FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Mike Montano, an authority in trust marketing, review management, and online reputation, stresses that “trust is the new trend in ‘Search.’” During his recent webinar to PHCC members, Montano explained why the customer review and social site, Yelp, matters more than ever.

Montano illustrated how Any Tyme, a professional plumbing, HVAC, and electrical services company,  went from three to five stars on Yelp in 30 days. The company realized a 350 percent increase in leads from December 2013 to December 2014.

Montano’s strategies for being remarkable on Yelp included:

• Become one with your customer. Cater to their habits and social media usage.
• Get involved and know the “power of one.” Your employees will witness the power of their good deeds with positive online reviews

He encourage attendees to create ther own Yelp account and invite friends; invite Yelp friends to use service and ask them to write a reviews; make sure Yelp e-mails go to a distribution list, so everyone is aware when a good or bad review comes in; always respond to Yelp reviews, both negative and positive; and, with negative reviews, respond publicly, keep it brief, and be contrite (not emotional).

Montano also offered members advice on five things to never, ever do on Yelp:

1. Don’t ask friends to write reviews on your account unless you’ve done business together.
2. Don’t move too aggressively when generating reviews.
3. Never, ever respond emotionally.
4. Never question the customer’s opinion.
5. Don’t ask for a review from a Yelper unless you know they’re active on Yelp.

This webinar is available online.

Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=urFKTclmOCs&feature=youtu.be