You only get one chance to make a first impression.
That line applies to many aspects of life – interviewing for a new job, first dates, meeting the future in laws and …
… customer experiences at your business.
These next few months are crucial to businesses in vacation communities and the communities along the major routes to beach and lakefront towns.
Vacationers have a variety of wants, needs and problems that need to be solved – now!
After all, most really want to be vacationing.
Not having their car repaired, working out financial issues, shopping for medical supplies, or having a tooth pulled. But these things happen – and they will be looking online to see who can best meet their needs in this new place they are visiting.
And then, there are the places they will visit because they are vacationing – hotels, motels and resorts, camp grounds, restaurants and food places of all types (thinking ice cream, here!). Amusement parks and entertainment venues, museums, fishing piers and more.
The Review Process
How do they make the decisions about which places to visit, stay, eat and find entertainment?
How do they find your place of business?
By reading online reviews. At the popular sites such as Yelp, Foursquare and Trip Advisor, and at your social media pages.
On line reviews are critical for the reputation of local business. In the infographic below are 50 stats about online reviews. Here are some of the highlights:
- 92% of consumers now read on line reviews
- 40% of consumers form an opinion by reading one to three reviews
- 88% of consumers form an opinion by reading up to 10 reviews. An important reason to have a lot of reviews!
- 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as they do personal recommendations from family and friends.
- Reliability (27%), expertise (21%) and professionalism (18%) remain the most important attributes to consumers
- 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site which has user reviews
- If a business resolves its issue quickly and efficiently, 95% of unhappy customers return to your business
How to Stand Out
Encourage your customers to write up a review on your website or one of the popular sites mentioned above. Ask them to share their pictures on their social media pages. Ask them what they thought about the service they received – and why! Get feedback!
But most importantly, always make sure your customers’ first impressions and all experiences are memorable and viewed positively.
Next week we’ll tell you ways to make vacationer’s – and regular customers – return again and again!
Tell us how you make a good first impression. Please comment below.
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