Making consumers' use of social media work for youNeal Creighton, Co-founder and CEO, RatePoint

Deep Patel, Founder and CEO, GoGreenSolar.com

Agenda

Reputation and social media

History of small e-commerce retailer reputation management

How small retailers handle customer disputes

Case study: GoGreenSolar

Tips for best-in-class reputation management by e-retailers

How to get started

Reputation is crucial

90% … trust recommendations from

people they know; 70% trust opinions of

unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009)

67% … spend more online after

recommendations (Internet Retailer, Sept. 2009)

81% … received advice from friends and

followers; 74% … found it to be influential

in their decision. (Click Z, Jan 2010)

50% … said they considered information

shared on their networks when making a

decision; the proportion was higher among users

ages 18 to 24, at 65% … found it to be

influential in their decision. (eMarketer, October

2009)

Role of social media in reputation

Consumers value peer opinions

Social media provides place to voice and find

opinions

Social media is the key way potential

customers find you and become comfortable

doing business with you

History

SMB e-commerce retailers and reputation

Built-in

reputation

component

Independent

online

storefronts

Retailer

responsible

for

reputation

Social media

growth

Consumers

sharing and

viewing

more

opinions

Handling feedback

How do you react to feedback?

How do you handle the reputation

portion of your business?

The danger of ignorance

Head in the sand

Inside your shell

The danger of over-reaction

The bull in the china shop

The wise reaction

Take the time to speak with customers

– Knowledge - What’s working, what’s not

Work with dissatisfied customers to make

them repeat buyers

Turn satisfied customers into brand-

champions

– Low-cost, high impact

Have a long-term vision of the impact

reputation can have on sales and customer

retention

Case study

Background

GoGreenSolar helps people and

organizations worldwide reach

their green energy goals

Customers include contractors,

electricians, publicly traded

home builders, non-profits,

homeowners and general

consumers

Role of reputation at GoGreenSolar

Customer service is a differentiation point

– Community feel

– Hands-on approach

A major sales tool

– Generated leads from name-brand buyer and suppliers with no

additional market investment

Seek feedback proactively

Let your customers do the selling

Get Facebook fans selling for you

Take your testimonials with you

Results

Sales have increased 20 percent or more every month since

beginning proactive reputation management

Best-in-class reputation tips

Move from reactive to proactive

Don’t be afraid of negative feedback

Make it easy to collect (and

ultimately showcase) feedback

How to get started

Open a direct line of communication

Ask for feedback

Promote your feedback

Questions? Feedback?