3 Reasons Why a Bad Review Can Be Good For Your Business

A Negative Review Can Be Good for Your Business!

Did you just get a negative review? Don’t Fret!

Here are 3 reasons why:

#1 Research has shown that people don’t trust businesses with only 5-Star reviews.  Having an average of 4.5 – 4.7 out of 5.0 stars is the sweet spot. This is more reflective of what actually occurs in the real world. Even if you are A+++ Awesome with everyone, there’s always that one impossible-to-please grumpy weirdo who still thinks you suck. It happens to all of us. That’s just life.

#2 You should always respond to online reviews on Yelp & Google.** It shows that you are listening. As Jack Jostes has pointed out – Most customers just want to be heard! It also shows all your customers that you are paying attention to your business and your customers and that you care! On Yelp, you have the option to respond privately to the reviewer to resolve a customer service issue. Thus, your negative review gives you an opportunity to make it right for your unhappy customer.
** In some cases, if you have very few total reviews, a public response to a negative review is not the best action to take. Reach out privately to that customer instead.

#3 How you respond to a negative review can reveal a lot about who you are. On Google & Yelp you don’t get to tell the world how truly awesome your business is. That’s the job of the general public by writing authentic reviews. But, a gracious & amazing response to an unhappy customer can be a powerful statement of awesomeness. People just want to know that if they are disappointed by your business – You’ll be super awesome about it in some way. If you do this right, getting a negative review could be better than getting 10 positive reviews. Really!

Now, if you are getting too many bad reviews or getting a string of negative reviews in a row – it’s time to wake up and get on it! Fix what’s not working or soon you’ll see a major drop in revenue. And that’s a good time to go out and get more reviews to dilute the negative perception of your business.

Strive for around a 4.5 – 4.7 star average across all review platforms. If you need further evidence that this is a good target – look up your favorite movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes and see if their review score is 100%. It’s not. Many people just flat-out disliked your favorite movie. Seems impossible, but that’s just how it is. The same is true for your business. Just keep striving to be awesome and pay attention to your reviews!

Do you have other thoughts or ideas about reviews? Let us know if the comments!