The value of both favorable and unfavorable online reviews left on your credit union’s website continues to grow with each passing day. One of the most effective resources for gaining new and potential customers today is to let them read about different people’s experiences using the same product or service. In fact, according to a survey conducted, 90% of customers research online reviews before considering employing the services of a credit union.
Online review marketing and online reputation management aren’t just fresh concepts for modern credit unions; they’re critical for influencing the public image. That is why understanding why and how to obtain online reviews for your credit union may be so beneficial. As a credit union, you face not just local rivalry for customers, but also online competition from major financial institutions. In the courting stage for prospective members and new clients, your web presence and online reviews become increasingly important.
For this reason alone, we have prepared this helpful guide on how to earn more online reviews for credit unions.
How to Earn More Online Reviews?
Now that we’ve agreed on the significance of online reviews for credit unions, the logical next question is: How can we earn more favorable reviews? Obviously, delivering better products and services than larger organizations is one method to increase the likelihood of favorable reviews. You shouldn’t, however, stop there.
Make Sure You Are Listed
Claim and completely fill out your listing on all the major sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp so the possibilities for receiving a review are readily accessible and simple to find. Then pay attention to all types of online feedback you are receiving and make certain that you respond to every review, both good and bad. An additional bonus tip here is to try and target financial-services-specific review sites aimed at customers in possession of credit union accounts.
Ask for the Review
It may come as a surprise to hear how eager customers are to leave a review if you simply ask them to. But when is the most suitable time to ask for one? According to studies, people are more likely to leave a review for a financial institution after having recently interacted with it. You can include your kind request for a review in any text or email following that engagement.
Keep Your Responses Authentic
Consumers have learned to be on alert for suspicious online conduct in recent years, which means that even positive reviews on social platforms may not be as convincing as they once were. If the reviews aren’t genuine, they have no weight, and the same tone of voice applies to how the credit union replies to their reviews.
Be true to the voice of your credit union. Be conservative and kind on social media if your brand is conservative and kind. The key here is for your online presence to show the true values your credit union carries. In addition, this is an amazing way to build trust and long-term relationships with your clients.
Go the Extra Mile
Certain complaints, for instance, one concerning a loan approval, cannot be resolved satisfactorily. However, at the very least, the credit union can explain why the decision was reached and how all policies were consistently followed.
Furthermore, credit unions can easily remedy other typical complaints, like a check or deposit delay or even a fraud warning lockout, even if it means deviating from the policy. When a member is facing an issue, it’s critical to be sympathetic to their plight – no matter how poor the review they gave.
Handling Negative Online Reviews
Addressing an online review or any type of online feedback should always be a number one priority and a task that is handled strategically, with a well-thought response.
This is even more important when a negative review is left on a local website of a credit union, due to the immediacy of its potential client base. Consumers want confirmation that whatever the issue was, it was resolved positively in the event that anything similar happened to them.
It’s easy to believe that a negative review would automatically hurt your web ranking and lead to further negative publicity. While a negative review is nothing to celebrate, how it is handled can and will make a significant difference.
Simply reacting to online reviews, both positive and negative, is rewarded by search engine algorithms. They can actually tell when a company makes an effort to acknowledge and respond to customer/member concerns and reviews.
In some circumstances, this has the added benefit of converting a member’s poor rating to a good one, which is even more useful.
