Best Reputation Management Software

Want to jump straight to the answer? For the majority of companies, Brand24 will provide the most helpful features for improving customer experiences and for boosting the company’s online reputation.

A good reputation has always been a key component of success for a business or organization. 

A couple of generations ago, word of mouth was extremely important in maintaining a positive reputation. Generating a positive reputation these days, however, involves monitoring what people are saying about the business online. 

Companies can dedicate multiple employees to try to keep up with customer reviews and social media mentions. Or, they can rely on the best reputation management software to efficiently keep track of and respond to current and potential customers.

The Top 6 Best Reputation Management Software Tools

1. Brand24 — Best overall reputation management software
2. BirdEye — Best for monitoring customer reviews
3. Podium — Best for improving customer review results
4. Reputation.com — Best for understanding reputation levels
5. Yext — Best for generating success with local searches
6. Mention — Best for improving social media presence

#1 – Brand24 — Best Overall Reputation Management Software

Visit Brand24

• Easily monitor brand mentions
• Track marketing campaigns
• Receive negative review alerts
• Watch competitor performance

Try free for 14 days

Brand24 has an impressive level of versatility to serve the online reputation management needs of any sized company. It can help one keep an eye on their own reputation online and monitor the performance of competitors.

Users can specify keyword searches for social media, blogs, message boards, customer reviews, and other outlets. The keywords can involve a slogan or the company name. 

Brand24 will then search for any instances of those keywords and send alerts pertaining to them. In some instances, it may be helpful to search for keywords related to competitors, allowing the company to track competitor performance alongside their own.

With its system, Brand24 keeps track of all customer interactions, whether they’re negative, positive, or neutral. If desired, Brand24 will send alerts when it encounters a negative-tinted review or social media post, giving the company the ability to respond immediately.

Additionally, Brand24 can generate reports about the frequency of mentions, likes, and trending hashtags related to the company. This is a useful way to manage the penetration of a particular marketing campaign. 

In fact, Brand24 offers a feature where a company can measure the performance of two or more of its marketing campaigns to compare them, measuring which of its brand-related hashtags is performing better.

For those new to reputation management software, Brand24 offers a wide range of helpful features. It has multiple teaching tools and webinars to give customers the information they need to make the most of Brand24’s features.

Brand24 offers three pricing tiers ranging from $49 to $299 per month. Brand24’s pricing tiers allow for a different number of maximum keyword searches. Users can test the software for free during a trial period.

#2 – BirdEye — Best for Monitoring Customer Reviews

Visit BirdEye

• Watch customer reviews
• Respond to customers easily
• Ideal for large companies
• Generate customer insights

Request a demo

Online customer reviews are critically important to any business. Five-star reviews can boost the brand and increase sales. One-star reviews can sink the product quickly. 

BirdEye has the ability to monitor customer reviews from more than 200 different sites, keeping an eye on what customers are saying. Companies can set up BirdEye to generate automatic responses to different types of reviews. 

For the most positive reviews, BirdEye can link to them and highlight them on the company’s social media feed. It can also generate data from customer feedback, helping the company understand why its customers are responding the way they are.

As an added benefit, BirdEye allows a company to connect with customers who leave reviews on the company website. BirdEye supports messaging through text, live chat, social media contacts, or email. After connecting with the customers, BirdEye will encourage them to leave reviews on popular sites too.

BirdEye is an especially strong reputation management software package for large companies. Its features may work for some smaller organizations too, especially those that rely on online product sales. However, BirdEye’s cost is a little higher than some on our list.

BirdEye offers a free demo for potential customers. For those who want to receive price quotes, they’ll have to provide some information to BirdEye.

#3 – Podium — Best for Improving Customer Review Results

Visit Podium

• Encourage more reviews
• Use a live chat option
• Boost company’s reputation
• Faster responses for customers

Request a demo

When companies receive five-star reviews, it rarely happens by accident. They have to work at it to make sure happy customers leave reviews. After all, satisfied customers don’t always take the time to leave reviews like unhappy customers tend to do.

Podium is a reputation management software package that focuses on encouraging customers to leave more reviews. Chances are high that this will generate a higher level of five-star reviews, boosting the overall reputation of the brand, product, and company.

As its primary focus, Podium helps the company respond quickly to customer requests and questions. These prompt responses will impress customers. 

When customers let the company know that they have had a good experience, Podium sends messages that encourage them to leave positive reviews. Podium will even point the customers toward certain websites and social media channels where the company wants more positive reviews to appear.

Podium keeps the conversation lines open by offering things like a live chat button on the company website and a phone number for texting customer support. All of these communications from customers appear in the Podium dashboard, allowing for immediate responses.

Potential customers can request a demo from Podium. They will need to contact Podium for a custom price quote.

#4 – Reputation.com — Best for Understanding Reputation Levels

Visit Reputation.com

• Generate a reputation score
• Create quick feedback
• Track company mentions
• Send out customer surveys

Request a demo

Companies that struggle to figure out exactly where they stand with customers can use the Reputation.com software to discover multiple insights. 

Reputation.com uses its data monitoring about the company and its brand to assign a reputation score. This score provides insights on how customers are interacting with the company. 

Those using Reputation.com will be able to use the score to determine areas where the company is having success with customers and areas where it could improve.

By using the Reputation.com dashboard, users can see all customer reviews in one place. This simplifies responding to both positive and negative reviews, making the company appear highly interested in its customers’ opinions and experiences. 

Companies can use the dashboard to monitor any social media conversations regarding the company and brand as well.

When customers are mentioning the company, Reputation.com makes it easy to ask those customers for more feedback or to take a survey. 

In helping the company generate improved responsiveness, Reputation.com aims to increase website traffic, social media hits, and customer conversion.

Reputation.com offers a demonstration version. To receive a price quote, potential customers will need to contact the company.

#5 – Yext — Best for Generating Success with Local Searches

Visit Yext

• Location-based results
• Manage information easily
• Generate customer analytics
• Enhance brand awareness

Request a demo

When customers start finding your company through searches, Yext helps you manage the information they see. This enhances brand awareness by delivering a consistent message.

When using Yext, companies receive placement on more than 150 digital services and search engines. Yext then works to improve the brand’s reputation, helping the company appear higher on the page in all kinds of searches.

It uses special techniques to improve search results by trying to answer questions customers have. When a customer types a question as a search phrase, rather than generating a link, Yext tries to help the company answer the search question.

Additionally, Yext excels in generating results for the company in local and location-based searches. When a customer is looking for a specific item or a type of restaurant in the area, Yext works to place the company favorably in the search results for services like Google Maps, Amazon Alexa, Apple Maps, and Yelp.

Yext includes a service where companies can generate their own information pages. These landing pages provide all of the key information about the company, while also generating coupons or special offers. For companies with multiple locations, Yext can ensure the information remains consistent across locations.

Companies can make use of a variety of analytics from Yext to make sure they’re hitting the types of customers they want. It also encourages customers to reach out, creating more leads and conversions. 

Potential customers can request a demo from Yext. They will need to contact Yext directly to receive a price quote.

#6 – Mention — Best for Improving Social Media Presence

Visit Mention

• Make a posting schedule
• Measure effectiveness
• Generate automated responses
• Reasonable price points

Try for free

Having a strong social media presence can quickly build the success and popularity of a business. However, generating engaging social media posts over and over can be extremely challenging.

Mention works to enhance the social media presence that a company has, allowing it to connect with customers on a personal level. Mention can also help a company increase its marketing results.

With Mention, companies can generate a plan for posting on social media on a regular basis, including setting up a posting schedule. Having an editorial calendar in place to handle social media posts can keep the company focused on its messaging versus trying to generate ideas on the fly. 

Additionally, Mention will monitor several social media outlets for mentions of the company. It uses this information to help a company understand what aspects of its brand are resonating with customers and which are not. 

Mention applies filtering techniques to the social media information it monitors. These simplify the process of analyzing the data, giving companies more useful information about their performance levels.

Mention also can monitor a wide range of online information sources beyond social media, such as news articles, blogs, product review articles, customer reviews, and message board forums. It Mention can even generate automated responses to these posts or it can alert someone at the company to craft a personal response.

Mention offers a free trial period for several of its pricing tiers, which vary in cost from $29 to $199 per month. It has a free tier as well as a custom priced tier.

How to Find the Best Reputation Management Software for You

Reputation management software is not a one-size-fits-all prospect. Different brands of this software will provide specific features that may better serve the needs of a particular organization.

Think about areas where the business struggles to manage its customer engagements. These could be social media interactions, customer reviews, and general mentions online. Then, pick a software tool that fits those needs. 

Customer Reviews

When customers are shopping for a particular product, they’re almost certainly going to consult online customer reviews for information. When a company’s product has a few one-star reviews, these can sink the product’s reputation very quickly.

The majority of reputation management software packages give companies the ability to keep an eye on customer reviews. The best tools will monitor reviews from dozens of websites. Less powerful tools will only monitor some of the most popular sites, like Amazon. This may be enough for some companies, though.

When the company receives a poor review, the software finds it and gives the company a chance to post a response or to ask the customer for more information. 

Even if the customer who left the poor review doesn’t respond to queries for more information, showing a willingness to reach out has its own benefits. It shows potential customers that the company will attempt to make things right when customers are unhappy.

Some companies may set up the reputation software to respond to positive reviews as well, thanking the customer.

Social Media Interactions

Some of the best ways to respond to customers involve keeping an eye on social media. When a customer mentions the company or organization, many reputation management software packages will find that social media post and give the company a chance to respond.

With a powerful social media brand, an organization or company can generate new customers and promote desirable sentiments about the company. 

Some reputation software packages will only monitor a few highly popular social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter. However, your company may want to seek out a younger customer base, which could be found on TikTok or Instagram. If so, seek out reputation software that focuses on these outlets too.

General Mentions

For larger companies and organizations, keeping an eye on everything customers are saying online is important. The most powerful reputation managing tools will scan the Internet as a whole, seeking mentions of the company or brand. These locations may include:

• Video uploads
• Podcasts
• Message boards
• Blogs
• News articles
• “Best of” listicles
• Trending topics
• Hashtags

Smaller companies probably don’t need to monitor their reputation across all of these venues. They can look toward a software package that has more of a focus on a particular area of online reputation, saving a bit of money.

Summary

Through our research, we found that Brand24 gives companies the widest range of options for managing reputation online. It combines accurate measuring of social media and other mentions for the company, while also generating helpful reports and analytics about the data it collects.

However, it may not provide the best results for every type of company. Mention’s particular strength lies in improving the social media presence of a company. BirdEye and Podium focus on helping companies generate more online reviews that paint the company in a positive light.

Improving online reputation is an area of running a business that can occupy a lot of time when owners try to handle it on their own. Using these software packages to increase the reputation of a business saves time while generating results. 

Social media and other online sources provide a unique opportunity for businesses to reach potential customers. The software tools on our list can help businesses make the most of these opportunities in an efficient manner.

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Best Collection Agency Services

Businesses should be focused on serving their clients, not on tracking them down for missed payments. Collection agency services solve this problem by recovering your money and strengthening your cash flow. Agencies do this by identifying your debtors and reaching out to them in a targeted way. If you’re wondering which collection agency could be best for you, keep reading.

The Top 6 Best Collection Agency Services

1. Rocket Receivables – Best for Small Businesses in Highly Regulated Industries
2. Prestige Services – Best for Commercial Accounts
3. Summit Account Resolution – Best for Medical, Dental, and Employee Reimbursement
4. Atradius Collections – Best for Global B2B Debt Collection
5. IC System – Best for Landlords, Government Agencies, and Financial Institutions
6. The Kaplan Group – Best for Large Claims

Let’s take a deeper dive into the best collection agencies so you can determine which is right for your business. 

#1 – Rocket Receivables — Best For Small Businesses in Highly  Regulated Industries

Visit Rocket Receivables

• Stage One clients receive 100% of collections
• Rocket Booster enhances collection reminders
• Stage Two clients only pay when debt is collected
• Covers B2C and B2B accounts

Try it today

Rocket Receivables is the solution for smaller businesses that are having trouble collecting and that are concerned about breaking debt collection regulations. The service helps small to midsize businesses in industries like healthcare, retail, contracted services, real estate, professional services, education, and more.  

The service is straightforward and is broken down into two stages. Stage One is for accounts that are less than 120 days past due, and it has up-front pricing with a fixed fee. During Stage One, the debtor is reminded once from first-party outreach and is sent three additional third-party reminders. Rocket Booster can be added to include phone call reminders. 

If accounts are over 120 days past due and are harder to collect, businesses usually go with Stage Two. Businesses pay a percentage of the amount of debt collected with Stage Two, and they are not required to pay if nothing is collected. Stage Two involves legal actions, negotiations, phone calls, and written demands. 

If the debt isn’t collected through Stage One, accounts are automatically moved to Stage Two. Stage One comes with deliverables like debt validation, an online portal, postage envelopes, thank you letters, and database screening. Stage Two includes free bankruptcy screening, the ability to adjust negotiation amounts, asset investigations, and B2C and B2B accounts.

Stage One services cost $21.95 per account with 10 accounts, $17.95 per account with 25 accounts, and $14.95 per account with 50 accounts. If you have over 100 accounts, contact Rocket Receivables for more information. 

Stage Two contingency fees are set at 50% of collections received. This is on the higher end of typical contingency fees, and it is one disadvantage of using Rocket Receivables’ Stage Two debt collection service.

#2 – Prestige Services — Best For Commercial Accounts

Visit Prestige Services

• Lower rates than most agencies
• Collections within 10 days are free
• Negotiable rates for large accounts
• Attorney-forwarding for tough collections

Try it today

Prestige Services is the best collection agency for commercial accounts. It covers all U.S. states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico. It’s been in business for over two decades, its employees have over 50 years of combined experience, and it has won multiple accredited business awards. 

Prestige Services has one of the best collection ratios in the U.S., and it partners with Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) attorneys if it fails to collect. To ensure the best chance of success, it works with attorneys in a debtor’s geographical area.

Prestige’s services are free if collection is achieved within 10 days of sign-up as long as it is informed within the 10-day period. Prestige does not charge any fees if no debt is collected, and it has 5 to 10 percent lower average rates than most collection agencies. 

Prestige clients can access their accounts online at any time. They can check claim status, debt collection notes, and keep accounts organized. The service also includes pre-collection services, accounts receivable outsourcing, professional skip-tracing, free final notice forms, and bank account searching. 

Prestige requires a minimum claim of $200. Rates of claims for $200 to $3,000 are set at 25 percent. Claims for over $3,000 to $20,000 have rates at 22 percent. Rates are negotiable for claims over $20,000. Claims forwarded to attorneys typically have 35 to 40 percent contingency rates. 

#3 – Summit Account Resolution — Best For Medical, Dental, and Employee Reimbursement

Visit Summit A.R.

• 0.02% customer complaint rate
• No claim minimums or quotas
• A+ rating from Better Business Bureau
• Recovery rates double U.S. average

Try it today

Summit Account Resolution has the best solutions for medical, dental, and employee reimbursement collections. It also helps with common B2C and B2B accounts. The company prides itself on being more personal, and it doesn’t use threats, robo-calls, or aggressive strategies. It has an excellent compliance record and an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau. 

Summit’s medical collection service aims to gather debt from patients without hurting its clients’ reputations. The collection service has received a 0.02% patient complaint rate, resolved 13,700 accounts in the past year, and collected $140 million for clients as of writing. Its tactics are fully compliant with the HIPAA, and its recovery rates are double the U.S. average. 

Dentists can hire Summit to handle pre-collection services and collect patient debt. Summit understands that running a dental practice comes with high costs and the need for cash flow. It uses its “Preserve Human Dignity” philosophy to represent practices and retrieve payments in a professional way. Summit can help small practices or multi-location operations. 

Summit’s employee reimbursement solutions help recover debt from things like overpaid salaries, commission recalls, unauthorized expenses, early termination relocation expenses, uniform fees, unauthorized travel costs, and tuition reimbursements. It helps with current or former employees and with accidental or intentional debts. 

Summit is paid through contingency rates ranging from 7.5% to 50% depending on factors like balance amount, collection type, and debt age. Summit isn’t paid until debt is collected, and it doesn’t require claim minimums or quotas. 

#4 – Atradius Collections — Best For Global B2B Debt Collection

Visit Atradius Collections

• 79.4% global success rate
• Covers 96% of the world’s countries
• Network of international collection professionals
• Collections sent directly to your bank account

Request a quote

Atradius is a collection agency focusing on B2B debt in the U.S. and internationally. It has a network of professionals around the world that speak the same language as debtors and are familiar with local collecting regulations. As a result, Atradius covers 96% of countries across the globe, and its average global success rate is 79.3%.

If collection is unsuccessful, Atradius searches for other options like dispute registration, collection plan monitoring, and first-party collections. Once collections are retrieved, they are sent directly to the hiring company’s bank account no matter what currency was used to pay it. 

This service monitors debt and eliminates the need for clients to track it across different languages, jurisdictions, and time zones. Atradius also provides accounts receivable outsourcing, insolvency services, legal collections, standby servicing, and invoice checking. 

Atradius offers upfront pricing after requesting a quote, and payment is dependent upon successful collection. Simply enter your debtor’s name and country, your company’s name and country, and debt details on the Atradius website for a free quote. Invoices can be uploaded, and the entire process can be tracked online. 

#5 – IC System — Best For Landlords, Government Agencies, and Financial Institutions

Visit IC System

• 80+ years of industry experience
• Credit monitoring predicts ability to pay
• Helps landlords collect damage payments
• Flat fee and contingency-based options

Try it today

IC System is a collection agency that serves a variety of different industries, and it’s the best choice for rent recovery, government collections, and financial institution collections. The agency has over 80 years of experience, and it specializes in U.S. collections only. Like Summit, it emphasizes the importance of consumer-friendly and ethical debt collection. 

Late rent is a common issue with landlords leasing out properties. To help them solve this, IC System collects rent from tenants of apartment units, rental properties, mobile homes, and more. It can be used to collect debt when damage to a unit exceeds the security deposit amount. It also helps with credit monitoring, and it automatically sends debts. 

IC System is authorized to provide government debt collection services on the federal level through its General Services Administration (GSA) Professional Services Schedule Contract. The service maximizes revenue by segmenting accounts, takes note of the ability to pay through late-state credit monitoring, and re-engages inactive accounts through clean-up strategies. 

Financial institutions are constantly lending money, and many require collection services. IC System helps recover debt from actions like loans given, credit cards issued, and mortgages lent. It helps financial institutions like banks, accounting firms, and credit unions recover debt quickly using its customer-friendly and compliant approach. 

IC System offers two plans called Recovery Plus and Premier Collect. Recovery Plus is a two-stage approach in which clients pay a fixed fee during the first phase, and they pay a low contingency fee during the second phase. Premier Collect is a more comprehensive service and is contingency-based. For more information on pricing, reach out to IC System through its website.

#6 – The Kaplan Group — Best For Large Claims

Visit The Kaplan Group

• Debt collectors average over 10 years experience
• 85% success rate on large viable claims
• Collaborative and transparent collection strategies
• Competitive contingency fees

Request a free quote

The Kaplan Group is a collection agency specializing in large claims. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, this agency is a member of the International Association of Commercial Collectors, a group that under 5% of collection agencies are a part of. It specializes in large commercial claims, but it can help with businesses of any size. 

Kaplan’s three-step system has led to an 85% success rate on large viable claims. Step One consists of a prospect and a Kaplan agent meeting over the phone to discuss the case and whether it’s a good fit. If it is, a debt collector averaging more than 10 years of experience is assigned to personally manage the client’s case. 

Step Two involves research of the debtor in the case. The agent researches the non-paying company and pinpoints who the best person is to reach out to for collection. Kaplan prides itself on understanding how the money-controllers within a company work, and how contracts like sales orders, invoices, price discounts, shipping charges, and sales tax laws work.

During Step Three, the client and the assigned Kaplan agent devise a plan for recovering the debt. Kaplan knows how to handle excuses and objections, and it uses proven strategies to navigate them. Before executing the plan, agents go over the entire strategy with their clients to ensure transparency. 

The Kaplan Group charges contingency-based rates for using its service, and clients do not pay until money is recovered. A client’s first claim must be more than $10,000. Claims over $500,000 have a 10% fee. $50,000 to $500,000 claims have a 15% fee. $5,000 to $50,000 claims have a 20% fee, and $1,000 to $5,000 claims have a 25% fee. 

If your debtor is located outside the U.S., there is a 30% fee. There are 50% fees for claims under $1,000, but claims this small are only available to long-term clients. 

How to Find The Best Collection Agency Service For You

When researching a collection agency, pay attention to how it charges its clients, how it conducts business, what its success rate or experience is, and what it focuses on.

Fee Structure

The fee structure is something that you must factor in before choosing a collection agency service. The two main types of fees are fixed fees and contingency fees. Clients pay fixed fees regardless of the result, and they pay contingency fees as a percentage of money recovered. Contingency fees typically range from 7% to 50%. 

One advantage of fixed-fee arrangements is that clients don’t need to pay more for large collection amounts, and they receive 100% of the money recovered. However, fixed-fee clients could end up paying a collection agency that doesn’t recover any money for them. Many of the easier-to-obtain claims involve fixed-fee structures. 

Contingency-fee arrangements are beneficial because clients don’t have to pay unless money is recovered. However, clients can end up handing over a large chunk of money depending on the collection amount. If you can find a suitable collection agency with lower contingency fees without sacrificing quality, this is ideal.

Ethicality

Everyone looking for a suitable collection agency should find one that is ethical. When a company hires a collection agency, it wants to obtain the debt from the end client without tarnishing its relationship with that client. 

If you choose an agency that harasses and threatens debtors, then the debtors probably won’t want to do business with you again. Unethical collection agencies hurt business reputations and are often less successful than ethical ones. 

You want to look for a collection agency that is customer-friendly and personable. Debtors should always be treated with dignity and respect. This will not only increase their chances of paying you back, but also make it more likely that they will do business with you again.

Success Rate and Experience

Always look for collection agency success rates, especially when they are charging a fixed fee. Solid collection success rates are above 75%. For contingency-fee payers, this is less important because they have nothing to lose except the time wasted on hiring the agency. 

If an agency’s success rate isn’t listed, look for experience details. Many agencies like to advertise the years they have been collecting debt or the amount of experience their debt collectors have. Experience is a huge bonus in this industry, so it’s something to keep in mind. 

Specialization

Finally, always factor in a collection agency’s specialization before choosing them. Many will work in niches like B2C, B2B, national, global, or industry-specific businesses. You may be required to pay higher fees with a specialized collection agency, but it might be worth it due to its experience.

Also, some agencies focus on larger claims and require a minimum amount to do business with them. Be sure to investigate an agency’s website before choosing it and call its support team if you still have questions. 

Summary

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of which collection agencies are the best. Let’s recap so you don’t forget. Small to midsize companies in highly regulated industries should look into Rocket Receivables. Prestige Services is best for commercial accounts, and Atradius’s global network is best for international B2B collections. 

For businesses looking for medical, dental, or employee reimbursement collections, consider an agency like Summit Account Resolution. IC System is best for government agencies, landlords, and financial institutions, and Kaplan is best for big claims.

Always choose an agency that is ethical and that either has a high success rate or over a decade of experience. It’s also important to account for fee structures when factoring in your budget, and make sure to choose one that specializes in handling similar situations to yours. 

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