Hiya Greenville, I’m Michelle P., your local Community Ambassador for Yelp (check me out here) in Greenville! I’ve lived in Greenville for 3.5 years and have loved every moment! I moved here from Charlotte, NC where I lived for 25 years before living in England during the Olympics. Yes, the UK is wonderful.
The first thing people ask me when I tell them I work for Yelp is, “How’d you land that job!?” I’ve been a yelper for over 8 years. I started as a broke college kid, loving food but wanting to spend my money only on awesome places. I loved the platform and joined the Yelp Elite Squad in 2012, a group for the most active and engaged Yelp contributors who love their communities. Interested in joining the Elites? Nominate yourself or a friend at yelp.com/elite! I loved that I could meet new foodies at fun parties featuring cool businesses I’ve never visited. I was hooked, I’m now working on my 7th year as an elite, excited to approach the 10 year black badge!
When I saw Yelp hiring for our awesome foodie city, I jumped at the opportunity. Connecting people with great local businesses is what Yelp is all about, and I love that in my life too! Posting photos of beautiful food, drinks, boutiques, parks, and more is a small way to connect with family, friends, and with the Yelp app, we can help people we don’t even know find the best Greenville has to offer.
My local Yelp Elite Squad is comprised of some wonderful people, all of which I would hang out and be friends with, thats a good sign! Gracious, positive, encouraging, and cool local people who love this city we call home.
I love helping from the platform I’ve been given. Every month I set up a promo party exclusively for yelpers and we listen to the business owner share their heart on their business, whether its food or drink or adventure or fun. We get to learn about their vision, mission, values, and purpose. This is my favorite thing ever! Passionate locals who love what they’re doing and supporting the GVL.
We’ve worked with amazing 5 star companies like 13 Stripes Brewery, Escape Artist, ASADA, Tom’s BBQ, CycleBar, Happy+Hale, Tipsy Taco and more.
Its such a honoring experience to be treated by a business and it takes the hard part out of going to a new place. Getting a new person in the door is more than half the battle. Find the business, deciding to go, find the location, find parking, deciding what to order, deciding if I like the value, etc. Hosting a Yelp party is letting me bring in a big group and all of that hassle being taken away. An instant customer who will likely return!
I think some people assume Yelp is a lot of bad reviews but if you review the statistics, 68% of Yelp reviews are 4 or 5 stars (you can check out the Yelp factsheet here!) Yelpers love to love on their favorite businesses. Did you know 92% of consumers using Yelp make a purchase after visiting the platform? Allow us to explain here. Thats incredible. I love that the app is constantly improving. There’s useful things like hygiene scores, food ordering services, reserve a table, cash back, check in offers, and more (see for yourself here.)
I’ve had some questions about users not seeing their reviews show up on a business page. This is because of Yelp’s automated recommendation software, which protects the content on our website and helps consumers find the most useful and reliable reviews. Among other reasons, you may not see your review if you only have one or two reviews, because Yelp doesn’t know enough about your unique tastes to recommend it to our community yet. The recommended reviews on a business page are from people who have profiles that are filled out and are consistent contributors. Just keep at it and you may see your reviews appear before you know it! And remember, businesses can respond to your reviews, but can never change them.
If you have any questions for me, I’m here! Its my job to help our local community and I would be happy to meet any business owner and help. If I can’t answer, I’ll find the answer for you. Email me at greenville@yelp.com!
You can also follow along Michelle and her Yelp adventures daily via their Facebook and Instagram. Be on the look for delicious food, events and more!