Biz Screener

Having been burned a few times by doing business with companies that I failed to research first like I should have, I am a huge proponent of researching companies online before doing business with them — either as a customer or as a service provider.

One of the most effective ways to research a company is to type their name into the search bar, along with “complaint” or “review.”  Some companies, you know right away to stay away from them, because of how many complaints pop up immediately in the search results.  Others you have to dig through the list a little bit in order to get any information, either good or bad.

Another way  is to search specific sites,  such as the Better Business Bureau.  However, I have to admit that I haven’t had much luck searching for businesses with the BBB, so I advise looking for other sites that provide consumer reviews.

Of course, chances are the Fiji hotel or scuba diving shop you are looking up probably won’t actually have any serious complaints against it — but it only takes once to get burned, so I think you are better safe than sorry.  Be sure that your Fiji diving vacation is one to remember — for the right reasons!

Technorati Tags: Better Business Bureau, Fiji diving, Fiji hotel

Tags: Better Business Bureau, Fiji diving, Fiji hotel

When you have a small business, it is very important that your business has a good reputation — that is, that you have lots of positive reviews online, or at the very least, no negative reviews.

The reason for this is that as a lesser-known small business, customers have less to go on when they hear your business name.  When they are dealing with, say, Amazon.com, there is a lot of trust there simply because they know it’s a big company that has a lot of dealings with people.  But a smaller company, on the other hand, they will need to research in order to feel safe about doing business with — and if what they find isn’t positive, they’ll take their business elsewhere.

This goes for both buying and selling.  For instance, if you have an online pawn shop, you’ll want to make sure that you are known for giving sellers a fair deal when they sell gold for cash.  This is equally as important as ensuring that buyers are happy with their purchases.

So make sure that your business has a strong reputation and no negative reviews with companies such as the Better Business Bureau, RipOffReport.com, etc.  How do you do this?  Well, for starters, by always making sure that you value every customer, and that your products and customer service are the best you can possibly make them.

Also be sure that you always make sure you resolve complaints so that the customer is happy.  I know it can be painful to give in to customers when you don’t agree, but it just isn’t worth losing who knows how much business because the customer gets mad and leaves a complaint about you with the BBB or online.

Getting a good reputation isn’t difficult, but it also doesn’t happen overnight — you have to work for it.  Tearing it down, on the other hand, can happen quite quickly, so make sure you always keep in mind how your interactions with customers could impact your business’s reputation.

Technorati Tags: BBB, Better Business Bureau, online pawn shop, sell gold for cash

Tags: BBB, Better Business Bureau, online pawn shop, sell gold for cash