Are your customers telling you the whole truth?
We get a LOT of questions about negative reviews, and understandably so. Giving a potentially angry customer a virtual megaphone to shout about their bad experience is a scary notion. Opting into GuildQuality Reviews isn’t a requirement of our surveying, and here are some things to consider as you’re thinking about whether or not it’s the right thing for you:
According to Bazaarvoice, a research firm that provides a product rating solutions, most word of mouth is positive. 80% of the ratings they receive are 4 or 5 stars. In our first couple weeks of having GuildQuality Reviews live, we’ve found that Guildmembers earned a 4 or 5-star rating 97% of the time.
Interestingly, this is higher than our average recommendation rate. It seems the happiest survey respondents are far more interested in sharing a public review than those who are less happy.
But not all reviews are positive, and here’s something to keep in mind when you receive your first sub-four-star review: Negative reviews establish authenticity around positive ones. Think about it: When is that last time you trusted someone’s opinion who always gave you positive feedback?
Bazaarvoice also notes that a negative review, even if unseen by the consumer, will still contribute to your company’s ranking on Google and other search engines. In other words, the more feedback you receive — regardless of its nature — the more visible you are when a potential client is searching for a business to perform a job.
Remember that negative reviews are often opportunities to showcase how much you care about your customers. OutspokenMedia points out that if a client were to post a negative review on a social site, you would then have the chance to publicly display how you address the complaint. For more information, check out this blog post: “What to do about a negative review”.
