Business News This Week
Every business has detractors , and though you might think you have done a great job in terms of customer satisfaction, there will always be some who don’t think so. And when you come at the receiving end of consumer barbs online, what do you do?
Negative reviews online can be much more detrimental to your company/brand than you might think of. Not that a few bad reviews in the midst of several good ones will have any effect, its when their numbers becomes significant that it becomes a serious problem.
And it is no secret that angry unsatisfied customers are much more likely to post a review than the satisfied ones.According to a study by Cone Communications, 85% of the customers will research online before buying a recommended product or service and 4 out of 5 consumers reverse their decisions after coming across a negative review(http://www.coneinc.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/286c351989671ae74994fec139863bb2/files/2011_cone_online_influence_trend_tracker_release_and_fact_sheet.pdf)
This brings us to the all-important question- How much of your business is affected by these negative reviews
Considering value your avg transaction = $ 10
Avg no. of transactions= 1000
Total value of transactions= $ 10000
Percentage of people who reversed = 80% (every 4 out of 5) their decisions after coming across negative results
Total business lost= $8000
Now that’s a lot!!
So how do you tackle negative reviews.Panic??... Certainly not!!...Nothing can be more ironical than the fact that these very reviews can benefit you. We’ll tell you how a negative review can be used in your favor –
1- Only Positive reviews is a bad thing- Now tell me… would you really believe if on a review site you only see positive reviews about a company?..you’d be shrouded with suspicion and skepticism!! Yes, having some negative reviews is actually not a bad thing. It gives credibility to your products or service. It is more truthful to a customer and honest on your behalf. The customer will always value this.Having 1 or 2 negative reviews out of 10 reviews, make the other 8 more believable. So when customers come across these negative reviews, they almost always attach a trust value to it and are more likely to convert. Obviously it also depends on how many positive reviews are present to overcome the effect of negative ones.
2- Show that you care - This is how you tackle the negative reviews, that is, by addressing each one of them.By responding to those reviews, by acknowledging them and by resolving them, you send out a very strong message that you are sensitive to your customer’s experience. Follow these 3 rules –
Respond quickly – a quick response is the best way to deal with a negative review, it assures the customer and brings him relief but the best of all, it prevents more people from jumping into the bandwagon and exploiting a particular weakness.
Be sincere. Always thank the reviewer for taking the time out and apologize. Always tell them what you are doing to fix the problem. Give them an email address or a phone no. to contact you offline.Be sincere and professional in your replies and you’ll surely win a lot of hearts.
Add a personal touch – Address yourself by a name instead of using the name of your organization. This will give a human touch to your replies.
3- Source to get repeat business
It may sound implausible or farfetched but if you sincerely address your complainant’s problems and resolve them, you might just end up winning him over and he might want to rewardyou for taking him seriously. Hence if you offer some discount coupons for further purchases or some other incentive and if it is good enough then he might be your customer again. Not to mention the loyalty of such customers is yours.
4- Get great ideas for your SEO activities:
Good keyword research and copywriting involves the terms used by your customers. By keenly observing every comment, you will get to know the terms used by customers to look for your products or service and also the right terms to use in your ad copy or meta description. You will also realize the gap between what your customer expects and what your advertisement is targeted at. All of these will greatly help you in increasing the relevancy of your landing pages, keywordresearch and targeting the best terms to include in your ad copy or meta description.
Not just the negative reviews, its the apathy of a company toward its customers that drives the others away. And this especially holds true in the online turf, where a customer bases his decision on what he sees and you have no means to convince him. Internet is used by the people to research or hunt for the true picture and it pays to show them your best picture. So the next time you encounter some negative reviews, you know is another chance to promote your brand.
Description: Negative reviews appear online more quickly, more prominently and unexpectedly . Know how you can effectively offset their negative effect and actually use these negative reviews to establish a positive image and also use them for future marketing strategies.
Author bio: Tushar Taliyan, works as an ORM/SEO professional at SMG Convonix, and loves the dynamism of the constantly evolving field of internet marketing. A music lover, tennis player, movie buff, a foodaholic and a traveller... he prefers to spend time outdoors and leads an active life.
Negative reviews online can be much more detrimental to your company/brand than you might think of. Not that a few bad reviews in the midst of several good ones will have any effect, its when their numbers becomes significant that it becomes a serious problem.
And it is no secret that angry unsatisfied customers are much more likely to post a review than the satisfied ones.According to a study by Cone Communications, 85% of the customers will research online before buying a recommended product or service and 4 out of 5 consumers reverse their decisions after coming across a negative review(http://www.coneinc.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/286c351989671ae74994fec139863bb2/files/2011_cone_online_influence_trend_tracker_release_and_fact_sheet.pdf)
This brings us to the all-important question- How much of your business is affected by these negative reviews
Considering value your avg transaction = $ 10
Avg no. of transactions= 1000
Total value of transactions= $ 10000
Percentage of people who reversed = 80% (every 4 out of 5) their decisions after coming across negative results
Total business lost= $8000
Now that’s a lot!!
So how do you tackle negative reviews.Panic??... Certainly not!!...Nothing can be more ironical than the fact that these very reviews can benefit you. We’ll tell you how a negative review can be used in your favor –
1- Only Positive reviews is a bad thing- Now tell me… would you really believe if on a review site you only see positive reviews about a company?..you’d be shrouded with suspicion and skepticism!! Yes, having some negative reviews is actually not a bad thing. It gives credibility to your products or service. It is more truthful to a customer and honest on your behalf. The customer will always value this.Having 1 or 2 negative reviews out of 10 reviews, make the other 8 more believable. So when customers come across these negative reviews, they almost always attach a trust value to it and are more likely to convert. Obviously it also depends on how many positive reviews are present to overcome the effect of negative ones.
2- Show that you care - This is how you tackle the negative reviews, that is, by addressing each one of them.By responding to those reviews, by acknowledging them and by resolving them, you send out a very strong message that you are sensitive to your customer’s experience. Follow these 3 rules –
Respond quickly – a quick response is the best way to deal with a negative review, it assures the customer and brings him relief but the best of all, it prevents more people from jumping into the bandwagon and exploiting a particular weakness.
Be sincere. Always thank the reviewer for taking the time out and apologize. Always tell them what you are doing to fix the problem. Give them an email address or a phone no. to contact you offline.Be sincere and professional in your replies and you’ll surely win a lot of hearts.
Add a personal touch – Address yourself by a name instead of using the name of your organization. This will give a human touch to your replies.
3- Source to get repeat business
It may sound implausible or farfetched but if you sincerely address your complainant’s problems and resolve them, you might just end up winning him over and he might want to rewardyou for taking him seriously. Hence if you offer some discount coupons for further purchases or some other incentive and if it is good enough then he might be your customer again. Not to mention the loyalty of such customers is yours.
4- Get great ideas for your SEO activities:
Good keyword research and copywriting involves the terms used by your customers. By keenly observing every comment, you will get to know the terms used by customers to look for your products or service and also the right terms to use in your ad copy or meta description. You will also realize the gap between what your customer expects and what your advertisement is targeted at. All of these will greatly help you in increasing the relevancy of your landing pages, keywordresearch and targeting the best terms to include in your ad copy or meta description.
Not just the negative reviews, its the apathy of a company toward its customers that drives the others away. And this especially holds true in the online turf, where a customer bases his decision on what he sees and you have no means to convince him. Internet is used by the people to research or hunt for the true picture and it pays to show them your best picture. So the next time you encounter some negative reviews, you know is another chance to promote your brand.
Description: Negative reviews appear online more quickly, more prominently and unexpectedly . Know how you can effectively offset their negative effect and actually use these negative reviews to establish a positive image and also use them for future marketing strategies.
Author bio: Tushar Taliyan, works as an ORM/SEO professional at SMG Convonix, and loves the dynamism of the constantly evolving field of internet marketing. A music lover, tennis player, movie buff, a foodaholic and a traveller... he prefers to spend time outdoors and leads an active life.
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