Since online reviews are one of the main components of an online reputation, it makes sense to know how to respond to them, if at all. Most review sites are open to anyone, whether or not they have been proven to be a client or customer of your mortgage company.
On top of that, many allow for anonymous reviews or let users place their reviews under a pseudonym, so in most cases, you won't know for sure who left the review, making a response tricky.
With that said, responding to reviews is one of the best ways to control them, in a sense. You can explain facts or leave a standard customer service-based response. Monitoring your online reviews should be a daily task, as it won't take up much time but will greatly impact how people view your company. Here are a few other tips.
Don't Delete Negative Reviews
While you can't delete negative reviews on every site, you do have the power to do so on some of them. Although it might be tempting just to delete those reviews as they pop up, you shouldn't. Why? Not only will a screen full of nothing but positive reviews look suspect since no company is completely perfect, but doing so is now illegal.
People generally tend not to like companies that delete negative reviews. They view it as if the company has something to hide. Plus, without any room for criticism, it presents a view of the business as if the owner doesn't want to improve or change. Both of these are viewed negatively.
Instead of deleting those negative reviews, simply leave them up. Removing them will cause more damage than the reviews themselves, making it clear that the company is problematic in one way, shape, or form.
Reading those reviews may hurt, but they do have a purpose, and your business will seem more honest if they're left intact.
Don't Pay for Positive Reviews
Another thing that many companies do is pay for positive reviews. They'll go onto a short-term gig platform and offer writers a certain amount of money if they write and publish a positive review of the business. Not only is this unethical, but in most cases, potential customers can see right through these reviews.
Why are they so obvious? For one, the reviews don't contain any pertinent information about the company's mortgage lending process. They are generic. Secondly, the reviews tend to be absolutely glowing, with no negative or realistic descriptions whatsoever. This makes it clear that they aren't real.
The damage of fake reviews can be myriad. It makes it seem as though the mortgage lender doesn't trust its customers enough to create real reviews or that the company is adding these fake reviews to push some negative ones down the list to the point where people won't scroll down and see them.
Plus, the company as a whole will seem untrustworthy, which is not something you want to see when looking for a mortgage. People prefer a reputable business that's also honest. So, in the end, don't pay for fake reviews.
Watch How You Respond to Reviews
You've undoubtedly seen companies go viral for leaving rude responses to customers' negative reviews. Although those businesses get a lot of attention for the act, they aren't something you want to emulate.
After all, there's such a thing as negative attention. For a mortgage lender, this negative attention can be the difference between staying in business and closing up shop.
If you want to apply to reviews, ensure your response is honest. You don't want to post something like "please contact us to see how we can fix this situation" if you don't intend to do so. The reviewer might go through and leave a response to your response, stating that you didn't follow through!
Instead, use professional language, address the complaint, and do everything you can to find a solution, even if you have to reach out to the customer outside of the review box.
The more professional and approaching you are, the better your company will look in the eyes of your potential customers. Everyone likes to see a business that's willing to improve.
Be Ready for Improvement
Use your reviews as a method of positive criticism. Your customers are literally telling you how you can improve. If they waited on hold for too long, you could take steps to fix that. If one of your customer service reps was rude, you could do something about that.
Sure, customers often complain about things you can't fix, such as high-interest rates or limited mortgage amounts and products, but if they mention something that can be addressed, do something about it. Rather than seeing these negative reviews as a personal attack, you should see them as creative criticism.