10% discount code) only if the customer leaves a 5-star review.
Cons:
- Cost: It usually requires a monthly subscription (though the ROI of a single intercepted 1-star review usually pays for a decade of the software).
The Verdict
If you have less than 5 customers a week, do it manually. You have the time, and you can highly control the experience.
If you are a high-volume local business (restaurant, salon, plumbing company, retail store) processing dozens or hundreds of customers a week, you must automate. The risk of a public 1-star review is too high, and the time required to manually manage your reputation is too expensive.
Ready to automate your 5-star reviews? Start your free trial of Repuspace today.