One of the biggest concerns that I hear from business owners about social media, is their fear of negative reviews. They fear that negative feedback will sour potential customers or patients that read it. The proliferation of reputation management services speak to the fear of negative feedback and the desire to present a “managed reputation”.
As a business owner, you know that not every one of your customers has been completely satisfied and for as much as you try, it most likely will happen again. Guess what, your prospects know this too. Everyone has had their share of bad experiences even though testimonials and references that they relied on to make an “informed” decision, painted a perfect picture.
But don’t be afraid of negative reviews. A recent Forrester report found the 50 percent of online shoppers proceeded with a purchase after reading negative reviews on it.
“Forrester evaluated 4,000 reviews in the Electronics and Home & Garden categories on the Amazon.com site and found that more than 80% of the reviews were positive – and the negative reviews were generally considered helpful to consumers. While the data was derived from a retail Web site, Forrester says these findings are applicable to any vertical site from travel to auto, financial services”
The point is that the presence of negative reviews doesn’t prevent sales. I am not suggesting that mediocrity is a marketable advantage, but projecting a competitive reputation that is authentic will increase the ability of your marketing messages to connect with people looking for the services that you provide and will produce better business results. I will also say, that there exists a window of opportunity to create a sustainable competitive advantage for those businesses and practices who adopt the lessons learned from their pioneering online retailers.
Consumers seek out and are more influenced by an accurate representation of your reputation than an air-brushed managed reputation. This is why consumers value ratings-and-reviews so much. People are more likely to believe and be influenced by what your customers and patients say about your business or practice than what you say. This is the power of a Natural Online Reputation.
Negative reviews demonstrate transparency and honesty. A robust and strong Natural Reputation with some negative reviews or constructive feedback will out perform perfect reputations because its perceived authenticity will increase its credibility and power of influence.
Local businesses can learn much from a decade of online purchases and seeing what has been effective at influencing online purchases. A usability survey conducted by PowerReviews showed that consumers don’t believe in perfect “products”, they expect some level of dissatisfaction and often “DISCOUNT” products with perfect reviews. So the money that you are spending to create that perfectly manicured managed reputation could actually be costing you business!
As more people use the Internet to find a local business, they bring with them their experience and expectations from their past online purchases. Smart business owners will be those who shed the old mentality of projecting an artificial image and embrace the power of social media to attract and influence people seeking the services that they provide.
I say invest your money and resources in improving you people, products and services. Focus on understanding your customers’ needs, set proper expectations and consistently meet them. If you do this well, you will be able to attract new customers and patients with greater efficiency and at a lower costs than every before possible using the authentic voice of your customers and patients.
Andrew Ward
Chief Trust Officer
TrustFX
