Most companies realized the importance of how a bad product review will affect their sales. Take for example a person giving a TED talk or a speech at a conference. The talk is filled with praise and positive feedback from the audience. People are clapping, standing on their feet, keeping the energy in the room positive, filled with hope and promise. That is until one person asks a negative question, beginning with the phrase, ‘We think some of the things you’re saying is quackery’.
Bam! That one negative question has rushed in doubts into what your entire talk was about. That person has, without permission, including the entire audience when it’s really just them. And if no one corrects that person the speaker instantly believes that the entire audience is suddenly against them and whatever happened in the minutes before no longer exists.
This is the same effect that a bad product review can have on customer experience and if there is no one to monitor the really bad reviews, people will begin to believe in that one review. I have a 10 bad review for every 75 reviews in making my decision to buy or not. If the recommendation is from a close friend then the 10 bad reviews will not affect my purchasing decision.
If you have a company, big or small, and completely believe in your product or services, pay attention to those bad reviews. Not the petty ones or the ones that were out of your control, such as shipping issues, but the ones that carry enough energy to make potential customers take pause and or abandon their cart. And more importantly, reach out to the person and listen to their experience, do not discount the experience.
Everyone is looking for something to solve their problem and if your product or service has been removed from their list of solutions based on someone’s bad review, you should have a plan in place to reach out. Solve the problem and learn from the lesson the review/reviewer is telling.
