Review websites (GTM / Sales)

Articles

• 2015.12.09 - NYT - A Bad Review Is Forever: How to Counter Online Complaints

  • One of his new Slapfish restaurants, serving sustainable seafood, was hit this year with dozens of bad reviews that complained about its prices (too high) and portions (too small).

    So Mr. Gruel pulled out all the stops. He sent emails to customers begging them to come back. And he rejiggered menu prices, increased portion size and even introduced combo meal deals. Quickly, those one-star reviews shifted into five stars.
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    Mr. Gruel’s extreme approach to bad reviews may sound like overkill. But studies show that consumers overwhelmingly choose businesses based mainly on star ratings. Even a decline of one star, on a scale from one to five, can hurt revenue and send a business into a slide.
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    Mr. Gruel, a trained chef who started his business in a food truck, prefers to respond to reviews himself. He fears using “canned responses that aren’t personal.” If he cannot respond quickly, he asks an employee to do so. Using two smartphones and an iPad, Mr. Gruel already responds to about 50 online reviews a day, regardless of whether they are positive or negative.
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    Checking online reviews every few days is now a business necessity, many experts said. Barbara Findlay Schenck, author of ”Small Business Marketing Kit for Dummies,” recommends finding out which three sites customers use most and then setting up online alerts to monitor them. “Be strong where your customers are looking,” she advised.

    “The minute you see a bad review, look for a shard of truth,” she said. “Is this something you can improve? Look for what you can fix.” But don’t fight fire with fire by getting into an argument with a reviewer, she added.
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    When one customer gave MegMade a two-star review a few weeks ago, Ms. Piercy responded by giving her $100 off the next changing table.
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    Mr. Gruel also enlists Yelp’s Elite Squad, which reveals emerging hot spots. “About 70 percent of our business has grown through Yelp and Instagram,” he said. One study even found that a 3.5-star rating that is bumped up to four stars can result in a 19 percent increase in peak-hour bookings.
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    Yelp and other sites also discourage offering incentives to reviewers. “We make sure that we catch business owners who are offering these incentives,” Mr. Holloway said. “We’re focused on quality control.”