Getting, Using and Leveraging Reviews Part 3: Negative Reviews and Tracking
Getting, Using and Leveraging Reviews Part 3: Negative Reviews and Tracking
This is the third in a 3-part series about product reviews and how to gather and use reviews to promote your business.What If I Get a Negative Review?
It's a rare business that won’t experience a negative review from someone at some point. What matters is not that you get a negative review, but how you respond to it. Negative reviews can make your business stronger by revealing some flaw in your process or problem with your products that you never knew about. Some review sites allow business owners to post responses, and some also provide varying types of complaint resolution processes.
However you choose to respond, ignoring a negative review is not the best option. If a customer writes on a review site that their product took forever to arrive, was the wrong color, and they then had to wait on-hold for a long time to get through to customer service, you could have an opportunity to publicly redeem yourself. You can respond by apologizing for the customer's poor experience and offering to do whatever it takes to make them satisfied. Showing that you care by responding and offering to make it right can go a long way to negating the impact a negative review might have. Don't wait until you have a problem to become interested in reviews. It's critical to be aware of what's being said about your business online, so that you can react appropriately.
Tracking Your Reviews
If you don't already know about it, Google Alerts is your friend for tracking your reputation online. With this free service, you can enter specific keywords, such as your name, your business name, or the name of your products or services, and choose how and how often you want to receive alerts about them. When Google notices those words appearing in blogs, news feeds, or web content, you'll be notified.
There are other tools available to track online discussions and mentions of products and brands. You can also search Twitter for mentions of your business. Though the space limitations of a tweet won't give you much information, you will at least know if the buzz is positive or negative.
RatePoint.com monitors leading reviews sites and notifies you if anything comes up about your business, so you’ll be able to respond promptly.
Conclusion
The review has become nearly as important as a social media presence is to a website's success. Ideally, reviews will show the world what a stellar job you do in providing top products and excellent service. Even if reviews aren't all positive, they will show that you, as an online provider of goods and services, are willing to listen. They will also allow you to uncover customer service issues or product limitations that you may not have known about. This in turn lets you provide even better service and higher quality products to your future customers. People who buy from you can come to trust the products you sell. Take advantage and use this review information to promote your customers' favorite products. All things considered, it's a good thing for your site and ultimately, your business.
If you don't already know about it, Google Alerts is your friend for tracking your reputation online. With this free service, you can enter specific keywords, such as your name, your business name, or the name of your products or services, and choose how and how often you want to receive alerts about them. When Google notices those words appearing in blogs, news feeds, or web content, you'll be notified.
There are other tools available to track online discussions and mentions of products and brands. You can also search Twitter for mentions of your business. Though the space limitations of a tweet won't give you much information, you will at least know if the buzz is positive or negative.
RatePoint.com monitors leading reviews sites and notifies you if anything comes up about your business, so you’ll be able to respond promptly.
Conclusion
The review has become nearly as important as a social media presence is to a website's success. Ideally, reviews will show the world what a stellar job you do in providing top products and excellent service. Even if reviews aren't all positive, they will show that you, as an online provider of goods and services, are willing to listen. They will also allow you to uncover customer service issues or product limitations that you may not have known about. This in turn lets you provide even better service and higher quality products to your future customers. People who buy from you can come to trust the products you sell. Take advantage and use this review information to promote your customers' favorite products. All things considered, it's a good thing for your site and ultimately, your business.
Read the two other parts of this Review series:
