My recent experience

For example, I felt like having fish and chips for lunch today while I am on a business trip in Sydney. I went online to check what’s available nearby and find the following two restaurants that offer fish and chips in a similar price range. Which restaurant should I choose? It’s clear enough I’d pick the first restaurant with better customer reviews to increase my chance of having a good dining experience.

What the research says

One of the most interesting findings from recent research is how powerful customer reviews are at building your business’ online identity and creating credibility. Research also shows that many shoppers tend not to trust businesses that have ratings below four starts and businesses with better than average ratings are significantly more likely to see views leading to sales.

While online customer reviews are of paramount importance, it can take years to build up a good rating but may take only a few minutes to have it ruined by unhappy clients.

How my review impacted a business

Let’s take another personal experience as an example. I had a very sore shoulder and neck so I went to a nearby clinic for acupuncture. I told the doctor that my neck and right shoulder are very sore. Not sure if he had a very busy morning or had something else on his mind, but he barely checked my muscles and started to put needles in my left shoulder. I was puzzled by this and asked him why he started on my left shoulder and he replied: oh, I thought you said your left shoulder is sore.

What made my whole experience worse was, the nurse accidentally left three needles on my shoulder at the end of the treatment. I found out only when leaning toward the wall and feeling the pain in my shoulder. They offered a chair for me to rest on and asked if I wanted a cup of water. To which I refused and left in a shock. To let others know how bad my experience was and how unprofessional this clinic is, I immediately went online and left them the lowest rating. A few months later, I surprisingly received the following email from Google saying that my review had been seen over 3,000 times. I was delighted that I successfully shared my experience with others, and at the same time, I hope my review helped the clinic improve its services.

Other than providing an apology and waiving the fees etc., what should the clinic do to save their reputation and stop me, the unhappy client from giving them the bad review? I mean, bad things do happen and what businesses need to do is to intervene and improve. If the clinic gave me a managed link to give them a review, it is very likely I would have taken the bait. Though I might still leave a similar comment, it left space for them to provide follow-up services and try to change or at least improve based on my opinion about their business.

In conclusion, it is not the end of the world if a client has a bad experience with you, but it can be detrimental if you don’t follow up with them and build a steady stream of positive reviews! And lucky enough, when you need a managed review system, RapidReviews is here to help!

The post The importance of online reviews: years to build, minutes to ruin. appeared first on RapidReviews.

Many companies and business owners fear to respond to negative reviews because it is a digital confrontation – opening a can of worms that will lead into the rabbit hole. Bad reviews should not cause anxiety but should be a moment of opportunity to improve your brand and customer service. So, how should you respond to them?

Reviews left online can either boost your business or lead to your eventual downfall. Increasing your online rating by one-star has been shown to boost your business by up to 10%, whereas one really bad negative review can cost your business tens of thousands of dollars. (See our blog about Fake Reviews Killing Small Businesses).

Negative reviews are crucial, which is why you have to know how to use them to your advantage.

But before you go shelling out extra cash for someone to handle your online presence for you, remember the golden rule of business.

“The customer is always right.”

You should approach reviews with the goal of giving the best possible customer experience even when they’re angry. It keeps reviews from becoming the bane of your existence and shows how dedicated you are to delivering a consistent level of excellence.

1. First assess and evaluate the feedback internally.

Consult With Your Team

– Have a logical procedure in place before clicking reply –

You’re better off assessing the situation instead of immediately responding to a bad review. Customers have a lot of power online, and if you react to a negative review without thinking it through, you will fuel your angry customer.

Geoff Toff says that “if they’re angry enough (however unfairly) and care enough about getting the reaction they want from you (however petty that might be), they can spread negativity all over your reputation online, and people will probably believe it until they see a reason to think otherwise.” Do not get emotional when it’s your turn to respond to a bad review — have a logical procedure in place before clicking “reply”.

2. Publicly respond to the review.

Publicly reply to your negative reviews.

This means, don’t hide and privately reach out to your customer, but respond to them on the platform that they posted the review (privately responding alongside a public response is good as well). Whether they left you a bad review on Google, Facebook or TripAdvisor, do not avoid digital confrontation. Responding publicly to bad reviews shows your customers and potential customers that you care and are attentive.

Why should you care that you’re attentive? – Because it can lead to increased business.

A study done by Cornell University revealed that responding to negative hotel reviews “appears positively related to the consumer’s view of the hotel, as measured by increases in the TripAdvisor score”.

3. Empathise and offer solutions.

Offer a Solution to Customer Complaint

You’re human just like anyone else, which means sometimes you’re going to mess up.

And unfortunately, missteps, mistakes, or mess-ups can lead to negative reviews.

If you just spent your time writing a fluffy response back to the customer apologising for their experience and you’ve really taken the time to not be impulsive, but did not provide some solution or actionable items to mitigate the issue, then you haven’t properly responded to a negative review. Make sure to offer to make it right by providing a solution.

Whether it’s providing your contact information and following up with the customer offline, you should display empathy and effort into solving the complaint.

Responding to negative reviews lets customers see how you handle a less-than-ideal situation.

 Statistically, people will read the negative reviews first. If things go wrong, they want to know what to plan for. Show you’re capable of continuing to deliver excellence even when things aren’t perfect.

4. Fix the issue

Fix The Customer Issue

Once you’ve apologised to the customer, keep your word and fix the issue.

Putting actions behind your words online helps the customer trust your company more. They’ll feel you’re transparent in your solutions and general business accountability, which can only build positive things for your reputation.

Publicly showing that you will always fix something that’s gone wrong for your customers to will strengthen their trust in your company. Building trust cuts down on the need for them to post reviews in the first place because they know if they contact your business directly they’ll be heard, and their issue will be addressed.

5. Follow up with the customer

Always Follow Up With The Customer

On most reviews platforms like Google Business Reviews, customers can edit or remove their reviews.

If you’ve apologised and corrected the issue, reach out to the customer to see if they will remove their review. 

Asking the customer to take down a negative review can also be a great moment for a follow-up. By checking in with the customer, you’ll nudge them toward removing the review from your site, and they’ll feel cared for. They may give you further feedback or even change the review to a positive one.

When you leave a negative review, you expect an outcome. What you want to see is for the business to own their mistake and then correct the issue. If that happens, and you are happy with the outcome most likely, you will amend the negative review. So when it’s time for you to be on the other side of the review process, try to remember what it’s like to be a customer.

6. Conclusion

What Matters Most When Responding to Negative Feedback

Now, this isn’t going to be the case for everyone, but that’s okay.

What matters is you’ve demonstrated to the customer, and anyone else reading the reviews, that you’re apologetic and dedicated to resolving mistakes as quickly and professionally as possible. If you make one customer feel heard and valued in the review section, then other customers will trust you to do the same for them.

Going forward, potential customers will see your positive attitude and consider you trustworthy—even if they haven’t engaged with your business yet.

That’s the power of a customer review. And that’s why it’s crucial that you stay on top of them. By including the review process as an extension of the customer service experience, you’ll handle it like a pro, and your customers will keep coming back—in real life and online.

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