Lately, customer reviews have become one of the most important aspects in the way consumers obtain product and service information to make their purchase decisions. Customer reviews sites are popping up like weeds, dominating the web. According to a recent survey, an estimated 71% of US consumers leverage these resources before making a decision.
Recently, I have had clients calling me asking me about websites/programs to manage customer reviews, and how to weed out the negative reviews. My first answer, is that I don’t agree with doing that at all. Clients need to understand the weight of the reviews and how customers look at them. Not to mention, it’s just not ethical to do. Consumers seek descriptive reviews that are not only independent of the provider, but also contain real world meaning and experiences.
Clients need to understand the importance of taking the good reviews with the bad. According to another study, 80% of reviews were 4 or 5 stars, which obviously increases that clients conversion rates. Even the remaining 20% of negative reviews (on average) can help increase conversion rates as well. You must remember that quality is relative to each users experience and opinion. One negative customer review could be for a reason of no significance to the user reading it, thus brushing it off. Also, it shows that the company is real and things happen. They always say that you can’t please everyone all the time.
Another positive spin on a negative review is the fact that negative reviews can improve company operations, because that company will analyze that feedback and use it to make improvements to its products and/or services. Companies should publically address these negative reviews to show the customer and the public that they truly care about their customer satisfaction.
Clients also need to utilize sites where reviews can be posted and trusted. Posting reviews on your company’s website is great, but most customers will not take them all in truth and may be skeptical. Linking to sites like Yelp and Angie’s List, are great resources, because the customer knows that the reviews posted on there are not fake, and can be trusted, both good or bad. Generating more reviews will improve overall business. It is important that the client/company attempts to communicate with the customer to post a review.
