How LinkedIn Can Build Professional Authority, Corporate Brand

by Beth Monicatti Blank

MLinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with 756 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

It is an online tool for you or your business to show the world your professional persona, and has the ability to expand your awareness, credibility, and brand. The Microsoft-owned social media company wants you to succeed—follow their suggestions for improving your profile and business pages.

But here’s some additional advice on succeeding:

• Thought Leadership/Credibility • Attracting Business • Recruiting • Search Visibility • Groups

Your personal page needs to be created and updated with careful consideration. Add a profile picture—make sure the photo looks professional. It doesn’t have to be taken by a professional photographer, but a selfie inside your car won't suffice. Update all the basic information. Details like your industry and contact information are key. Add work experience, your expertise, education, training, volunteering — anything that tells your story. This is where you build your brand and highlight your accomplishments. Ask others for skill endorsements and recommendations that add to your worth. LinkedIn is a business resource. Make sure to always engage with professional etiquette when using the platform. It’s important to maintain a good reputation. Personal opinions, including politics, religion, and rumors should not be shared.

You can invite anyone to connect. At a networking event? Consider reaching out to all your new contacts through LinkedIn. The online platform will always give you reminders and suggestions to find additional connections. Put yourself out there and find meaningful connections to increase visibility.

It's time to create your business page. Business pages with complete information get 30% more weekly views.

Add your logo and a cover image that gives life and personality to your page. Your cover image could be a photo of your team, mission statement, anything that gives clarity to your company brand or story.

Include your company description, specialties, industry, website and more. The more details you include, the more people will find and »

connect with your company. Use relevant terms and phrases that describe your organization’s mission and purpose (LinkedIn members can search by keywords).

Grow your business page by inviting your personal connections to follow your business page.

Posting content to your business page is necessary to keep engaging, educating and marketing to your potential customers. Use graphics as well as video and slide presentations, infographics, published articles, company news, team and staff testimonials, job postings and trends. Consult your team to discuss possible content to use on your page. Be careful not to use only sales related information. Consider creating a monthly calendar for your LinkedIn content.

Make sure you add the LinkedIn follow link to your website. It gives potential customers more education about you and your company and another way to connect. Also, consider adding a link to your business page in your email signature.

Looking to hire your next company all-star on LinkedIn? Advanced search filters and keyword searches can make recruiting easier. You can refine your candidate search with 40+ filters, including location, job titles, companies, industries and more. Another great function is filtering for candidates that are “more likely to respond,” “open to work,” or have engaged with your company brand — all based on LinkedIn member signals. Through their LinkedIn profiles you can also assess candidates’ skill proficiency and be confident in their skills before reaching out.

If you have open opportunities at your workplace, make sure they are always posted to your business page.

LinkedIn company and personal pages show up very high in online searches. Google shows previews of up to 156 characters of your profile, so make sure your business page description leads with powerful, keyword-rich sentences.

LinkedIn members can create or join groups to share and discuss industry topics. Consider how joining an industry or alumni group can help further your knowledge, expand your professional network and increase your credibility! To find groups, use the search bar on top of your profile page, pr search using industry terminology and find the search references to groups. You can also tell your connections what groups you recommend. MHV

Beth Monicatti-Blank is the president of All Seasons Communications in Romeo, Mich. She handles all agency operations including new business, account management, media buying and placement. She can be contacted at bmonicattiblank@allseasons communications.com.

FOR MORE INDUSTRY NEWS, VISIT OUR BLOG AT MHINSIDER.COM

by Darren Krolewski

TThey say that a complaint is a gift. But when it’s your business on the receiving end of a negative online review, appreciation usually is not the first emotion that comes to mind.

In their classic 1996 work, authors

Janelle Barlow and Claus Møller introduced the radical concept that a complaint should be perceived as valuable feedback to be welcomed with enthusiasm, rather than an irritation to be actively avoided. I am sure at the time “A Complaint is a Gift” was written, the authors couldn’t have imagined how online reviews would grow to shape consumer interactions with businesses.

Today, online reviews are everywhere, and one has to go no further than Google, Facebook, Yelp or one of the countless other websites providing a forum for consumer feedback to view their impact. Reviews define reputations, influence consumer buying decisions, and often make the difference between business prosperity and failure.

Gifts, if you will, are being given freely. More often than not the receiving organization doesn’t look very appreciative.

Take our industry, for example. A 2018 Google survey found that 93% of consumers begin their housing search online. Those numbers have only grown since. Yet knowing this, a simple internet search will still uncover manufactured home communities that are virtual repositories of unrestrained consumer generosity. Gifts, gifts, gifts, everywhere you look. And not a single word of acknowledgment in return.

In other words, there are properties spending a sizable portion of their budget on trying to attract new residents, while completely ignoring that some of the first things that show up in a Google search are scores of unacknowledged comments detailing negative experiences.

There’s no denying that bad reviews happen, even to the best of us. A single bad review isn’t the end of the world. Even having many of them isn’t a completely unrecoverable disaster. Whether good or bad, it’s how you respond to online reviews that really makes the difference. Who should respond? What should you say? And how can you avoid making things worse? Read on. »

I don’t recall who said it, but one of the best tips I ever heard about responding to online reviews was that you’re replying for the benefit of the public, as much as the person who left the review. Perhaps even more so. You might craft the most expertly worded response in the history of social media, only to have the person who left the negative review drop off the face of the earth without the slightest reply. You’re not doing it for them. You’re not doing it for Not just watching for them. Able to act on them. For example, a resident leaves a negative review. Your social media person becomes aware of it. Perhaps they even make others aware of it. But by the time an issue works its way up the chain to the person that can make a decision and back down again it’s blown up. A little issue has become a big one, and an opportunity to nip it in the bud is lost. Determine who will respond and what action they are empowered to take without further management involvement. Most situations are not unique. Come up with a library of fre-

you. You’re doing it for the next person that reads that review. That person who may very well be your next resident. It shows that you’re attentive. And if you care that much about what people say about you online, you probably pay attention to other things too. Like snow removal. Or potholes.

The business of property management is one built on preparedness. Natural disasters. Water issues. Resident relations. Responding to online reviews is no exception. One common mistake organizations make is not having someone empowered to respond to reviews. quent response templates. Marketing platform, HubSpot, has some great templates for responding to online reviews if you need some ideas. The point is, you should have a course of action for the most common feedback and a defined escalation process for those that require further management attention.

In the medical profession, there’s a process called triage in which the patient is assessed to determine the severity of the illness and the potential course of treatment. A good practice is to approach your online reviews in the same way. How urgent is the response? Devote your resources to the most severe situations first, such as emergency situations and those that have the potential for greater damage. How important is the response? Each situation referenced in a review requires varying degrees of resources to investigate and respond. Make sure the investment of time and energy is appropriate to the situation. Not every reply requires half a day of research and writing by your marketing team. A templated response may be sufficient. Save your resources for the situations that warrant it. Maintain a list of known “trolls”, those baiting obvious confrontation. You know who they are. The disgruntled former employee who keeps posting under fake profiles. The competitor pretending to be a previous resident. Participants in active legal proceedings. You get the gist.

When it comes to online reviews, time is of the essence. Managing your online reputation is all about being attentive, capturing valuable feedback and acting on it quickly. It goes without saying that you should endeavor to respond to reviews and comments as soon as possible. There are many tools, our own MH.Reviews online reputation management service among them, that will actively monitor your online reputation and alert you to new reviews as they are left in near real time. The sooner you engage, the greater your chances of reaching the consumer while they are still online, enabling you to resolve a potentially difficult situation more quickly. Better still, a timely response enables »

you to limit online word of mouth before a disgruntled consumer takes their dissatisfaction on the road to multiple review websites.

Treat the reviewer the way you would like to be treated. In drafting your reply, set any emotions aside. While it’s tempting to confront an obvious mischaracterization or inaccuracy in your reply, show professionalism at all times. Always thank the customer for taking the time to share their feedback. Show empathy for their concerns. Take a personal, yet professional tone in your reply and avoid arguing with the reviewer. When possible, move the conversation offline, particularly if it is of a personal nature or involves the exchange of private contact information. But don’t make the mistake of looking like you’re avoiding a public forum either. Don’t be afraid to say that their feedback will require additional research, or that it is being escalated to management for a later reply.

Most of the time, a response to an online review will require additional research or correspondence with the reviewer. It is best practice to request personal contact details such as their phone number and email address by private message through the review platform or through your existing customer service channels. If a standard response is not appropriate, begin the process of researching and evaluating the reviewer’s concerns. Don’t forget to research the reviewer as well so you know with whom you’re corresponding. Are they the resident or are they a family member? If you’re in the wrong, do your best to try and make it right. If a situation has been satisfactorily resolved, don’t be afraid to reach out to the reviewer publicly to request an edit or update. This is a final step that is often overlooked.

In his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” author Stephen Covey suggested to “begin with the end in mind." Start with a clear vision of the desired outcome. Your goal in responding to online reviews should be to always strive for the best. While it may not be possible to resolve every situation to the mutual satisfaction of both parties, you can always gain valuable feedback that you can use to improve your business. It’s the way you handle feedback, both positive and negative, that earns you respect from the public. Not only will you avoid further escalation, you can potentially earn future business or perhaps even a referral from someone that saw how you handled an issue.

Much of the best thought leadership on the subject of responding to online reviews focuses on negative reviews. And deservedly so. It’s certainly the area that usually requires the most attention. Yet don’t overlook that positive reviews are an even greater opportunity to show appreciation to a satisfied customer. Hopefully you can earn more like them. Thank the consumer. Reference something specific they mentioned in their review. If they shared how a team member went above and beyond to assist them, make sure you reference that individual in your response and acknowledge they are indeed a valued member of your team. If they asked a question as part of their feedback, make sure that you answer it. If they talk about how much they appreciate your pet policy, why not take the opportunity to remind them about the dog park you have on your property that is available for their use?

Though it probably seemed like unconventional thinking at the time, Barlow and Møller had it right when they described a complaint as a gift. Often where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And no one wants fire. A negative online review can often be an indicator of serious operational, personnel or policy issues. Issues that are left unaddressed can cost a tremendous amount of damage.

Sure, they may not always be expected. They may not even be welcome. But more often than not, a negative online review can really be a gift after all. And you know what they say about gifts. It’s the thought that counts. MHV

Darren Krolewski is co-president and chief business development officer of MHVillage, the top website for manufactured homes, retailers, and communities, and leads efforts that generate 25 million annual visitors and home transactions of more than $3 billion.

FOR MORE INDUSTRY NEWS, VISIT OUR BLOG AT MHINSIDER.COM