Image via Wikipedia

Don’t you hate one-way streets? Up until a month ago Google Places’ review feature was a one-way street. Clients/customers/guests/patients/vendors could find a business’ listing in Google Places and write a review; however, the business owner had no way to effectively respond to the review.  That all changed on August 4, 2010.

Old news? No. This is important news that warrants repeating, because in the scheme of things your business lifeline is your reputation. I don’t care what kind of business you own and/or operate; repeat customers and customer referrals provide the most effective return on investment (ROI).

I have written about Google Places. Dick Fay has written about reviews and how to work with them. At least once per day I read a blog post about reviews, like Mack Collier’s most recent post Think negative comments/reviews online hurt your company? Guess again.

Today I want to assist you in learning more about how to use this new review response feature to your advantage (HINT: all you need to know is at your fingertips in this link). And I am not just talking about negative reviews. Take the time to thank your clients who take the time to write a positive review.

Going forward:

• If you are a Webconsuls’ client and you need help claiming and verifying your business listing on Google Places please contact me. It is important that YOU claim and verify your listing.
• If you are not a Webconsuls’ client and want to learn more about our services, we make it easy for you to contact us. We look forward to meeting you.

Google is now letting us drive on a two-way street, let’s see if we can convert every reviewer into an advocate or at least clear the bottleneck. Can we do it?