[Webinar Transcript from July 2022]
Hi everybody. Welcome to the webinar today. We're excited you're here. My name is Mckay Allen. Today we're going to talk about Google reviews and provide a bit of a checklist for law firms as you engage with Google reviews. We'll provide a little bit of an overview of who Kenect is what we do. We'll talk about why Google reviews matter and then provide that checklist.
First of all, who is Kenect?
We're a text messaging platform built for law firms throughout North America. Basically we help you communicate more efficiently, generate new leads, conduct video consultations, do all the above via texting. We were recently listed as one of the fastest growing companies on the Inc. 5000 list. We also integrate with the following case management systems and a lot more as well, including LawPay. Now, to be super clear, you don't need to use one of these tools in order to use Kenect, but you can.
So how do we do it? Two-way text messaging for your law firm so you don't need to give out your personal cell number, web leads straight from your website, video chat for virtual consultations, and then online review generation as well. Your clients really do prefer text messaging. 89% of them would prefer to interact with a business via text messaging rather than a phone call. 98% of all text messages are opened. 95% of those are read within three minutes. This is why we're so passionate about texting. It's immediate, it's powerful, and it always works.
Top eight ways firms we're using Kenect. I won't read through these. But bottom line is it's transforming law firms. We're having between 50 and 80 new law firms add Kenect every single month. You can also add the "Text Us" button on your website, which will allow you to instantly send and receive text messages to and from your clients and them to you. Then this is the inbox. So this is how you can text. You can send and receive text messages using this inbox. You can send text messages, receive text messages. It looks and functions a lot like an email inbox, but it's for texting. Then also the Kenect mobile app that will allow you to send and receive text messages to and from the Kenect mobile inbox. You can request reviews, you can request payments, you can schedule messages, all of the above.
Google reviews basics
All right, let's talk Google reviews the basics. So what are they? It's really the primary method for clients to share feedback about your business. Anyone using Google can review your business and leave a star rating, and Google does nothing to ensure that they're your actual client. This is really important to note. Google does not verify.
About Google My Business. So Google allows you to put basic and verified information about your business on the internet. This is used by Google as the central location for verified information about your firm. Your Google My Business page generally receives five times more views than your actual website. This is the location where reviews are left and housed, and it also allows your business to show up in Google results on Google maps. So how can you claim your Google My Business profile? Bottom line is Google your business, Google will then display what it knows about your business, you click on own this business. You'll be prompted to log into your Gmail account, click manage now, and then Google will confirm that you actually are the owner.
So why do Google reviews matter? This is really important to note. Google reviews matter because they matter to clients. Your clients will not choose you, they will not choose any law firm, unless you have good reviews. 93% of clients choose reviews as the first step in choosing a firm, 91% trust reviews as personal recommendations. Your clients really do care. Most people will not take action until they read reviews.
Number two is because they matter to Google. 97% of people go to Google when they want to find a law firm. They don't go to Yelp, they don't go to Avo, they don't go to Facebook. They go to Google. Google determines the order in which firms are listed based on ratings and reviews. You'll often see Google list the map first and organic listings, then something like the best law firms. You'll sometimes see paid listings, paid ads, then the map. Here's what I want you to remember. All those things don't matter because the thing that matters is getting reviews. Why? Because that's still the thing that generates the most clicks.
Why does Google care so much about reviews? Well, they have one job, and that job is to produce results the searcher wants to see. So if you are Google, that's what you're trying to accomplish is just provide them the best business that they're trying to find. The only way you can do that, the only way you know to do that, is by producing the businesses or showing the best businesses that have the best reviews.
How can you deal with negative Google reviews?
I want to talk about that briefly. I want to just briefly hit on each of these. How common are they? It's about one in 50 reviews are negative we find with law firms. Family law firms generally have a worse ratio than that. Everybody else does a little bit better. Tips for avoiding bad reviews. You can easily and quickly mitigate them. You probably can't avoid them completely. So what not to do when you get a bad review is probably the thing you want to do the most, and that is put them in their place, argue with them. Don't do that. What you should do is reply, but reply with something like, "Thanks for the review. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. My name's Jim. I'm the managing partner at the firm. I'd love to speak with you directly." The key, though, and I want you to remember this, is to bury bad reviews with good ones. You could have the best negative review strategy in the world, and it doesn't matter if you're not actively getting more positive reviews constantly.
So how can you get more positive reviews? What do your clients want to see? They want to see quantity and they want to see recency. You've got to have enough reviews and you've got to have recent reviews. So how can you get more positive ones? This is the part to remember. Number one is build a process. This process does not need to be some 12-page document that has all this detail in it. It can be very simple, very easy, and it just needs to have the following questions answered. Who do you ask? Do you ask everybody or just those that like you? How do you ask? Do you text, do you email, do you ask in person? When do you ask? Do you ask after the case, during the case? Who's in charge of asking? Determine an owner for the process. I would strongly suggest asking via text. If you email, you're going to get a one to two percent response rate. If you text, you're going to get between a 38 and 58% response rate. You should always text. Then as I say on here multiple times, put someone in charge of this.
Send a text. It's got your logo, it's got a text message here, send the text message, select the review site, select Google or Facebook, post the review. It's really simple and really easy. All right, if you remember nothing else, remember this. Take control. Do not let angry clients determine your online reputation. You have to get your great clients to leave reviews so you've got to be aggressive. Be aggressive and go get reviews. It's vitally important that you do so.
If you're interested in learning more, you can text us or call us at (888) 972-7422. We'd love to work with you, whether it's with Kenect or just on getting reviews generally. Thanks everybody. Bye-bye.
