You may be wondering what possible benefits there could be to a negative review, which is understandable, so in this guide, we’re going to show you how to make the most of one.
Yes, it is indeed possible to not only get some good out of negative reviews but also use them to drive more traffic to your business and boost sales.
Sounds great, right?
We have five incredible benefits you can get from negative reviews, though the caveat here is that it will require plenty of effort and proactivity on your part.
If we’re clear on that, then let’s get into it.
1. Useful Feedback
Due to the fact that roughly 95% of unsatisfied customers return if their issue is resolved, you have an excellent opportunity to take on board feedback from negative reviews to improve your business and resolve issues.
If you think about it, without reviews, you’d likely never be able to adapt to your customer’s needs as you wouldn’t know what their issues are. This means you would lose a large number of customers but wouldn’t know how to address it.
Take the time to learn how to handle negative reviews, and you’ll find that you can turn the negative into a positive by resolving an issue and putting a smile on a customer’s face – or at least removing a frown!
This dedication to resolving customer issues can increase consumer trust and potentially even save customer relationships.
2. Build Customer Trust
One of the benefits of negative reviews, which is hard to believe at first, is that they can build customer trust for your business.
How?
Well, seeing that a company has hundreds or thousands of 5-star reviews can seem fishy sometimes. Having an abundance of glowing reviews can come across as suspicious sometimes, especially if negative reviews are absent.
No product or service is flawless.
The data backs this up – 52% of consumers say they are more likely to trust a product if they have a few negative reviews.
That means the next time you receive a negative review, embrace it and realize that it could actually be helping rather than harming your business.
Negative reviews also give you the opportunity to show to customers that have outstanding customer service skills.
It can be a very positive thing for your business when prospective customers see that you have replied to previous customers and addressed any issues they may have had.
3. Negative Reviews Inspire Improvement
Communication is key to any successful business, and that is as true for employees as it is for your customers.
All types of feedback can give you valuable information about how you’re doing as a company, which you can act upon and use to improve.
Even if you have customers lambasting your customer service, you can see this as an opportunity to learn and get better. Maybe it’s the case that you need more comprehensive customer service training or some new personnel.
In the long term, this can help you build trust with your customer base and attract new ones. Improve your business with negative reviews, and you’ll reap the rewards.
4. Proof of Performance
As we’ve just mentioned, negative reviews can highlight the areas you need to work on as a business.
It’s fine to speculate and make decisions based on data and information you’ve gathered from various sources, but customer reviews are sometimes the best catalyst for real change. They are real proof of performance – letting you know if you’re doing as well as you thought or lacking in any regard.
There’s a reason why they say the customer is always right, since, without them, the business wouldn’t exist.
5. Inform the Customer
Few businesses can achieve real success without taking into account customer feedback. But beyond this, customer feedback can influence future purchase decisions.
Essentially, existing customers can open the doors for new customers.
While, yes, some people may be put off by negative reviews, many will use the information to make the best decision for them, which leads to customer satisfaction in the long run.
Summary
Negative reviews aren’t easy to take, but realizing that they could have some useful benefits for your business should make them more palatable.
The best way to combat negative reviews is to go straight to the source and immediately respond to the customer’s issue. This way, you can impress customers with your efficiency and make real changes to improve your company.