Is LeadsHQ a scam? 5 Lessons In Online Reputation Management

This is a post that I wish I didn’t have to write.

In February 2024, LeadsHQ was the victim of a targeted online attack, with negative reviews from fake profiles and accounts left across several online properties.

It was clear that this was the work of a competitor, as our online research uncovered a number of other lead generation and digital agencies that had also been targeted across the same sites with similar review tactics.

While this was a frustrating experience, I realised that we could use it as an opportunity for a positive outcome. We could use this to both strengthen our own business and help our clients by sharing some lessons learned.

So, this post will cover 5 lessons learned in online reputation management.

Lesson 01: Keep Your Eyes & Ears Open

These fake reviews were left in February 2024, and we discovered them 4 months later. How, you might ask.

We were informed by a prospect who decided not to move forward with us due to the negative reviews.

“What reviews?!”

We were blissfully unaware that these reviews existed… and learned the hard way that you need to keep your eyes and ears open, digitally.

The best method we’ve found is by setting up Google Alerts. These alerts will send you an email for any new mention of a word or phrase on the internet.

As a starting point, we now recommend you set up Google Alerts for:

• Your business name (and any variations that someone might use in a review or post about your business)
• Your website domain name
• Names of the owner(s) or any other relevant team members

This way, should anyone post something about your business online (legitimate or illegitimate), you will know about it.

Lesson 02: If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get!

When we discovered the attack, LeadsHQ had zero legitimate reviews online. This made us an easy target for this aggressive competitor.

To make matters worse, it wasn’t because we’re bad at what we do, it’s simply because we didn’t ask for reviews.

Your customers, even when they’re also business owners, don’t think to leave you an online review. They’re busy living their lives.

So lesson 2 is that you must have a formal review request process. If you don’t have one, you are leaving glowing 5-star reviews on the table.

This process will look different for every business, but at its simplest it should include the following elements:

1. Identify Potential Promoters: Have a defined moment in time where you identify potential positive reviews (promoters). For us, this is in Client Check-In Calls, but for you, it might be at project handover, customer service check-ins, etc. Leverage your team to identify these people.
2. Confirm Their Satisfaction: Before asking for a review, confirm they’re satisfied with your services. The last thing you want is to lead a dissatisfied customer to your reviews page.
3. Use A Templated Request Process: Remove as much friction as possible by using templated review request communications—emails, SMS, etc. Automating this would be even better.
4. Make It Easy For The Customer: The easier you make it for your customer, the more likely you are to receive the promised review. Provide an easy-to-use link directly to the review site (Google My Business makes this very simple) and you could even provide some templates or thought starters.

Since implementing this process, we’ve received more than 15 five-star Google reviews in a week (and counting). You can read LeadsHQ’s reviews here.

Here’s those templates we promised:

Email Template

Hi {FNAME},

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I’m delighted to hear that you’re satisfied with our services.

As we discussed, I would greatly appreciate it if you could spare a couple of minutes to leave us a review on Google.

You can easily leave your review by clicking this link: {QUICK LINK TO REVIEWS PAGE}

We’re just looking for your honest opinion about your experience with us.

Thank you so much for your time and support.

Best regards,
{YOUR NAME}
{COMPANY}

—

SMS Template

Hi {FNAME}, thanks for speaking with me today and agreeing to leave us a Google review! You can do so here: {QUICK LINK} Thanks for your support! – {YOUR NAME}, {COMPANY}.

—

Lesson 03: Win The Turf War For Your Own Backyard

As an agency that generates leads via paid advertising on search and social, we’ve never had much love for search engine optimisation (SEO).

We paid little attention to our website’s organic search rankings.

Unfortunately, this meant that these fake reviews were ranking organically higher than our own website and social profiles, i.e., when our potential customers googled ‘LeadsHQ’ they were shown these fake reviews.

Accordingly, we learned the valuable lesson that you have to win the online battle for your own turf, aka your branded search terms.

If a prospect googles “your business name” or “your business name reviews,” you should ensure they are served web pages that improves your chance of winning deals.

To win the battle for organic search rankings for your own business name and brand terms, we recommend that you set up (and populate) the following sites & profiles:

• Your own website (most important)
• Google My Business (consolidate your reviews here)
• Facebook Business Page
• LinkedIn Business Page
• Instagram Profile

If you wanted to roll out another few websites or profile pages, we’d recommend expanding that to:

• Twitter
• YouTube
• TikTok
• Yelp
• Trustpilot

Please note, it generally isn’t enough to just set up these profiles and leave them to rot. Any sign-up is a long-term commitment to keep them updated and populated with content.

I understand that for many companies, the juice may not be worth the squeeze. So start small and build over time.

Lesson 04: If They Go Low, Stand Out By Going High

Initially, I was quite shocked that we had been targeted in this way. Yet upon reflection, I suppose I shouldn’t have been.

I have repeatedly heard stories from prospects and clients about the unscrupulous behaviors of many other lead generation agencies (or individuals).

Misleading advertising, stealing intellectual property, selling fake leads, distributing ‘fresh, exclusive leads’ to multiple buyers — all very common.

So the unethical practice of buying fake, negative reviews against a competitor is par for the course, it seems.

Unfortunately, all of these tactics are evidence of short-term thinking.

While potentially beneficial in the short term, when viewed over a long enough time period, it becomes obvious that companies like this will not succeed.

You should have the same view of your own business.

Stand out by taking a long-term perspective across all aspects of your business:

• Manage leads in an effective but fair way
• Sell your products & services in a consultative manner
• Quote fairly and transparently
• Deliver exactly what you said you would
• Mistakes happen, fix them when they do

If you can do all of that, you will stand head and shoulders above your competitors.

Lesson 05: Build Your Fortress One Brick At A Time

In ‘The Art of War,’ Sun Tzu states that in war “the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.”

The question is, how can you turn your business’ online reputation into a walled fortress?

I believe it is one brick at a time.

By not actively managing our online reputation, we left ourselves an easy mark for this unscrupulous competitor. From now on, we will ensure that we continue to build our online reputation.

This post is itself a component of that.

Build your fortress one brick at a time, and do so before you need it, i.e., in times of peace.

The period when you have plenty of prospects, happy customers, and completed projects is the time to do it.

Because as the saying goes… “this too shall pass.”