Online reviews and ratings play a significant role in determining a company’s reputation. Reviews inform potential customers about a company’s products, services, and the quality of their customer service. Considering reviews have become a staple in consumer’s purchasing decisions, companies need to be conscious of their online image.
Create or Destroy Confidence
One negative online review has the potential to cost a company upwards of 30 customers. Consumers don’t take low ratings lightly, 78% of people claim bad reviews have kept them from making a purchase. Also, 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
A business’s online rating is comparable to a high school student’s GPA when applying to colleges. Consumers take a look at a company’s grades to decide if they want to accept the applicant into their institution.
Be Proactive
Preventing poor customer reviews is just as important as receiving positive feedback. The most effective strategy for limiting negative reviews online is to ask customers to rate their buying experience through a private rating system before their bad review reaches social media or other review platforms. This gives companies an opportunity to immediately and privately address any issues that may have taken place during the purchasing process.
Exploit Problems
Not all negative reviews should be viewed through a pessimistic lens. Critiques made by customers online help companies gain insight on issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. Companies shouldn’t be concerned about a problem unless it continues to happen after it’s been brought to their attention.
Fortunately, 70% of unsatisfied customers whose issues were resolved said they would do business with that company again. Instead of getting discouraged or distraught by an issue occurring, companies should view the experience as a valuable learning opportunity. In the end, making the necessary changes ultimately has a positive impact on the brand’s overall performance.
Increase Revenue
Being able to tap into your company’s review system to receive immediate feedback from customers adds value to your business. Considering negative reviews can cost a company customers, reversing or preventing criticism from customers online helps boost conversions.
Loyal customers are typically the individuals that leave positive reviews. When a customer feels compelled to notify consumers about a company, chances are they’ll make future purchases from that business. According to Harvard Business School, existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend an average of 31% more than new customers.
Get The Word Out
Reviews create an opportunity to have customers do some of your marketing for you, for free. Online reviews from satisfied customers can be thought of as mini testimonials vouching for a brand’s products or services. Companies that have the highest ratings with the most positive reviews also show up first in search engine results.
Add Validation
Reviews can be used as a tool to justify a company’s prices. When a business with the highest prices has drastically better reviews, consumers usually equate it to the company offering a superior product or service. Witnessing numerous people voluntarily express their admiration for a business helps put consumer’s minds at ease when making purchasing decisions.
Next Step
The majority of a business’s first impressions are made online. Don’t put your company at risk of making a bad one. Use Activate.Reviews to acquire, monitor, and amplify your company’s customer reviews. If you’d like to learn more about how we help companies receive more positive reviews online, schedule a free, 15-minute intro call here!
