Our Approach: How We See Reputation Management-and What Others Miss

When we talk with prospective customers for the first time, we often analyze a slice of their review data—not just to illustrate the kinds of reporting we can automate for them, but to reveal hidden drivers in their data. Drivers of both customer happiness and frustration. These conversations, and the data that underpins them, often surface the unseen issues that can rot a business’s reputation from the foundation up.

Imagine a car dealership obsessed with call response times. They've poured resources into a training program focused on lightning-fast call handling. But a different story emerges when we sift through their reviews and survey feedback. The real pain point? Customers are left in the dark after their vehicle leaves the lift. It's a blind spot that no quick call-backs can fix—but once addressed, it could dramatically boost customer loyalty without adding a single new service bay or mechanic.

Or consider a property management company that receives great reviews for its common areas and amenities but is plagued by a renewal rate far below the industry benchmark. Digging into the comments, we find that residents mention poor response times to maintenance calls and rude staff—embarrassing issues to overlook but easy to fix. However, because those complaints were only mentioned in quick, passing comments, they got lost under the seemingly positive 4-star rating. If you could see these patterns clearly, wouldn’t you want to make changes immediately?

These aren't just small details - they're important. They can help you turn unhappy customers into loyal ones. That’s why Widewail is built not just to show you trends, but to help you understand how customers feel about your business. It shows what you're doing well and what you might need to look into more. You can be confident that hidden drivers will come to light quickly and regularly. No more manual sifting. No more overlooked opportunities. Just clear, actionable insights that can help you improve your business–one happy customer at a time.

What Else is On The Menu?

We know it’s easy to think of us as just “the get-more-reviews guys,” but our product suite has grown well beyond Invite, our review generation solution. Each offering is designed to tackle specific business needs that may be top of mind for you right now.

Listings Management: Accurate Business Listings

When we think about reputation management, it’s easy to jump straight to the flashy stuff—reviews, testimonials, and social media shoutouts. However, one foundational element often gets overlooked: accurate business listings. It might not sound glamorous, but maintaining consistent, up-to-date listings across the platforms that matter—including Google, Yelp, Facebook, and even industry-specific sites like DealerRater and ApartmentRatings—is crucial for building and protecting your online reputation. Why? Because online listings are the first place your customers go for information. Outdated or inconsistent data isn’t just an inconvenience; it can lead to many missed opportunities. If your hours, address, or contact information is off by even a little, it could cause a lost sale or a frustrated customer before they even get the chance to interact with your team. Our Listings solution is designed to monitor, update, and sync your information across the web—so that your first impression is always the right one.

Engage: Review Response Managed Services

And while Widewail Listings ensures that your foundational data is rock solid, it’s only the beginning of how we help you own your reputation. Real reputation management goes beyond having correct business information—it’s about active engagement, turning every piece of feedback into an opportunity to build trust. Managed services Engage and Engage Plus handle the heavy lifting of responding to reviews and social interactions—something that dealerships and property managers alike struggle to do consistently. More than that, they enable businesses to have thoughtful, personal interactions at scale. Whether crafting a heartfelt response to a glowing review or addressing a complaint with empathy and professionalism, Engage and Engage Plus ensure that every piece of feedback is tracked and acknowledged in a timely and thoughtful manner.

You might be asking yourself: Do we need something like Engage? Customers have told us that Engage is a game-changer when it comes to maximizing their staff’s time or when they’ve been struggling to keep up with the volume of feedback. No one wants to leave a review unanswered, but we all know how quickly review response becomes a low-priority item when the day is filled with more urgent tasks. That’s where Engage steps in— Widwail’s review response team takes over the responsibility of the digital experience so you can focus on the in-person one.

Invite Video: Video Testimonials via SMS

And for those looking to make an even stronger impression, there’s Invite Video. Invite Video makes collecting video testimonials from your customers easy, with no production crew or heavy lifting needed. It’s triggered right through your CRM or manually by your team, and customers can record their testimonials directly on their phones. Each submission includes a signed legal release form, giving your business full license to use the video content anywhere: on your website, social media, or in advertising campaigns.

Dealerships have shared that video testimonials have long been missing in their marketing toolkit. Building a full library of customer testimonials has traditionally been too expensive and cumbersome. But now, with Invite Video, clients receive a steady stream of authentic and impactful video testimonials from customers at a fraction of the cost of a single professionally produced video. It’s a tool purpose built to show the real faces and voices behind your satisfied customers, creating a powerful sense of trust.

Coming in Early 2025

We’re also excited about our upcoming private survey product release (I’m calling it Widewail Pulse for now; we’ll see if that sticks), set to launch in the first half of 2025. Over the past year, we’ve heard from clients who’ve been frustrated by the limitations of traditional surveys—low response rates, skewed data, and feedback that doesn’t reflect the reality of the customer’s experience at a local level. That’s why we’re launching a more agile, real-time approach to gathering private feedback.

With this addition to our platform, our customers can run short, SMS-based surveys right after key interactions—like the end of a service appointment or after an apartment tour—and get valuable insights directly tied to the specific location and representative. The result: a higher response rate and more accurate data, reflecting the current state of your business. For a dealership group, that might mean knowing which service advisors are creating friction. For a property management company, it could be uncovering the root cause behind below-benchmark maintenance ratings. We’re excited to share our ability to blend public review and private survey data, giving you a well-rounded view of your customers and allowing you to hone in on the most pressing issues inside your business.

If you’re curious about how these offerings could fit into your current strategy (or if you’ve been considering expanding your engagement options), reach out to your favorite Wailer or contact support@widewail.com. We’re happy to show you exactly what we can do and how it can help you maximize the impact of every customer interaction.

Staying True to Our Vision

At Widewail, we’ve always been more interested in becoming the best version of ourselves than chasing what others in the market are doing. As we continue to grow and mature, our commitment to creating trust between local businesses and the communities they serve remains unchanged. We see ourselves as that teenager, full of energy, unjaded, and with a whole lot of promise ahead.

I want to thank you for being part of this journey. If you’re curious about what else is on the menu or just want to connect to talk about the future, book time on my calendar here. 

I love hearing from our customers - and I’d love the chance to say thank you personally. 

Sincerely,
Matt Murray
CEO, Widewail