You may never have heard of Search Point UK, but this company quietly helps thousands of small businesses manage their Google My Business listings and Google presence.

As Local SEO’s we typically deal with businesses that have a website, active on social media and have a basic understanding of local search results.

But what about those SMB’s that run successful businesses, are good at what they do but don’t have the time to manage or learn about GMB? They know they need it, but want someone to do it for them.

This is the area that Search Point UK operates in. If you think this sounds like a walk in the park, think again.

 

Search Point UK Interview

Rachel Streets is the Sales Manager of Search Point UK

 

My typical reader would be saying but GMB is Free to businesses, why pay someone to manage it?

Yes GMB is free to businesses however not every business has the skills and time needed to manage GMB in a way that benefits their business. All businesses realise they need it, but do not want to deal with it or cannot make it look as professional as we can.

In the same way that a car owner may contact a valeter to ensure the vehicle was cleaned to the best standard possible, our customers rely upon us to provide the best quality of content on their listings, as well as the technical expertise that is required to continually keep those listings competitive against other similar businesses.

 

It was a good choice, but what made you decide the company would benefit from compliance auditing?

Our goal is to operate in a totally compliant and transparent manner, and compliance auditing felt like a really effective way of achieving both. We value the advice and reassurance that the relationship with Tim brings to our business.

 

The old Search Point was solely focussed on direct sales. Has this changed much in the last three years?

We still operate a direct sales business model as this makes sure we contact customers who need our help the most. Our focus has shifted away from some of the more robust practices that have caused us issues historically, and we now ensure a fully audited, and compliant, system is managed and monitored closely. For example, our call auditing team check our sales teams calls to ensure compliance and quality are paramount on every call that we make.

 

What would you say is the largest issue you regularly have to deal with, that a typical marketing agency would not?

A large % of the businesses we deal with don’t have an email and if they do its a yahoo or aol email.

So once we have verified their business listing for them, we now have to create an email for them, with a lot of handholding involved to get them to accept ownership of their business into their new account.

 

I know your hand holding does not stop there with customers, what about images for their business listing?

A lot of our customers do not have regular access to internet and PCs, in fact some even send us in photographs through the post for us to scan and upload onto the listings for them. By offering the MANAGEMENT of this product to those who need help, we are ensuring everyone has a fair chance at reaping the rewards of such a great product.

 

With such a large % of customers scared of technology, how do you deal with / convince them of using Google Posts, Products etc?

We remind them regularly by email, and quarterly account updates. If they have a small web or social presence it is slightly easier getting regular updates, but often we rely entirely upon the information the customers can share with over the telephone calls we make to them.

 

Are there any other additions you are working on implementing?

We have introduced in-house copy writers and page builders to ensure the product we offer looks the absolute best it can. We also check other online directories for our customers to enhance their overall online presence as we know that a well joined up and managed internet presence can be one of the biggest influencers in business growth.

 

COVID – How was the recent pandemic affected your customers and what are you doing to help?

During the pandemic we saw a large increase in “temporarily closed” markers. These were added by Google onto businesses categories which were required to close under government guidelines and restrictions. We advised our customers on the best way of keeping their customers updated with accurate open and closing times, as well as posting blogs on our website to give reassurance and support during unprecedented times.

Since our return to full operation back in June, we have been enjoying speaking to new customers who need our help, as well as catching up with our existing customers. In particular, we have been encouraged with how much support the Google my Business product has been able to offer these smaller businesses in such a difficult time.

 

**Disclosure: I provide compliance auditing for Search Point UK on their practices and accounts to ensure compliance with Google My Business 3rd party Guidelines.

 
Having problems with your Google My Business listing, give our Google My Business Consultant a call for a no obligations chat, or see our guide on Optimising your Google My Business Listing.