Reviews can make or break a business, especially a small business. How many times have you seen someone have a less than ideal experience with a business, share that experience on social media and the next thing you know, everyone is jumping on the band wagon, heading to that business’s Facebook page and writing scathing reviews, whether they’ve had anything to do with the business or not? I’ve seen it more times that I care to recall.
It is wrong! That kind of behaviour from those that have had nothing to do with the business can destroy that business. If you were thinking of using that business and saw all those reviews, you’d run. How would you know most of them are written by someone who has never used that business before?
The person that shared their experience has every right to do that but that is THEIR experience. For whatever reason it hasn’t gone right for them. It would be reasonable to assume that they haven’t had a satisfactory resolution from the business concerned hence the reason for them sharing. That is up to them and the business to work through.
Some studies show people are 81% more likely to share a bad experience than a good one. And a massive 88% of people would then hesitate to purchase from that business. Imagine the damage done by people then writing negative reviews based on what someone else has told them.
Everyone is very different and something someone thinks is a non-issue, someone else might think is a real problem. You can tell if the non-favourable review is something you should be concerned about or not by the way the business has responded. Mistakes happen, things go wrong, products fail. The way the business responds to those things is what is important. If there are a number negative reviews all along the same lines, that is cause for concern. If there are one or two and you can see the business has done their best to put it right, for me, that would be no cause for concern.
Sadly, the percentage of people that have a really good experience with a business and post a review along those lines is a lot lower. Business love to hear when we are doing a good job. It gives us the warm fuzzies. It is also really, really helps when a new customer is looking to shop for the first time. You know that business is fab, that is why you keep coming back for more. New customers don’t have that experience yet. Others experiences help them decide.
My message to you is:
- Your experience wasn’t what you expected, the product didn’t work as expected or something else wasn’t right? Let the business know. Give them a chance to put the issue right if they can or at least work with you to try and find a resolution. If they don’t know there is an issue, they can’t do anything about. They’re not prepared to work with you? Post your negative review.
- Haven’t had an experience with that business and want to post a bad review based on someone else’s experience? Don’t, just don’t.
- Had a great experience? Shout it from the roof tops! Share with your friends. Write a review.
-
- This is what helps small businesses grow.
- This is how they go from strength to strength.
- This is how you can help them as a thank you for the great experience you had.
- This is what really makes them do a happy dance.
- This is one of the things that keeps them doing what they are doing.
- This is what encourages them to do more.
