Yelp for Retail Business
Tip #455 - Yelp Help
Dear Tip of the Weeker,
Yelp is a nifty tool... just open the Yelp app on your smart phone, type in what your looking for (perhaps a bookstore or a sushi bar,) and wham! up come your choices.
And not just all the choices, but those possible choices reviewed by real people who have been to those businesses and have rated their experiences. When I'm out and about Yelp helps me pick the best stores, restaurants, services, or entertainment - and avoid the bad ones.
In fact, here is how Yelp describes itself, "Yelp is the fun and easy way to find and talk about great (and not so great) local businesses."
That's right, they're talking about you behind your back.
Whether you know it or not, you've probably got a Yelp page and customer reviews. You need to keep tabs on your Yelp reputation, reply to reviews, and make the most of your Yelp page.
While most customers use Yelp on their smart phones, you can easily get there on your computer... http://www.yelp.com.
When you search for your business type in your city (bookstores in Austin, TX for example) your store will probably pop up along with a list of your competitors. Do you have any reviews? Does your competition?
If you are the only one on the list with reviews or if you have better reviews than your competition, you're on the right track.
If you don't have any (or many) reviews, you should ask your customers to review you - send a link to your Yelp page in your e-newsletter or post a sign in your store.
Click on the link to your store page to read your reviews and reply to people who've written reviews about you - good or bad. You can also share great reviews with others.
Be sure to "claim" your business for free. Lots of great features are available when you claim your business - like getting alerts whenever anyone reviews you, or seeing how many people are looking at your page.
You can also add pictures of your store and post other important information customers need to know when they are deciding between you and your competition.
Setting up and monitoring your Yelp page won't take much time and it's just one more way to give yourself a competitive edge!
Wishing you great sales and lots of fun,
