Recruitment and Google reviews

You are looking for a recruitment consultant. You may be a business looking to recruit staff or someone looking for a career move, so what process will you be going through? Personal recommendation? Industry specialists? The web? Almost certainly a combination of all three, but whatever route you adopt, one thing is for sure, at some stage in the process you will be conducting an online search.

Recruitment consultants and the web

The world of recruitment has come late to Google reviews. Here is a London-based search that is typical of any - UK-wide...

...and what do we see? We see a massive opportunity for any recruitment consultant that succeeds with Google reviews to stand out like a beacon. But before we go ahead and examine that opportunity in detail, let's first pause and consider why reviews matter for recruitment and then why recruitment has not - yet - engaged.

Why reviews matter

Reviews matter because people are influenced by them. How? Well, superficially we have all become conditioned to notice Google scores. We will prefer a business that scores 4.8 over one that scores 3.1 - but where important decisions are concerned, choosing a medical specialist, an estate agent or financial adviser or, I am sure we would all agree, a recruitment consultant, we will read the actual reviews themselves. Here are the first four reviews of one of the agencies listed above...

...so why, assuming they do a decent job for the majority of their clients and applicants, do they allow this impression to persist in search? The answer is almost certainly twofold. First: ignorance - you might be surprised just how many businesses we meet that are unaware of their image in search, they simply didn't know they looked so bad (and nor, in the majority of cases, did they know that they could respond to their reviews). The second, and this is more common than many people think, is fear. Fear of opening their business up to (even more) criticism.

It doesn't have to be this way

Here is a recruitment consultant we met this time last year...

...and here they are now...

...it's the same business. The only difference is that they have engaged with Google reviews.

Managing out the fear

As you can see, from the screenshots above and from any search for 'recruitment consultant' wherever you may be - recruitment consultants that have not engaged with Google now show poorly, often very poorly indeed. In some cases this may be deserved, but in over ten years' experience as review managers we usually find that unengaged businesses look far worse in search than in reality, simply because 'not engaging' as a strategy allows disgruntled reviewers a free run at the business in question's online reputation.

All that needs to happen in the overwhelming majority of cases is a determination to address the issue by the business concerned combined with the support of a professional review manager like HelpHound.

The business...

...determines to invite its stakeholders to post reviews. It's as simple as that.

HelpHound...

...provides moderation. Not to deflect genuine negative reviews - that would be against the CMA regulations* - but to enable the business and the reviewer to engage in a dialogue before the review is published should the review in question contain factual inaccuracies or the potential to mislead readers. And to mitigate the 'fear'.

We also provide the software to enable the business to invite the reviews to the business's own website and then get them copied across to Google by the reviewer.


*N.B. Most business's reaction - right across the spectrum - when first engaging with reviews, is to ask their 'happy' clients to post to Google. This is known as 'cherry-picking' and is in contravention of the CMA regulations. These state that if a business invites any of its customers to post a review it must allow them all, and at a time of their own choosing. That is why HelpHound's moderation is so vital, and why you will see a button like this - 'Write a review' - on all our clients' websites:

How HelpHound adds value to 'Do-it-yourself' review management

Any business can invite their customers to post a review to Google, and many do. Here we focus on the value HelpHound adds to that process...


1.  Independently verified reviews on your own site

Just as having reviews on Google increases click-through to your website, reviews on your own website act as a powerful call to action, turning browsers into potential customers. In this example the combination of both increased click-through by 27%.

You don't have to take our word for it; every month Google will send you a report like this, so you will be able to see the direct effect of adopting HelpHound (thank you to Curchods for allowing us to publish this copy of their Google My Business performance statistics).

With independently verified reviews you get the added bonus of stars, score and number of independently verified reviews attached to your organic listing in search and a click-through in the Google knowledge panel (see points 3 and 4 below).


2.  Minimising inaccurate, misleading and fake reviews

At HelpHound, every review goes through Resolution™ - our moderation system - and any that we think may be factually inaccurate or potentially misleading are first served to you so you can engage with the reviewer. This ensures, as far as is possible, that reviews shown are an accurate reflection of your business, benefiting you and your potential customers. 


3.  Showing your own reviews' score in search

The stars and the rating and make you stand out in search and gives consumers an instant impression of your business - proven to increase both calls and click-throughs (website visits increased by 27% for one client - read the story here).  


4.  Showing 'Reviews from the web' in your Google knowledge panel

Consumers have been trained by Google to use the knowledge panel as an instant reference for your business. Reviews are shown there in no less than three separate locations: Google reviews at the top, 'Reviews from the web' - a link to the reviews on your own website - in the middle - and 'rich snippets' - the quotes from your reviews that Google takes to create an impression for its users, at the bottom.


5.  Advice on responding to reviews

Responding to reviews is an important aspect of modern CRM. But so few businesses do so - when asked they often say 'we don't have time' or 'we don't have the confidence' and, more often than you might think, 'we don't know how'. HelpHound supports all our clients with advice, whether that be strategic or specific, right down to the wording of individual responses.


6.  Advice on appealing inaccurate or misleading reviews 

One of the most frequently received calls here at HelpHound is from businesses who have received a review - on Google or any other reviews platform - that they consider to be either:

• fake - written maliciously, perhaps by a competitor or a disgruntled employee, or just someone with an axe to grind
• inaccurate or misleading - it does not accord with their version of events, or makes simple factual errors that might mislead future consumers to the detriment of both those consumers and the business

At HelpHound we reckon we have more experience than any other adviser in this area. We will recommend whatever course of action we believe to be the most effective and prepare a written appeal to the review site in question - including Google.

 
7.  Longevity

Solutions change over time - you only have to look at the profusion of reviews sites that have positioned themselves as the solution for businesses, only to fade away months or years later. Most of your will know of Yelp - the biggest review site on the planet - they invested massively in the UK and signed up thousands of businesses and then abruptly left last year.

Your business needs a solution that your can rely on for the years to come, and that means

• owning your own reviews, not giving them to another business
• adopting a solution that is flexible enough to accommodate changes - changes in the marketplace, changes at Google. Infinitely adaptable to act in your best interests. That's HelpHound.

8. Compliance

The Competitions & Markets Authority (CMA) has yet to fine a business in the UK for contravening its regulations, but mark our words, it is only a matter of time. Anyone who thinks the CMA is reluctant to show its teeth would do well to read this.

And most, if not all, current reviews solutions in the UK contravene one or more of the CMA's core regulations. Read this to see if you recognise any symptoms.

What use is a reviews solution if it results in a headline accusing a business of playing fast-and-loose with government regulations? You need professional advice on reviews and review management almost as much as you need professional legal and financial advice. We are here to provide it.


In summary

There - eight reasons. And we would humbly suggest that any one of them is worth our monthly fee on its own. DIY or HelpHound? Speak to Fiona or Karen and then make an appointment where we will answer any questions about your current strategy - or discuss ways ahead if you have yet to formulate one.



Please feel free to comment on this article - link below - and subscribe - centre right - so you can be sure to receive every article as it is published. If you need more information email fiona.christie@helphound.com.

Resolution™ - managing inaccurate or potentially misleading reviews

One of the prime concerns we hear from every single potential client is "What can we do about negative reviews?"

And often we sense that the immediate response they would most welcome would be something along the lines of "we have a mechanism that will prevent them being published, either on your own website or anywhere else."

But that's not our response. Our response is guided by two things:

• sensible business practice
• the CMA regulations governing reviews

Let's look at both of these:

Sensible business practice

Just let's suppose, for argument's sake, we did have a system that magically filtered out negative reviews; what would the real-world impact of such a system be? 

We don't have to look far for our answer, as there are plenty of independent review sites that operate systems that favour the business, either by denying the reviewer the right to post a review unless specifically invited or by having a mechanism that allows the business to impose conditions on the publication of negative reviews.

Both these systems have the same medium to long-term effect. They drive dissatisfied customers to post to Google - the one site a business needs to look at its very best on. We see examples all the time. Here is just one...

 The same business - on an independent review site (L) and on Google (R). An increasingly common disconnect, almost always caused by the business inviting 'happy' customers to post to the reviews site, leaving 'unhappy' customers no option but to post to an open site - Google being the obvious choice

Sensible business practice dictates that whatever system a business adopts it must positively welcome all kinds of reviews from everyone and anyone. After all, Google does. 

What happens next is important. At HelpHound we value our own reputation as a force for good in the somewhat murky world of reviews, and to maintain that reputation means treating both sides of the review equation equally - we have to be seen to be fair and credible to both business and consumer, and we need to be seen to be adding value in both directions. That means that the business should be fairly and accurately represented through its reviews and that the consumer should be able to rely on those reviews as an aid to their purchasing decision.

Inaccurate reviews - in this case pricing - help neither business nor consumer

Fake reviews, of any kind, help no-one. Inaccurate or misleading reviews ditto.

HelpHound's Resolution™ to the rescue - for both parties

The full process is detailed in this article. To summarise, Resolution™ is designed to minimise the chances of fake, inaccurate or misleading reviews being published, as none of these benefits anyone.

Here's an example. This review was posted recently:

Under the terms of Resolution™ - understood by both business and their customer - the review is first submitted to the business for comment. In this case there had been misunderstandings between the two parties concerned, as well as miscommunication (there were language issues). Resolution™ allowed for private communication between both parties and, again, as of right, the customer is invited to post a review after that communication (which can be their original review, but seldom is). This is what they did post:

Some might say that it would be helpful for both reviews to be published (and there is nothing to stop the reviewer doing so) but that would be to assume we inhabit a perfect world in which everyone communicates in both directions every time. Far too often a consumer will post an inaccurate or misleading review - often straight to Google - leaving the business nothing to do but post its own response. But that harms the business's reputation unfairly, especially through Google's scoring system - an unfair or misleading 1* review, even responded to by the business, remains to impact the business's score - a shorthand guideline increasingly used by consumers to winnow out a shortlist (and by Google itself through its filter).

The CMA regulations

A full analysis can be found here. Two of the core principles of the CMA regulations (which have the force of law in the UK) are:

• that the reviewer should be able to write a review at any time of their own choosing
• that the business must do nothing to prevent that review being published

At HelpHound our clients incorporate a button like this on their websites so absolutely anyone* may write a review at any time...

And we promise to publish any genuine review. And this means that the reviewer can have an inaccurate or misleading review published. The fact that they seldom do is down to Resolution™.

And one final point: always remember that, whatever review system you employ, your competitors will often attempt to undermine it. If it favours the business at the expense of the consumer, or if it is seen to be non-compliant, that hands a significant weapon to them.


*This surprises some businesses t first, until it is pointed out to them that they often have many more stakeholders than they have customer email addresses: husband/wife/partner/neighbour/employee/potential customer/'friend' of customer/professional advisor of customer and so on...any of whom can write a review of the business to Google at the click of a mouse, and often do - unless they are given a more attractive alternative.

Recruitment and reviews

We have taken a long hard look at the recruitment sector - and compared it to one we know well: estate agency.

There are many things that differentiate recruitment from estate agency - and we are adding one more: reviews.

Have a look at this random selection of recruitment specialists...

 ...and what do we see? None have yet found a solution that has given them the confidence to proactively engage with reviews - many have no reviews at all, some have a handful - and often those are damagingly negative in both score and content.

And now for some estate agencies...

 Reviews a-plenty

What is the difference?

One thing, and one thing only: estate agencies have tuned in to the power of reviews (three years ago they presented in very much the same way as recruitment consultants). So, we ask ourselves; why have estate agents stolen such a pronounced march on recruitment? For one overriding  reason...

• competition: once one agency learned what a powerful influence reviews were - for good, for driving new business - word of the impact on their business soon spread

Look at just one example: Greene & Co, with eight branches in North London. This is how they looked in a Google search in 2015:

And this is what a typical Greene & Co location looks like today...

So what impact do you expect this had on their business? One of the easy ways to tell is to look at their competitors in the local area and see how they have reacted...

My have [most of them] learned from Greene & Co's example!


There is absolutely no reason why a business in the world of recruitment, currently looking like this in search:

Should not be looking as good as this: 

 Great reviews, and so many as to be convincing; a great score and great 'rich snippets' (the three review quotes that Google displays in search)  

And this (on the business's own site):

     Reviews like this, hosted on the business's own site, are proven to drive both enquiries and business

Come on in! - and get the benefits of professional review management flowing.

This is a Google My Business report sent to us by a client within weeks of joining - confirming, in black-and-white (OK - blue-and-green) the impact of HelpHound membership. You will too.

Glassdoor - take it seriously

Glassdoor (Wiki) is a recruitment site with a difference - and that's why it's featuring here.

Besides being a massive job site, it is the world's biggest online employment review website. 

So why should we be taking any notice of it?

 Why would IBM be happy with a score of 3.3 on Glassdoor? Review management is about more than just Google and Facebook!

For three reasons:

1.  It ranks really high in search; if your business is reviewed on Glassdoor those reviews will show up in search. If those reviews are negative - however unfairly - they will create a bad impression
2. If the comments on your business are unfairly negative, they will be driving quality recruits away 
3. Because it ranks so well in search your prospective customers will see it

People are far more motivated to write a review if they have had a negative experience - and that applies equally to a stay in a hotel or a review of your place of employment. So, to look as good as the reality on Glassdoor a business must be proactive there in the same way as it would be with Google reviews.

The reason IBM looks as bad as it does is because the overwhelming majority of reviews are written by either:

• leavers or
• recent recruits

Both categories where dissatisfaction is likely to be higher than average. 

The Solution

First: the business must ask current staff to write reviews. And the key word there is 'ask' - not 'demand' or 'insist' or 'bribe' - otherwise it risks a massive PR nightmare. 

  Respond - however critical or unfair or badly written the review is, always respond - and also obey the second golden rule: address the issue(s) raised in the review - head on.

Then: respond to your reviews. Don't assume you will be somehow glorifying or condoning the review by doing so, you won't, you will be protecting your business's reputation. Remember that people are looking at these reviews for a specific reason: they are considering working for you! Who do you want to have the last word in that context?

If you are unsure about the mechanism for responding to reviews on Glassdoor (or any other site, for that matter) don't hesitate to speak to Karen or one of her team. In the same vein: if you are unsure as to the wording of your response speak to Karen or John Williams.

Graduate opportunities and Partnering

HelpHound - with thanks to our clients - is growing fast, and we need help to spread the message...

Graduate Opportunities

We have vacancies on our graduate scheme for trainee business member advisors. If you know anyone who might fit the bill ask them to contact us, initially by email at opportunity@helphound.com. We will then invite them to come and meet one of our last graduate intake so they can fully understand the exciting opportunity to be part of the HelpHound journey.

Partnerships

HelpHound partners with all kinds of organisations and businesses; some, like advertising/PR agencies and professional bodies are obvious, but we welcome introductions from all around the business world, from our clients - it's a great way to reward yoru suppliers and service providers (and you can write their first review) - and from others who understand the value of our services. 

If you would like a copy of our Partnership Terms please email karen.hutchings@helphound.com