In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Chris Campbell, CEO at Review Trackers to explore the importance of restaurant reviews.
Campbell founded Review Trackers over ten years ago and helps over fifty thousand restaurants in thirty-five countries track and manage their customer feedback from websites like Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor.
When asked about what he thinks of restaurant operators that don’t pay attention to customer reviews, Campbell says “operators are crazy, if you think about things that can influence your business and have major ripple effects, reviews is one of the biggest things.” Adding “Ninety-one percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”
Campbell was asked in reference to Yelp and according to Review Trackers, where a majority of reviews are coming from today, he shares that it depends on the market you are in, but adds the reality is Google is winning. Campbell says, Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor, all just growing multiples faster then Yelp. “Ninety Five percent of people start their search on Google,” says Campbell. You can listen to Campbell address Yelp’s importance in today’s competitive review platforms on this podcast.
In regards to sales, when Campbell was asked how reviews and responding reviews help search engine optimization, he says that reviews are the leading factor in influencing how you appear on a google map ranking. Adding reviews is the thing that influences your ranking the most.
To hear Campbell’s advice for restaurant operators that don’t have a review tracking system in place and how you can start making your business better, tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout.
Tune in to learn more. You can subscribe and listen to Hospitality Hangout Podcast on Spotify or directly on the Foodable Network.
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