Do you know what your customers, clients, or patrons are saying about your products and/or services?
- Posted on Sep 9, 2020
Do you know what your customers, clients, or patrons are saying about your products and/or services? More than ever, private and public organizations, enterprises, and businesses, are asking their customers, clients, and patrons for reviews utilizing various communication mediums:
• In person
• Over the telephone (or via text)
• Through their website (or a review site such as Amazon, Angie’s List, Google My Business, TripAdvisor, etc.)
• Via email
• Via social media
• Via thank you pages
• On receipts/invoices
But, are these reviews helping or hurting your business? It is important to make sure your employees are trained to deliver a next level customer experience. Because if they are not trained properly to do such, an online review can be devastating to your private or public organization, enterprise, or business. According to Moz.com, their research has revealed that businesses risk losing as many as 22% of customers when just one negative article is found by users considering buying their product. If three negative articles pop up in a search query, the potential for lost customers increases to 59.2%. Have four or more negative articles about your company or product appearing in Google search results? You are likely to lose 70% of potential customers. Further research revealed the following:
- Consumers are willing. In December of 2019, a Bright Local study showed that 76% of those who are asked to leave reviews go on to do so, and that this was a 70% increase from the prior year.
- Consumers find reviews to be helpful. In a study conducted by Podium, 93% of consumers said that online reviews for local businesses are as helpful as product reviews on sites like Amazon.
- Consumers see out reviews. According to Google, mobile searches for “reviews” have increased by 35%, and searches for “best” have increased by 80%.
Do not forget to respond to reviews about your business or organization. It is your way of acknowledging and expressing appreciation for the customer taking the time to complete a review. Your acknowledgment and appreciation can help you to build customer relationships and retain more of them. It also shows the rest of the public that you are listening and attending to the voices of your customers. Responding also builds engagement and activity on your listing, which Google takes into account when ranking business listings.
Make no mistake about it! Online reviews are powerful. After recently having my car serviced, I received an email from the auto repair business to complete an online review. Google later sent me an email about my review.
Research has revealed that online reviews impact 67.7% of respondents’ purchasing decisions. More than half of the respondents (54.7%) admitted that online reviews are fairly, very, or absolutely an important part of their decision-making process. But again, make no mistake about it! Online reviews related to public sector organizations are critical to the mission, brand, reputation, and customers’ trust. The key to a favorable review. Train your employees!
Check out our video! https://youtu.be/7NQMXICn33w