Bad reviews can be seriously harmful to the health of your business.
This morning I found yet another news article discussing the damage done to businesses by bad online reviews. Naturally, business owners will often claim bad reviews have been left unfairly, but in a candid moment, I think anyone in business will admit that yes, sometimes we drop the ball. Learning from mistakes is essential to the long-term success of any business.
But what happens when customers say negative things about your business online? How badly will that damage your bottom line?
Bad reviews – the facts:
- 55% of Internet users look at other people’s reviews.
- 82% of Internet users trust customer reviews over expert reviews.
- 50% of ALL internet users over 18 have left a review online.
- Customers are willing to pay more for companies that have excellent reviews.
- 78% of Internet users believe reviews are the most credible form of advertising.
The fact is your online reputation is quantifiable, findable and unavoidable. When was the last time you decided against spending money with a business because of a review you found? How often do Amazon reviews steer your purchases?
How to positively deal with negative reviews.
In most cases, negative feedback about your company is a very positive thing; think of bad reviews as good advice. The problem businesses today face is that their customers leave negative feedback on blogs, review sites and social media (especially Facebook). We have developed a system that ensures that any customers give you their feedback, rather than leaving it smeared around the web in places you can’t control.
The positive side of an online reputation management system is that it boosts the number of good reviews people leave you online, so if you found yourself in a similar situation to the business in the BBC ‘bad blogs’ news story (link below) we would overwhelm the negative blog post with links to positive reviews, thereby diluting their damage.
Real the bad blogging article at the BBC website…
Last Updated on February 19, 2023
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