Realistic Customer Reviews
Online customer reviews are like a hammer: they can be a constructive tool in the right hands, but they can also do some damage. Small businesses can benefit from them greatly, when the reviews are good, but negative reviews can create a bad impression to customers. If bad reviews outweigh the good, a company will see less business come through the Internet. On the other hand, if you have a lot more good reviews than your competitor, the leads from the web will typically go up. The main thing to keep in mind with web marketing is to look at getting realistic customer reviews. Realistic Reviews What I mean by realistic reviews is to make sure you welcome all reviews, even a review that is not 100% positive. Consumers who use the web to research and make decisions are getting more and more savvy. If they see a contractor with 10 100% positive reviews, they might not take the reviews very seriously. If they see another company with 17 reviews – 13 positive and 4 mixed – chances are, this consumer will read the less than 5 star reviews and give more weight to those ratings. But if a customer is too picky to look past a couple of less-than-perfect reviews, you might prefer not to work for them anyways. No company is perfect. You know that. We’ve all made mistakes. You want to work for consumers who are gracious and reasonable. As you know, sometimes the reviews that are not raving may not be 100% accurate about your company. Most online review sites, such as Yelp, Angie’s List and Google, give you the opportunity to respond to the reviews. This is the perfect opportunity to excel in customer service and professionalism. Instead of lashing back at the person who said your company was the worst thing he’d ever experienced in his life, you can respond with grace and positive words back to him. The good consumers are anything but stupid and will see through bogus reviews. The Bottom Line Do not freak out when you get a negative or middle-rating review. Welcome your customers and others to write about their experience. It will help you stay on top of your company and deal with any issues that surface. Yes, it is possible that some bad reviews are truthful. This will only cause your company to correct the problem and move on. It happens to us all.
About David Chism
David Chism started his business out of a passion for helping small contracting businesses grow, be more profitable and become better known to their target clients. One lifelong hobby of David is using techie gadgets. So this blog is a place where he writes about technology, marketing ideas, just for fun (humor), personal thoughts on small business and more.
