Positive Customer Reviews Are One of the Best Advertisements

A satisfied customer is the best advertisement — this saying also applies in our digital age. More and more users inform themselves online about the experiences of other customers before they buy a product or use a service. So if you have a lot of positive feedback, it is much easier to get new customers excited about your own company.

How much do we let ourselves be influenced by ratings?

The question that now arises is of course: “How much do we actually let ourselves be influenced by customer reviews? It turns out: Often much more than we think. Over 85% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations from friends and acquaintances. Users consider the feedback from other customers to be very credible. The more customer reviews a product or company has, the more users believe the reviews.

The right way to deal with negative ratings

“Unfriendly service and bad food! Never again!” If a company receives such evaluations more often, it is not only bad for its image — potential customers are also put off. Nevertheless, it’s no reason to panic if your company occasionally receives customer reviews that are not quite as positive. After all, it makes a much more authentic impression if your company is not exclusively rated with five stars and praised in the highest tones. No company in the world can satisfy all customers 100%.

But to show your customers that you take their opinions seriously, it is important that you react correctly to negative reviews. Because one thing is certain: dissatisfied customers want to be heard. Respect this wish and respond objectively and solution-oriented.

How to deal with bad ratings

Nobody likes to read bad reviews about their own company and often emotions run high. It is especially important to deal with negative evaluations professionally and not to react impulsively. Here are a few tips on how best to deal with unpleasant reviews and react correctly:

In case of bad reviews it is important to react quickly so that you don’t get the impression that you don’t care. In addition, further negative comments can be added if they remain unnoticed by the company concerned for too long.

When responding to bad reviews, you should remain friendly and communicate with the customer at eye level so that they feel understood. You should not respond to provocations, but always remain objective and professional.

If criticism is justified, it is even more important to apologize if necessary. For example, if you are late with a delivery, you should admit this.

Offer your counterpart an optimal solution. This will improve your customer service. A solution to the problem and, if necessary, a small compensation can perhaps persuade the customer to revise his bad evaluation.

If no agreement could be reached with the customer or no subsequent deletion could be obtained, another option is to publicly comment on the unfair rating as objectively as possible. In the public commentary, the dealer should document which solution proposals he has submitted to the author of the evaluation. In this way, potential new customers may be able to understand that the company or the online store actually provides good customer service despite the poor rating, and that they are personally concerned about each customer.

Take advantage of the opportunities that ratings offer!

Satisfied customers will gladly recommend your company to others, clearly setting you apart from your competitors. Positive ratings can also significantly improve your ranking on Google. This is because Google rates companies with many ratings on the net as relevant and will reward this with a better position in the search engine.

If ratings are not “only” helpful, but also decisive for your potential customers, they can have a positive influence on the purchase decision.

Genuine reviews from satisfied customers are the best advertisement for a company, because they themselves become sellers and give other customers a clear orientation. An overall positive image will lead higher brand awareness, and in turn will lead to more customers as well as sales.