How often do you find yourself perusing online reviews? Do you have to see what dozens of customers have said before purchasing something from Amazon? Do you feel the need to look at no less than five options on Yelp before heading out for dinner? According to a survey conducted by Material, a whopping 93% of Americans say that online reviews help them decide what to purchase.
70% of Americans also noted that it’s rare for them to visit a new business without checking out the reviews first. But that doesn’t mean that consumers believe every review they read. 54% admitted that they wouldn’t trust the reviews of a business that explicitly asks customers to leave good reviews, and over two thirds admit that a company has requested they leave a review before.
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Material’s survey also found that customers use review websites to find out more than just what consumers thought of the place. Over 50% also use these platforms to view a restaurant’s menu, check their business hours and check a business’ address.
Many survey respondents also said they use these sites to see photos of a business, find the business’ contact information, check their prices, confirm which services they offer and sometimes even request a price quote for a service.
Customers seem to be much more active on these review platforms than businesses are, though. UpFirst has compiled a list of statistics about online reviews, and they reported that only 5% of businesses reply to customer reviews. But it’s more important for customers to read them, as 95% of consumers say they’ll be willing to pay more for a product or service that has plenty of great reviews to back up its prices.
When it comes to the negative reviews that businesses receive, UpFirst reports that 37% of them can be boiled down to poor communication. This might include unclear or misleading communication from the business, slow response times or failing to respond at all, and/or poor follow-up. Customers never want to feel like they have to chase a business down or hunt for information.
Another common complaint that comes up in negative reviews is poor behavior from the staff. In fact, this accounts for one fifth of negative reviews that businesses receive. And as far as what bothers people the most, nearly three quarters of complaints about the staff came down to being rude, unfriendly and/or disrespectful. However, reviews mentioning these kinds of complaints typically had even more grievances to air. Many also pointed out bad food, long wait times, slow service, dismissive attitudes and more.
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So what can a business do to ensure they get rave reviews? There will always be some negative Nancies out there, but Business.com has some tips for how to keep the majority of your customers happy. One way to make this happen is to make it easy for customers to find your business on review platforms. Build an online presence, on your website and social media, and the reviews should start pouring in.
