Why social reviews are important: Every business owner knows that having positive online reviews are good, but did you know that 86% of survey respondents said negative reviews strongly impacted their buying decisions. Another survey found that 57% of consumers will avoid a local business that has negative online reviews.
A bad reputation will in the form of negative online reviews will certainly decrease revenue and hurt the bottom line for any business.
What can you do about negative online reviews?
- The first step is to understand the problem. Start by examining these negative reviews. Look for trends or common problems. Do your customers perceive rudeness, slow response or service / product quality to be a problem? Put in place changes to correct these problems. If you have a customer services problem or a problem in meeting customer expectations, you need to identify and fix these issues. Otherwise you will continue getting these negative reviews.
- Next you need to start responding to any negative reviews. This needs to be done in a professional and courteous manner. You need to engage the reviewer to better understand the problem and seek to resolve the issue. You do this publically to help turn around the negative online review. You also do it so others that those who read these reviews know you are concerned and care about your customers.
- Set-up monitors such as Google Alerts (free) or Reputology (low cost) so you can receive emails whenever a review or company mention happens on the web. Monitors will help you quickly hear about a problem so you can respond.
- Get new positive reviews to counteract the negative ones. Reach out to customers you do work with surveys, calls, emails and even traditional mail. Ask for feedback on how you did in meeting their expectations. Take negative feedback and work to resolve. Take positive responses and encourage these customers to leave online reviews.
Communicating with every client or customer is the best way to get feedback on how you are doing. In today’s business world it is important to create relationships. You want to not just be professional as you provide service, but to also be friendly and approachable.