Don’t be scared of negative reviews…but DO TAKE ACTION to encourage positive ones.
Many years ago, a wise general surgeon from Texas offered this advice to a young doctor starting out:
Dilution is the Solution to the Pollution
He was talking about reputation. His point was that if you have many happy patients, the opinion of one unhappy patient will hold less weight.
If you provide good service on a consistent basis, one negative comment will matter far less.
He made this observation BEFORE THE INTERNET!
Online reviews make his statement even more valid, now that opinions can be quickly broadcast to a to wide audience.
You know that you can’t make everyone happy. But if you are confident that you provide quality service and offer quality products there is nothing to fear.
Dilute negative opinions with positive ones.
How do you make sure that you are getting positive reviews too? You need to ask for them.
Ask your clients for reviews on a regular basis. Make it part of your checkout process. Let them know that you appreciate their business and value their opinions.
Unhappy consumers make more noise than happy consumers, so you must encourage the positive reviews. Ask for reviews and make it easy for people to post those reviews online.
It comes down to simple math:
- If you have one positive and one negative review on your site, consumers may NOT be willing to take a 50-50 shot that they will be happy with your service.
- If you have 10 positive and one negative review, that bad comment seems like an an unusual occurrence.
- If you have 50 positive and one negative review, the negative one gets lost in the crowd. Those who share great experiences are a solid confirmation that you are a consistently good choice.
Stay positive.
We can help. Ask us about ReviewLink, the reputation management tool that posts your 4 & 5 star ratings from your customers. Read more about how ReviewLink gets you positive reviews.
P.S. Looking for some advice on how to respond to negative reviews? Read more about negative reviews/positive responses on the CareLink Blog. Check out our blog post that talks about turning a negative into a positive. Negative Reviews/Positive Responses