The volume of the work-from-home job force grew exponentially due to the current pandemic. Even before the crisis became an influencing factor, numerous people have been saying goodbye to their strenuous commute to work. Thanks to technologies like Slack, Zoom, and Google Hangouts—not to mention texting and email—it’s not necessary to be in an office full-time to be a productive member of the team. 

Many kinds of work can be done just as effectively from a home office. However, the big question that comes into play is how does working from home affect managing your company’s online reviews? Fortunately, online review management has been made more accessible through ever-evolving technology. Optimizing your customers’ experiences at your own home workstation couldn’t be made easier with tools like ReviewPush. One of our customers has said: 

“With 85 locations and growing, ReviewPush has made managing our multi-unit restaurant brand’s online reputation a breeze. It’s simple to understand, easy to use, and a massive time-saver. The incredible support team is always willing to jump in with a unique solution when necessary. ReviewPush is the gift that keeps on giving.” 

– Vanessa

Even with advancements in technology that make working from home easier, we understand that transitioning to an at-home work routine can come with many challenges. Please know that our team is here to support you. Here are three helpful tips on how you can maximize your at-home workflow and continue to manage your business’ online reviews:

Establish a Solid Work Space & Maintain Consistency

One of the biggest challenges of working remotely is keeping your work and home life separate. If you never fully disconnect from work, your productivity can suffer and your home life can take a hit as well. (Source) This is why it is essential to create a dedicated work environment where you can manage the various aspects of your business including review management.

Additionally, having a consistent time to monitor and respond to your online reviews is vital. This will begin to build a pattern of responsiveness that your customers will eventually notice, and immediately appreciate. It is tempting at times to jump back and forth between work and episodes of “Tiger King”, but it is crucial that you maintain a schedule. This will not only help with current consistency, but will translate to a more seamless transition when daily life begins to return to normal. Remember, your customers are in the same situation as you, and in such an irregular time, people value regularity and consistency now more than ever. 

Stay Connected With Your Success & Support Team

No one is expecting you to know exactly how to handle every situation right now, but people are looking to leaders like you for connection, direction, and responsiveness. Let’s face it, people are starting to feel the work from home blues and are seeking real connection as well as desiring to help in some way during this crisis. One of the best ways individuals have realized they can do this, is by supporting local businesses. Since most face-to-face interactions are out of the question right now, customers are connecting even more to businesses virtually. 

This is one of the amazing things that has come out of this crisis, but it has required business owners and managers to engage more regularly with their reviews. This for some people means that they are having to learn more about how to interact with situations that they have not encountered before. This is where your Success and Support Team come in. You can rely on them to help guide you through the constantly changing online scenery. 

Set Up a Team Workflow With Ease

If you don’t normally work remotely, the best way to transition into an at-home working environment is to ensure that you stay in touch with your team. The key to steering through any work bumps is communication—especially with your manager and direct reports. When it comes to monitoring your online reviews, your team can set up user flows, notifications, and grant specific access to certain individuals. 

These are all features that are available within ReviewPush which our Success and Support Team can assist with. Having this workflow setup ensures that your team has a certain relay of communication regarding your online reviews. The foundation to success in regards to handling this pandemic is to make sure that communication is clear in all aspects of your business — both internally and externally.

Whether you are new to working from home, or have been doing it for a while, we can all learn how to more effectively serve our customers and connect with them during this season of social distancing. If we strive to implement better strategies for connection now, it will only bolster our efforts once normal life slowly reemerges. Establishing consistency, connection, and efficient workflows will be the most important developments for you and your team moving forward. Remember, together we can not only get through this, but we can come out on the other side as better businesses, better leaders, and better people.

Lee McNiel