The Benefits of Negative Customer Reviews

Running a business isn’t exactly easy. You spend hours at work meeting the demands of everyone in the company. You are physically and emotionally invested in the business to the point where you can’t always see what needs to be fixed. Before you know it, something goes wrong and your business is affected. It isn’t always easy to ignore these events and not take them personally. However, there are positives that you can often take from any negative situation.

When a customer has a bad experience, it can be devastating and painful to see them post something online about your business. Even though it isn’t exactly the most pleasant experience, it might be benefiting your business more than you realize. Let’s explore how negative reviews can help your business succeed.

1.    Increase conversion rate and gain customer’s trust. People understand that we are living in a world where things aren’t always perfect. They expect to see people who aren’t happy with a product or service. Star ratings don’t influence what people buy or don’t buy. Review content does. When someone sees a bunch of 5-star reviews, they wonder what’s up.

2.    Get qualified for better prospects. When negative reviews outline what it is that you do and why it is that you do things the way you do, you are increasing your chances of being found by other customers. Just because you weren’t a good fit for one client, that doesn’t mean you won’t be for another one.

3.    If it isn’t that bad of a review, it’s still good. Many readers looking at reviews will glance over the scores to gauge an overall quality score before heading to read the negative reviews. They search for a pattern to see if it is something they are willing to deal with. If they are able to deal with the worst possible scenario, they will proceed with the purchase and continue doing business with your company.

4.    You have the chance to impress potential prospects and customers. Even the best of business enterprises can have bad things happen to them. Everyone knows that. What customers don’t want to deal with is arrogant owners that aren’t willing to help them out. By responding to the negative review, you can show future prospects how you handle bad situations. They will be able to see that you are someone who is reasonable and willing to work toward coming up with a reasonable solution that is going to work for the both of you.

Even though a customer might not be exactly thrilled with your product or service, that doesn’t mean you have to live in fear of a negative review. Don’t allow it to immobilize you and make you fearful of participating in the review process. If you are going to be successful in the business world, you have to be willing to accept both negative and positive reviews and learn how to deal with them in a professional fashion.