We’ve talked about the importance of stopping negative reviews before they happen. We’ve given you tips for replying to reviews when they come in from clients. We’ve even told you how critical reviews are for your SEO! Today we want to talk about the importance of replying to reviews and, more importantly, trying to turn negative reviews into positive reviews.
We’re always here to bring you essential stats about reviews, and today we have a few more you should know about from our friends at Moz.
- 57 percent of consumers will only use a business if it has four or more stars — (BrightLocal)
- One study showed that a ~1.5-star rating increase improved conversions from 10.4 percent to 12.8 percent, representing about 13,000 more leads for the brand. — (Location3)
- 73.8 percent of customers are either likely or highly likely to continue doing business with a brand that resolves their complaints. — (GatherUp)
- A typical business only hears from four percent of its dissatisfied customers, meaning that the negative reviews you rectify for outspoken people could solve problems for silent ones. — (Ruby Newell-Lerner)
- 89 percent of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews. — (BrightLocal)
Yep, 89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews!
It’s not just responding to reviews that matters; it’s what you say. Remember that there is a difference between responding vs. reacting to reviews. At the moment, human nature will always cause us to want to react, but it’s better to respond. Take a moment to clear your mind, speak to all involved parties, and ensure you have your facts straight. Once you have a clear reason and some information, you can articulate your thoughts much better.
Do whatever it takes to remedy the situation.
But it wasn’t our fault! There is no scoreboard in the real world, and potential new clients will not care about specifics; they will see a bad review. When a bad review comes in, it’s essential to reach out to the client outside of Google, apologize, and make amends. Most importantly, explain to them that mistakes happen and that negative review affects the business. Moz has an excellent system for this!
1. Reach — the customer reaches out with their negative experience, often knowing that, in this day and age, powerful review platforms are a way to reach brands.
2. Remedy — Some fix occurs, whether this results from intervention on the part of the brand, a second positive experience outweighing an initial negative one, or the consumer self-correcting their misunderstanding.
3. Restoration — The unhappy customer is restored to the business as a happy one, hopefully, ready to trust the brand for future transactions, and the brand’s reputation is restored by an edited review reflecting better satisfaction.
Key to review transformation:
- 70 percent mentioned poor service/rude service, rectified by a second experience in which staff demonstrated caring.
- 64 percent said the owner/manager/staff proactively contacted the customer with a remedy.
- 32 percent said item replaced or the job redone for free.
- 20 percent said customer decided to give a business a second chance on their own and was better pleased by a second experience.
- 6 percent mentioned customers realized the fault for a misunderstanding was theirs.
Review management is an essential component of your business.
Every day, thousands of people search for businesses like yours on the internet, and reviews are not only as important as your SEO but play a role in your search engine rankings. WhiskerCloud has a veterinary reputation management team that actively monitors our clients’ online listings and replies to all reviews. We work hard to turn every 3 or 4-star review into a five star by asking questions like, “How could we have made your visit better or worthy of five stars?” The exciting thing we’ve seen is how often people will go back in and immediately change it to five stars just because we acknowledged them.
This is what a 20-day period of reviews looks like from our reputation management dashboard.
Just because most reviews are 5-star doesn’t mean we shouldn’t follow up on all reviews. We hope you take the time to do the same. Remember that you do have the power to grow your business by turning a few negative reviews into positive ones every single month. We’re here to help if you have any questions at all!
Veterinary Negative Reviews FAQs
Q: Why is it essential to respond to customer reviews?
A: Responding to customer reviews, both positive and negative, demonstrates that a business values its customers’ feedback. It also allows the business to show its side of the story or steps it has taken to rectify any issues. Remember, 89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews, making it a critical part of managing your online reputation.
Q: What impact do reviews have on my SEO?
A: Reviews play a significant role in your search engine rankings. Businesses with higher reviews are seen as more trustworthy and reliable, leading to better visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). Moreover, each review adds unique, fresh content to your business profile, a factor search engines value.
Q: How can I turn a negative review into a positive one?
A: Negative reviews can be transformed into positive ones by following the 3R approach – Reach, Remedy, and Restoration. First, reach out to the customer who had a negative experience. Then, remedy their issue, such as replacing an item or redoing a service. Finally, aim to restore their trust in your business, encouraging them to edit their review reflecting their improved satisfaction.
Q: What are the common reasons for negative reviews, and how can I address them?
A: The common reasons for negative reviews include poor service or rude staff (70%), lack of proactive communication from the business (64%), or a faulty product or service (32%). These can be rectified by providing better customer service, proactively communicating and fixing issues, and ensuring high-quality products or services.
Q: What is the role of WhiskerCloud’s reputation management team?
A: WhiskerCloud’s reputation management team actively monitors clients’ online listings and responds to all reviews. They work to turn every 3 or 4-star review into a five-star by engaging with the reviewers and understanding how the business could improve their experience.
Q: Why should I respond to positive reviews as well?
A: Responding to positive reviews reinforces the positive experience for the customer and shows appreciation for their feedback. It also encourages other customers to leave positive reviews when they see the business actively engaging with reviewers.
Q: How can I manage reviews if I have a veterinary business?
A: Like any other business, veterinary businesses must proactively manage their online reputation. This includes monitoring online reviews, responding professionally to negative and positive feedback, and rectifying any issues that lead to negative reviews. Following up on all reviews, not just the negative ones, can help build a solid online reputation.
Q: What happens when I don’t respond to negative reviews?
A: Not responding to negative reviews can harm your business reputation. Potential customers may perceive your business as not caring about customer feedback or unwilling to resolve issues, which can discourage them from choosing your services or products.
WhiskerCloud websites are fully loaded with everything you need to grow.
We offer cloud hosting, SEO, real-time website tracking, reputation management, social media management, and advertising — and all of it comes with unlimited support from our team.
