Why negative reviews are as important as positive reviews for a business.

Most businesses have been pushed online due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. People are still trying to adjust to the new scenario where everything can be sold or purchased online. Even though online shopping has become the new normal, customers still find it difficult to believe online sellers because they can’t actually see and feel the product that they are spending the money on. Another reason why people have doubts regarding online shopping is that stores may fabricate their testimonials to make themselves appealing to new customers. Customers cannot be blamed for thinking this way, it’s only because there have been several problems associated with online shopping in the past that have aroused this suspicion.

Having a physical store where people can check the product before buying is much easier when it comes to gaining customer trust than running an online business. This is why online businesses need customer feedback as social proof of their genuineness and good service. However, almost every business/brand has the misconception that masking negative feedback will be good for their business. While it is true that positive feedback does increase sales, it doesn’t mean putting up fake reviews or filtering out your reviews would help you grow. Here’s the thing, customers are smart. If they are buying something from you, they have done their research. If they find that there are no negative reviews on your website then it may fuel their suspicion. They will want to check if the reviews on your website are all real or fake.

In order to avoid such things, it is better to accept negative feedback and work on improving your products and services. This way you can show customers that you respect their opinion and your system is transparent. Here are several other reasons why negative reviews are important in a business.

1. Negative feedback makes your business more legitimate.

If your website has only positive reviews, then the visitors of your website will start doubting if those reviews are legitimate. Even bigger companies like Amazon and Flipkart saw a drastic fall in their sales because of the fake reviews that these websites put up for each of their products. 

Curious customers researched and discovered that Amazon has been faking its ratings and reviews. This led to a major fall in Amazon’s sales. If you hide bad reviews, angry customers might use other platforms to share their opinion of your product. This will make your business look even worse. If people start posting negative feedback about your products or services on social media platforms, it may degrade your social influence. Therefore, it is better to limit these reviews to your website. This way you’ll be able to manage and respond to these reviews in one place.

When you post a healthy mix of both negative and positive reviews, it reduces buyer’s skepticism and prevents your reviews from looking “to-good-to-believe”. Customers seek out and appreciate honest reviews that give them a genuine idea about the product. Therefore, negative reviews help you in maintaining a transparent and genuine image in the market.

2. Negative feedback helps in the improvement of your products and services.

As a business, you try your best to keep your customers happy. However, there can still be some points where you might need improvement. You may not notice them unless someone actually points them out. Negative feedback gives you an idea of where your business may be lacking.

As customers, people compare products from all over the internet before buying. Some reviews even compare your products with other company’s products. Don’t fret over such reviews. Consider this a golden opportunity. In fact, your customers are helping you by giving you a hint of what your competitors are doing and how their products may be better than yours. You can use this information to improve your own products. This way you can show your customers that you value their opinion and work on improving your services according to their needs.

3. If you are able to satisfy your unhappy customers, it will encourage loyalty.

If you respond to negative feedback with the same enthusiasm as positive reviews, you can gain your customer’s trust easily. Responding to negative feedback needs patience. Instead of using the regular – “We’re sorry for your inconvenience” try to assure your customer that you are actually trying to improve your products to meet their needs. Provide updates, tell them how you have improved since the last time and how their suggestion helped. 

The faster you respond to these reviews the more people trust you and your products. If a customer feels heard, they will naturally trust your products more. Show your customers that you are reachable and they will develop a liking for your products. 

A great example is “Delta’s Pizza Party”.

The crew team of the US-based airline ordered over 600 pizzas for the passengers whose flights were delayed due to bad weather in Atlanta. Delta’s managing director himself admits that “Empathy always has and continues to drive our experience design”.

4. Negative feedback gives you an opportunity to describe your process.

There may be times when you are not directly responsible for a bad review. In a business, there may be many factors that result in a bad customer experience. If you receive negative feedback, use this opportunity to explain your working process to your customers and tell them what are the actual reasons for their bad experiences.

If you feel like there are customers accusing you of something you are not responsible for, then respond to them politely explaining the steps you are taking to solve the issue. Ask them directly how you may assist them. Share your side of the details, about how you operate and what you have done to ensure the customers are satisfied. This way, when your future clients see these reviews, they will also know the whole process of how your company operates and what help they can seek from your customer support.

When you gracefully accept your mistakes and honestly work towards providing good customer support, you can turn these negative reviews into positive ones. If you stay loyal to satisfying your customers, they will stay loyal to you.

5. Collect and manage reviews on your website with Emailwish!

From the above points, it’s clear that it’s better to collect and display all types of feedback on your website. There can be many ways to do that but the easiest one is Emailwish automation.

Use creatively designed email templates to request reviews from your clients. If a customer is not happy, use our “Apology” email template to keep your clients happy and using the inbuilt reviews, collect feedback and display it on your website in the most stunning way!

Conclusion. 

We are all human and humans make mistakes. It is alright if your customers point out your mistakes, if you take timely action and respond to these reviews on time, you may as well turn these people into loyal customers. A good mix of both positive and negative feedback shows that the people behind your business are actual humans and not robots who make no mistakes and receive only positive feedback. Thus, leverage the negative feedback wisely to your advantage and gain more loyal customers.