In case you haven't realized it yet, it's the age of customer service. In the new online economy, the customer is king. That doesn't mean the customer is always right, but it does mean you should always listen to the customer. Customer service is more important than ever because of the digital age and word of mouth, social media and online customer reviews. Consumers are much more likely to share their experiences with their friends through social media.
De tijd waarin wij leven stelt ons in staat om eenvoudig en snel veel mensen te vertellen wat ons bezighoudt. Potentiële klanten geloven online beoordelingen van mensen die ze wel of niet kennen. Door deze ontwikkeling staan bedrijven onder druk om een uitstekende klantervaring te realiseren.
Why online reviews are good for your business.
Research showed that customer reviews have a positive impact on a company's number of sales. Buyers today look for reviews before they make a purchase. Everyone wants to get confirmation that they are going to make a good purchase. Here are some statistics about online reviews:
- Saurage Research found that 84% of Americans research online customer reviews before making a purchase.
- Research by MyCommerce.com found that 63% of buyers are more likely to make a purchase when a website has online reviews.
- The same study showed that consumers trust reviews from other customers 12 times more than product descriptions.
In addition to increasing sales of a product, positive reviews have other benefits. When many online reviews are linked to your website, it ensures better online findability through search engines. In addition, online stores often see an increase in customer satisfaction. Customers now receive more information, making them less likely to make a mis-sale. Online reviews can ultimately prove to be an effective form of advertising. It is a way to build trust with your customers.
Negative reviews that help your business move forward
Even negative reviews can help your business move forward. How. For example, you can be alerted to a potential problem before it gets worse. Negative online reviews often provide concrete feedback from buyers and give you quick insight into areas of improvement for a product or service. Moreover, negative reviews combined with positive reviews provide credibility. Positive reviews alone are often a bit more unlikely and therefore more implausible. Research shows that reviews in general, even the negative reviews, can increase sales. Reviews help build customer trust, credibility and respect.
How can your business benefit from online reviews?
By now it's probably clear to you that reviews can help your business move forward. But how do you make sure you get reviews and benefit from them?
- Display reviews on your own website. This gives you control over the review process and allows you to respond quickly to any negative reviews. If you don't have reviews on your own website, look around on other review sites. Who knows, reviews may be posted there about your business.
- It is also good to regularly ask customers about their experiences with the product. For example, including a quick link in a confirmation email can already help.
- Responding to negative reviews? Then make sure you don't get emotional and delete the conversation. Ideally, you should be allowed and able to send the customer a message privately to resolve the issue.
- Are you engaging with a dissatisfied customer? Then show that you care about your customers and want to solve the problem. Often other consumers can read the negative reviews, if you respond well to them it can have a positive effect on other consumers.
- Bring in more customers? Use positive reviews as testimonials. Consumers tend to believe reviews in advertising. Use this to your advantage by making customer reviews part of your marketing strategy.
In short, online reviews are very important to the success of your business. This is a process that is largely out of your control. All you can do is make sure your product and service is top notch. If you get this done, then people will have no choice but to leave positive reviews.
Monkey Vision Tip: Want to grow your customer base even further? Use your existing customers to reach more customers. For example, you can use a 'Tell-a-friend' action, where existing customers are rewarded if they ensure that an (un)known customer becomes a customer.
