Last Updated on: 12th December 2022, 03:33 pm
A Reddit post managed to make it to the front page with the simple title “A 4.9 Star Rating Is More Reliable Than A 5.0 Star Rating.” If you’re unfamiliar with Reddit, a post must be voted up by thousands of people in order to appear on the front page. As a result, this concept appears to have resonated with thousands of individuals. Let’s look at why five-star reviews might not always be beneficial.
Customers understand that not everyone Is going to be satisfied
Commenters appeared to realize that no real company could ever please everyone. Everyone seems to recognize that no business can ever satisfy everyone and that there is always room for improvement. What they want to see is whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Customers want authenticity
Finally, customers trust reviews because they are a true picture of how the product or service will make them feel. Customers become wary if they think that a company’s reviews are false. Seeing every single client give a 5-star review shows that the clients are simply expressing gratitude for doing the bare minimum or are being paid for phony reviews.
What can your business take away from this?
Nobody wants to do business with someone they believe is a cheater for obvious reasons. The fact is that even the finest businesses and goods can’t satisfy everyone.
While the Harry Potter series has generated a beloved book and film franchise, as well as a theme park, even the first Harry Potter novel couldn’t please everyone. On Amazon, there are more than 200 1-star reviews for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Of course, these are outweighed by the thousands of good reviews that the book has.
But too many negative reviews can hurt your business as well. Research shows that customers prefer to avoid businesses with less than a 4-star rating.
Let’s talk about some best practices for business reviews.
Why you should never buy reviews
Remember, consumers, appreciate honesty. Customers are tired of being taken advantage of, so if they suspect that your evaluations are phony, they will avoid you. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can get away with it. It’s difficult to fake the genuine excitement of a real customer, so it’s simple to spot a fraudulent review. And most importantly, it is illegal and can get you banned by Google.
The FTC also fines companies heavily for buying reviews. Urthbox, a firm based in Australia, was fined $260,000 in 2019 for paying consumers to offer positive feedback. So, it’s clear: buying reviews is a huge risk that will just decrease customer confidence in you. So don’t do it.
We’ll go through how to get real customer feedback without resorting to underhanded methods. But before we get into that, let’s talk about how you can react when someone gives you a terrible review.
Address all customer reviews
Make efforts to reply when you get a bad review. Most people are aware that there are two sides to every story, so apologize and try to figure out what the customer’s problem is. If you succeed in resolving the client’s primary issue, they may develop into a devoted customer.
A genuine apology and a vow to improve things might persuade the reviewer to remove or alter their original review. Even if the client decides to keep the bad review, a good response shows prospective consumers that you are prepared to go above and above for a great customer experience.
However, another way to deal with negative reviews is to have them outweighed by similar positive feedback. So, here’s how you can get more customer reviews.
3 ways to get more reviews
You have a long list of ecstatic consumers. Getting them to leave a review is the issue. Even though customers appreciate reading reviews, many will not provide a review unless they had a really bad experience. After all, it takes effort on the part of the customer to leave one. They must find your company via review profiles, then try to express their feelings as they write a review. Mostly enraged clients would be willing to undertake this task.
Send review requests via text and email
Customers are eager to leave a review, as most clients understand that reviews may help businesses improve. The problem is that they do not want to devote time to finding your company on multiple sites to leave a review.
The goal is to make the procedure simple. Start sending out review requests via text and email if you want more reviews. Remember to include a direct link to the review site in your message so that your customers may leave a review as soon as possible.
Don’t gate your reviews
“Review gating” is against Google and other review sites. That’s the practice of sending requests for reviews to only certain clients who you know will give positive comments. Hopefully, you understand why a few bad reviews won’t hurt you. But keep in mind if you do get a negative review that it can be addressed to show other onlookers your commitment to your customers.
Keep timing in mind
Consider going to an excellent Italian restaurant. You eat wonderful meals and receive fantastic service there. You return home satisfied. Then, three months later, you get a review request from the restaurant through a text message. When you think about it now, you don’t recall the event particularly well. After all, it’s been three months since you had your meal there. You might not even remember the name of your waiter. As a result, you may not be able to write an accurate review. The point is this: send out review requests at a suitable time. A few hours or days after the customer has received your product or service is usually best.
What can we learn about reviews?
- Customers appreciate in-depth reviews.
- People enjoy reading reviews that are lower than 5 stars. A 4-star review is likely to reveal both advantages and disadvantages of working with you.
- Reviews help clients in deciding whether your company is a good fit for their needs.
How Simply Be Found helps you get more reviews
By following Simply Be Found’s step-by-step plan, you can generate and respond to more reviews and get found by more consumers who are looking for your products and services. And as a member of Simply Be Found, you will have a well-executed local SEO strategy, to ensure that your potential clients see your business first when they are searching for your industry type in your local area.