Reviews and Social Media Provide Significant Advantage for Small Business

NEEDHAM, Mass., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- C'Watre, LLC (http://www.cwatre.com) a skin care company located in Ashburn, Va. has found a way to compete with big corporations by collecting and promoting customer feedback through social media with RatePoint (http://www.RatePoint.com), a leading provider of customer reviews, testimonials and online reputation management services.

C'Watre Co-Founder and President Robert Lyles began using online reviews and email marketing to directly connect with customers and was seeking a proven method to proactively reach potential new customers who were not already familiar with C'Watre. When RatePoint launched its social media integration tools, C'Watre immediately understood the value and was among the first to implement the RatePoint Facebook Tab and now has the ability to share its online reviews on Facebook and Twitter in just one click.  

"We simply don't have the budget or resources to compete with larger corporations, and integrating our RatePoint reviews into our Facebook fan page has resulted in direct sales for the business," said Lyles. "Social media provides a way for us to share reviews directly with consumers without spending on a big advertising campaign. With RatePoint's integration tools, we can reach potential customers who may not already be familiar with us, and showcase our credibility through third-party reviews."

Since using the social media integration tools, C'Watre's sales have gone up substantially within a short time frame. Reviews have helped grow the C'Watre fan base on Facebook and Lyles has seen a direct correlation between people seeing RatePoint reviews on their Facebook page and sales as a result.

"Reviews are a huge help for our business because it validates our company within the market as well as our product mix," said Lyles. "Roughly 50 percent of new customers that call us before they place their first order cite one of our reviews as the reason they called. Having new customers reference our reviews speaks volumes for our business. Additionally, because RatePoint reviews are syndicated to major search engines like Google, they have helped us identify new uses for products, such as helping to clear up acne or treat rosacea. "

Being relatively unknown in a very large market can be challenging, and C'Watre found a way to break through the clutter and level the playing field using reviews to quickly gain credibility.

"Customer reviews are vital for small businesses to compete because the first place people go to research a company or a purchase is online," said RatePoint Co-Founder and CEO Neal Creighton. "What customers say about your company speaks volumes and being able to share those positive reviews through social media channels gives small businesses direct access to millions of potential customers."

About RatePoint Inc.

RatePoint Inc., the leading provider of customer reviews, testimonials and online reputation management services, helps businesses protect and build their online reputation, allowing businesses to harness the power of credible customer feedback and leverage it into a sales, marketing and customer service asset.

RatePoint's easy-to-use, Web-based communication services include customer feedback tools to collect business reviews and product reviews as well as email marketing, survey and dispute resolution capabilities to provide small- and medium-sized businesses with the ability to collect, manage and promote customer feedback directly from their website. For more information, contact us at: 888-777-1636 or visit: www.ratepoint.com.

SOURCE RatePoint Inc.