people mirrorWho’s the fairest of them all? That’s the essential question your potential clients ask as they evaluate you and your competitors. The data points they gather and how they process those data will determine whether you or your competitor wins the “beauty contest.”

It’s said that true beauty is more than skin deep. And so it is for shoppers as they now look for data deeper than a phone call and company website visit. How you stack up versus your competitors in this “deep data beauty contest” will often be the difference between getting a new client who cares about quality and losing her to a competitor. With the stakes so high for the best customers, it’s smart to periodically look in the mirror and see how your potential clients see your company and your competitors.

Your Digital Image Should Reflect Your Team’s Excellence
To evaluate how your company and your competitors compare digitally, carve out some time and fill in this Digital Image Worksheet. You’ll end with several action items to improve your competitive standing. In each box, note where you win and lose using the criteria listed under the Digital Medium title on the left. Next, give your company and each competitor a total score of 1-10 for each medium. Finally, list a few steps you can take to become tops in that digital medium and take action. Over the next few months, take the lead in each medium!

chartsample

Use Diamond Certified to Improve Your Company’s Digital Image (If You Qualify)

Email: 1) Include a link to your Diamond Certified Company Report web page in your email signature block to help potential clients research your company on the highly trusted Diamond Certified site. Use this link language: “See how we earned Diamond Certified.” 2) Attach your Diamond Certified eBrochure to all first follow-up emails to prospective clients to give them a digital document that they can forward to their spouse and others.

Texts: Many clients actually prefer getting a text from you rather than a phone call. When this is the case, you should send them a text with a link that invites them to review your Diamond Certified status and read more about your company. Also, if you become a Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, send them a link to your Diamond Certified Experts Hub page.

Website: 1) On every page of your site, include the Diamond Certified symbol and a link to your Diamond Certified Company Report page with the language, “See how we earned Diamond Certified.” This way, independent verification of your team’s top rated performance is visually reinforced and proof on a highly trusted third-party site is just a click away. 2) Even more impactful, ask us to help you add a custom Diamond Certified Widget to key pages on your site. It actually shows your company’s Diamond Certified Ratings Dashboard, Video Profile and links to all the Diamond Certified articles on your company.

Google Search: Google has qualified us as a trusted and important ratings website, which grants us the ability to display custom Google Rating Stars from each Diamond Certified Company Report page. So, we’ll design your Report page to rank high in search and display accurate Google stars.

Review Sites: The beauty of the Diamond Certified rating is that it goes with you wherever you’re seen. And since you want your company to reach a wide array of people, you should claim your listing in each site and upload information and images. Your listing will perform better on non-Diamond Certified review sites when you include information on how your team earned Diamond Certified in your profile, add a link to your Diamond Certified Company Report page and upload the Diamond Certified symbol with images of your staff/work/etc.

videoImages: 1) With the way most human brains are wired, a picture really is worth 1,000 words. So, review and update the photos on your site, within your social media, and on your Diamond Certified Company Report page. 2) Call us to help you add your Diamond Certified Video Profile to your home page. Google likes videos, so not only will it help potential customers learn about your company, it will also help your site’s ranking value.

Social Media: 1) A significant number of your potential clients are using the top social media sites to communicate with their friends and learn about new things. Every week, you should mention your Diamond Certified status in your company’s social media posts. 2) Sign up for the Diamond Certified Facebook feed and we’ll automatically post tips and a weekly verbatim customer survey response to your company’s Facebook page. Your followers will be impressed.