Why do we need reviews?

Reviews are important. They give you real people’s opinions on how something works or what it does that gives the consumer real value. A company website or product info will give you an overview but how something feels or works in real terms is so valuable. On many sites the reviewers rate the product or service out of 5 so you can get a number immediately to indicate how it was viewed by the customer. Whilst we know that there are people out there being paid to review products, or there is the concern that they may be fake, by and large reviews are genuine. People don’t just buy on price now; they look at the value something will bring for them. Its therefore fair to suggest that a consumer may go with a more expensive product because it has more positive reviews.

Complaints

In the past companies built their reputation on good products and service and that is still the case. How customers experienced a business stayed with them and whether it was good or bad, they would tell their nearest and dearest. If people weren’t happy, they may have even written to the company to voice their displeasure; the only people who knew a company had fallen short was the complainant and the recipient. No more. Now any complaint can be verbalized online through a variety of platforms. It’s a scary thought particularly when it may not be justified nor has the complainant given the company a chance to right the wrong.

Negative reviews

So, what happens when the review is negative, how do you deal with that as a business and how do you respond? The reality is not everyone is going to be happy with aspects of your product and service all the time. In business there will be occasions where what you offer may fall short in some way but clearly having that on show for everyone to see can be daunting. Here are some ways you can turn this to your advantage:

Respond

You must always answer politely and fully to any negative review, silence endorses it.

A chance to grow

Try to see this as a chance to remedy some element of your business that you didn’t realize was an issue.

Marketing

Sounds odd but it’s an opportunity to showcase how you deal with issues because the way that a company reacts says everything about them.

In a fast-moving world where everyone is now online, can you really be expected to keep tabs of all your reviews across multiple platforms?

How we can help

We offer a service that can help your business stay on top of these reviews and respond in a timely manner. Our technology shows your reviews on a portal giving you visibility of reviews on Facebook, Trustpilot and Google side by side. It also flags up reviews that you have not responded to allowing you to be proactive and on top of all comments in the public domain.

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