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Franchise business owners often assume that, because they’re part of a beloved national brand, having a lot of positive online reviews isn’t necessary and more of a “nice-to-have.” After all, the brand already has built-in awareness, professionally produced marketing, and robust corporate resources. One might think that is enough to bolster their business’s reputation and drive traffic and sales, but unfortunately, that is far from the case.
As an expert in online reviews marketing, I’ve seen franchisees struggle to overcome negative customer feedback on Yelp, Google, and other online reviews platforms too many times to count. With today’s consumers prioritizing businesses that display authenticity, quality, and care for community, franchisees who overlook the power of local online reviews for their locations are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. Even worse, they are losing business to more reputation-savvy competitors.
From my experience of working with hundreds of franchise locations throughout North America for nearly a decade, here are several key reasons why generating a steady stream of positive online reviews should be a top priority for any franchisee.
A common challenge franchise businesses face is the perception of being “just another chain” of a big corporate enterprise. In their defense, consumers have no easy way to tell whether a location is corporate-owned or a locally owned franchise. Often, consumers see franchises as faceless operations without the heart or personal touch of a local mom-and-pop business. “Shop local” campaigns can also often steer customers away from national brands.
High volumes of positive online reviews across multiple review sites have the power to upend that narrative and demonstrate your local presence in the community, particularly in the responses to reviews. When customers write about a friendly cashier, local business owner they encountered, motivational instructor or coach, or clean and well-managed facility, it humanizes – and localizes – your business. You’re no longer just another “corporation exploiting the local community.”
Because many consumers don’t realize that franchises are often locally owned businesses, they typically can’t distinguish between the reputation among different franchise (or corporate) locations nearby when reading reviews.
If a sister location a few miles away from you has an abundance of negative reviews, it’s more than likely that your business will be negatively impacted by their bad reviews. A potential customer on Yelp might stumble upon a reviews page with two stars and write off the entire brand before ever giving your location a shot.
On the flip side, if your franchise has a solid star rating but an equidistant sister location has better and more reviews, customers are more likely to visit the sister location. Travel distance has little impact on potential customers located halfway between the two locations, and reviews can be the gating factor.
Even strong national brands aren’t immune to controversy. In this age of social media, one negative experience with your brand can go viral in seconds. Social media users who catch wind of this viral moment may get heated and join in a brand-wide smear campaign, leaving negative reviews on the review sites of all their local franchises, even if they have never been to your location. I’ve even seen nationwide and viral smear campaigns unfold overnight, negatively impacting every location the reviewer could find with their negative reviews. One local business racked up more than 400 negative reviews overnight from a viral smear campaign in recent years. Negative reviews are largely protected by free speech, leaving little recourse against negative reviews posted by complete strangers with an axe to grind with your brand.
It's critical for franchise businesses to build up an ongoing flow of genuine, positive reviews across multiple review sites before anything like this happens so you can weather the storm. If you only have a handful of reviews, one negative review can be a real blow to your online reputation, costing a fortune in business lost to your competitors. (Just be cautioned that it’s against the law to offer any incentives to customers for posting online reviews, carrying a $50,000 fine and potentially getting you flagged or banned on review sites.)
As a franchise owner, you benefit from national brand recognition and corporate support, which is probably why you invested in the first place. Nonetheless, you compete locally. That means your online reviews aren’t just a bonus; they’re essential to winning trust, standing out from sister locations, and guarding against brand-wide challenges.
Prioritize them, encourage them, and most importantly, earn them every single day.
Steven Toole is founder & CEO of Toole & Associates, LLC.