Why Positive Reviews Matter
why positive reviews matter
Studies have shown that 90% of customers turn to Google, Yelp, or social media to find reviews before trying a new business. Additionally, about 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they would a personal recommendation from a friend, family, colleague, etc.
While this can be great for businesses that have stellar online reviews, it can do even more harm to a business whose online reviews are lacking. Quite often, the negative minority outweighs the positive majority. A business can have zero reviews online simply because regulars or customers who have positive experiences do not feel an overwhelming need to leave a positive review. However, one negative experience could be left and suddenly the business has a low rating.
86% of people will hesitate to purchase from a business that has a negative review. It only takes one bad review for a business to lose a potential customer.
how to deal with negative reviews as a business
Take ownership of your business listings on potential review platforms. Yelp, Google, and Facebook all give the business owner the opportunity to claim their business listing. By doing this, you now have the ability to monitor reviews and respond in a timely manner. Which brings us to number 2…
Respond promptly. By responding to a negative review, you are showing other potential customers that you take negative feedback seriously. We often recommend that businesses take the conversation to a more private forum, if able, by asking the reviewer to email or call you to talk. When responding be sure to admit mistakes if you have made them or correct inaccuracies if you have not. You can choose to offer some type of restitution if you feel it is warranted. Sometimes simply doing either of these can influence the original reviewer to change their review to a more positive one thereby helping your overall rating.
Start your own review campaign. If your online business listing is being affected by a singular 1-star review or even multiple average (2 or 3 stars) reviews, reach out to past customers or clients whom you’ve had a positive experience with and politely request they leave you a positive review. As we’ve stated, customers usually won’t leave a positive review on their own but with some light prompting they may feel compelled to do so.
