Managing Customer Reviews
This (quite long) article is about managing customer reviews, exploring how reviews/surveys can affect businesses, ending with some tips for managing the difficult ones.
Today's business owners have the greatest ever access to customer feedback. So much so that many are drowning in a sea of reviews. As customers ourselves, we know the relentless effort by brands to seek feedback over every aspect of a transaction, however big or small. So is all this feedback good for business?
Data: Love it or Hate It?
I have a love/hate relationship with data. The love comes from a genuine enthusiasm for a greater understanding of the customer experience and the hate or frustration from the poor way it is collected.
Let me give two examples. When I purchased a new car, what seemed to matter most to the dealership was providing them with an excellent review in the manufacturer survey. The car had a few problems, but the manager personally contacted me, almost begging me to give a positive review. The whole exercise seemed manufactured; it missed an opportunity for the dealer/manufacturer to receive a genuine review that would allow them to improve quality. I bizarrely felt sorry for the dealership if it was the case (as it appeared to be) that they needed to get full marks in a review.
At the other end of the scale, I was asked to review an item I had bought on Amazon for less than £3. Why on earth would I want to give a review for something relatively trivial, which arrived as expected? I read Amazon reviews as it is essential to find if items are of a good standard sometimes though it feels inappropriate for many things.
Getting Better?
Before setting up my marketing business, I was a radio station programme director. Like many other stations, we used research extensively, particularly for music. We'd get a hundred or so people together and play them snippets of around 600 songs; respondents would then turn dials to express whether they liked or disliked the songs. Whilst this was useful to a degree but certainly wasn't without some flaws.
The respondents didn't know which radio station had arranged for them to do the research, and we'd go through a beneficial exercise at the start of the session to understand momentum in the market. We'd mention a radio station and ask them if they thought that station was getting better or worse. This exercicse was very insightful and often predicted a particular station's future audience growth/decline.
This question got me thinking daily: were we genuinely getting better or worse? I've carried that thought over to my own business and my clients to try and understand whether there is positive or negative momentum.
What's the Big Picture?
Back to my fear of poorly collected data, I strongly urge analysis of many responses rather than just a few. I have seen poor decisions made on low sample sizes over the years. I have also seen people respond casually to surveys, just randomly providing answers to try and get through as quickly as possible; this sets alarm bells ringing.
Perhaps the most famous system for receiving reviews is Trip Advisor. The overall score is the most telling for any business listed, as it allows benchmarking with competitors.
Dealing with Bad Reviews
On Trip Advisor, the enormous angst and upset that a bad review can create for a restaurant or hotel is worth mentioning. I've seen owners of these establishments utterly devastated and distracted by a bad review. Once the drama subsides, I encourage trying to turn these into a positive outcome. First, there is the opportunity to provide the reviewer with a personal reply (that is not a cut and pasted generic statement) which will show them and anyone that reads it that you care. If there is something that your business has done wrong, then acknowledge it and apologise, ideally with an offer to make good. However, tempting don't be nasty back, be sure to investigate each comment and demonstrate that you have done so in your response, politely highlighting any inaccuracies.
Going back to my point about seeing the big picture and concentrating on the top line score, give your potential customers credit for taking an objective overview of the reviews as a whole. If most of them are positive, they will surely put that one nightmare down to either an unfair review or an untypical day. Interestingly, Trip Advisor allows you to review the reviewer and determine if they are a negative serial reviewer. Watch out for people who throw the kitchen sink at you, often because they feel that they need to justify their point of view.
Don't Forget to Say Thanks!
As well as dealing with bad reviews, do also take the time to thank everyone that has left you a positive review. Also, make a point to talk with your team about the positive reviews received, rather than just having inquests for bad reviews.
What Can You Learn?
Reviews are a brilliant way to understand what your customers like and dislike about your service/product. First, make a list with three headings - Stop, Start and Continue, putting suggestions/feedback into the appropriate columns. Highlight on these lists the issues that get multiple comments as critical priorities. Remember also that you can't and shouldn't be able to please all the people all the time. For instance, a couple come for an overnight stay in your hotel, they have a huge row (nothing to do with your establishment), probably won't have had the best of times and might not leave you a glowing review!
Recommended Listening
If you have found this article interesting, I recommend listening to an episode of BBC Radio 4's business programme The Bottom Line, called Feedback Frenzy, for an interesting discussion on this topic. Programme available at the link below.
About
Based in Loch Lomond, Paul Saunders Marketing works with clients throughout Scotland, providing marketing consultancy and creative digital media for businesses, charities and organisations of all sizes.
Services include marketing, commercial photography, brand design, website design, video production and social media, events & PR. Call Paul on 01360 661029 or get in touch via the contact page to find out more.
I hope you have found this blog helpful! If you would like any advice about managing reviews, please get in touch.
