Customer feedbacks aren’t merely for consumer products and eateries any longer. These days, reviews are influencing revenue for all kinds of businesses and professional services including real estate agents, loan managers, salons, boutiques, car repair shops, specialists and everything in between.
So what’s the big deal? We’ve revealed the data, and the data shows us one thing—the power of Customer feedback should not be underrated. You need to discern what individuals are saying about your business online because reviews can harm or help your bottom line.
- 68% of consumers trust ideas posted online.
“I read it on the Internet, so it must be true.”
You may laugh at that statement, but there is often more truth to it than we realize. The Internet is full of ideas. One of the most common review websites, Yelp, has 145 million visits each month. This includes people looking for and sharing views of businesses like yours. Now factor in those customers is reading up to seven reviews, both positive and negative, before ever having met you or stepped foot in your place of business. What is being said about your business should matter to you because it matters to everyone else.
- 85% of consumers trust Customer feedback as much as personal recommendations
That’s right; today, the vast majority of consumers believe the opinions of strangers on the Internet as much their friends. While an online review coming from an anonymous user, or one that doesn’t seem genuine won’t fall into this category, online surveys that are articulate, thorough and personal, much like an exchange between friends, carry a lot of weight.
- Customers are more likely to dispense unsatisfactory experiences than good ones
Sharing a lousy customer experience online is an easy way to release frustration. It just feels good to tell other people when you’ve been wronged. Sometimes even more importantly, to a reviewer, is the idea that a bad review might save someone else from having a similar experience! Think of your last negative customer experience—did you tell anyone about it?
- You can alter a negative review into a positive review
With the guarantee that your potential customers place in online sources, negative reviews have the potential to impact your business substantially. Reviews are shaping the opinions of potential customers, but they don’t have to be an unchanging black mark on your digital record.
When a reviewer tells something negative about your company, you have a chance to excel at customer service. Many review sites offer a reply feature. Strive to resolve the situation with them through an explanation or apology and a gesture of goodwill like a discounted fee. Because what’s better than letting off some steam about a bad experience?
- 73% of consumers state that positive reviews make them trust businesses more
This is common sense. Studying a bunch of negative reviews is not likely to make someone want to take a chance on a company. Those dissatisfied reviewers shared their bad experiences to save others from the same outcome. But reading an abundance of positive reviews gives a potential customer with a sense that the company can be trusted. The notion is that all those other people had a magnificent experience, so I presumably will too.