Our Experience with Yelp

From my experience as a customer, Yelp owners have reached out to me on a few occasions after I had given them good reviews on their business. After thanking me for the four or five-star rating, they would ask me to “Like” them on Facebook (They also provided their Facebook links for easy access). These businesses easily integrated their social media marketing strategy with Yelp and it worked! Without hesitation, I clicked on the link and added myself as another follower to their business page. Why?

1. They made it easy for me to find their Facebook.
2. I was already a fan of their service, so why not be a fan on Facebook? 
3. Their responses affirmed that my reviews were actually being read and made me feel as if the businesses really cared about the opinions of their customers, so I was happy to extend the favor by liking their pages. 

Believe it or not, “Yelping” or reviewing is fun for customers because people are always looking for their voice to be heard on topics that they are knowledgeable about. Yelp allows customers to create lists of favorite places and to bookmark business they haven’t been to yet. This way, satisfied customer refers your business to their friend, this now potential customer can bookmark your business and refer back to it on Yelp.

1. Yelp has 100 million monthly unique visitors
2. 99% of Yelp users are not on the site to casually browse; they intend to spend money at local businesses
3. Every star you get in Yelp’s five-star maximum rating leads to a 5-9% jump in revenues.

Your goal in using this social network: Bring in as many positive reviews as you can to boost your business’ credibility.

How do you generate several positive reviews?

After you’ve successfully set up a Yelp business page, look to the faithful customers you already have. Potential customers are eager to know how people like themselves view your business. This is why you should ask your current customers to rate and review your business through Yelp. Building up a collection of positive reviews also will help buffer you in case you receive a less than favorable review.

How do you ask your customers to give you a review?

Kristin Morrison, author of Six-Figure Pet Sitting Academy, advises that you should send out a short e-mail to clients you have in mind. In this email you should:

1. Thank your clients for being loyal customers.
2. Request for them to review your business via Yelp.
3. Let them know that it only takes two minutes to become a Yelp member.
4. Encourage clients to review five or more businesses on Yelp to maintain an active status so that their reviews will be shown. (Yelp does not show reviews by inactive members.)
5. Remind them that they can review your business more than once, which will increase your star rating.
6. Tell them that customers can also “check-in” to your business, which puts your business profile on their Yelp feed.

How do you deal with negative reviews?

Don’t try to respond the same day. Take another day or two to get over the initial shock of receiving a negative review and ask yourself why the customer may have written a negative review in the first place. Think back and try to remember when this customer came in. Were they in a bad mood to begin with? Did you have certain employees on the floor at that time? Recalling the incident this unhappy customer is referring to will help you form your response that addresses the customer’s concerns in a professional manner.

You are able to send private or public messages to your Yelp reviewers. We recommend that you message them privately so that they do not put any other complaints on public display.

Perhaps you will be able to remedy the unfortunate situation by offering a special discount or a free service so that they might try your business out again and hopefully have a better experience the next time around. If you are able to make your way back to this customer's good side, politely ask them if they would mind taking down the review. 

Remember that one bad review does not counteract the good that you have brought to the pet community. However, multiple bad reviews should not be overlooked. Use these reviews as opportunities to improve your business and the customer’s experience. Always try and keep the number of unfavorable reviews balanced by more good reviews. If you receive a negative review, it is worthwhile to ask several of your loyal customers to review you on Yelp if they haven’t already.

Benefits

Free advertising for your business through a Yelp profile complete with your standard information, description, and business photos (added by you and your customers).

Once you have five or more reviews, you can add the Yelp badge to your site, which will not only encourage more people to review your business, and will add credibility to your business’ reputation.

Publicly shared referrals in the form of reviews, this will lead to more potential customers.

A backlink to your website through a popular social network filled with pet owners looking for pet services.

Pictures of happy pets that are a direct result of your business’ services.


Yelp is your online reputation laid out in reviews. It’s better to have a reputation than to not be recognized at all. This free business profile will increase your visibility in the local community and soon all you’ll need to worry about is if you have enough staff members to handle the new customers. Luckily you’ll have your handy kennel software to check them all in!

Throw Us a Bone!

Would you give Yelp a positive or negative review? What techniques have you used to garner positive reviews or deal with negative ones?


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