The online reviews of a company's services can have positive or negative effects on whether your business thrives. The best content about your brand or product doesn't come from you but from consumers. According to Cone’s 2011 Online Influencer Trend Tracker studies found that four-out-of-five consumers decided against purchasing a product based on negative feedback in an online review."
As seen in the chart, word of mouth is the main way people are influenced when buying products but online reviews falls second. The more negative reviews individuals see about a product or company, the less likely they are to make a purchase, resulting in a loss of revenue. It is in the best interest of business owners to insure that customers are always satisfied with their services. Websites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Yahoo, Google and Bing are sites that consumers use to write reviews on products and businesses. If bad reviews are received, the more your brand is seen in a negative light. It is important to have a profile on multiple websites that showcases your brand because it will overshadow any negative posts about your brand. If negative reviews are made, businesses must insure that the issue is resolved and there is a follow up with customers to make sure it does not happen again.
I have personally had an experience with a bad product and if it wasn't for my complaint to the company via Twitter, I would have never received better customer service and a new product. Companies do not like to see negative feedback of their brand especially on growing social media sites as Twitter or Facebook because it paints them in a negative way. Companies can also track what is being said about their brand through tools like Google Alerts, Hootsuite, Trackur, and Twitter Search.
This website lists 15 ways to avoid a bad review: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/09/15-ways-avoid-bad-online-reviews.html
As a hospitality professional, what are some strategies that you would use to ensure that your company retrieves good reviews from customers?
Have you had any experiences posting reviews online?
Pictures taken from
The Inquisitr
My Reviews Page
Sources: http://outspokenmedia.com/online-marketing/online-reviews-content-marketing/
As seen in the chart, word of mouth is the main way people are influenced when buying products but online reviews falls second. The more negative reviews individuals see about a product or company, the less likely they are to make a purchase, resulting in a loss of revenue. It is in the best interest of business owners to insure that customers are always satisfied with their services. Websites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Yahoo, Google and Bing are sites that consumers use to write reviews on products and businesses. If bad reviews are received, the more your brand is seen in a negative light. It is important to have a profile on multiple websites that showcases your brand because it will overshadow any negative posts about your brand. If negative reviews are made, businesses must insure that the issue is resolved and there is a follow up with customers to make sure it does not happen again.
I have personally had an experience with a bad product and if it wasn't for my complaint to the company via Twitter, I would have never received better customer service and a new product. Companies do not like to see negative feedback of their brand especially on growing social media sites as Twitter or Facebook because it paints them in a negative way. Companies can also track what is being said about their brand through tools like Google Alerts, Hootsuite, Trackur, and Twitter Search.
This website lists 15 ways to avoid a bad review: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/09/15-ways-avoid-bad-online-reviews.html
As a hospitality professional, what are some strategies that you would use to ensure that your company retrieves good reviews from customers?
Have you had any experiences posting reviews online?
Pictures taken from
The Inquisitr
My Reviews Page
Sources: http://outspokenmedia.com/online-marketing/online-reviews-content-marketing/
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ReplyDeleteI believe that online reviews, especially in today's world, are extremely powerful and can make or break a product, service or company. I know that whenever I am on the go and looking for a place to eat or a place to stay, I go right on my phone to my yelp application or simply just Google search reviews for the places that are around me. I know countless times that I would "yelp" different restaurants that were in the area, and I would go to the ones that obviously got better reviews than other places. In the hospitality industry especially, since it is an intangible service, people look for reviews or ask for friend's advice on where they should go. So, hence why it is so critical that businesses maintain positive reviews to overshadow the bad ones. Make sure you can find good reviews and maybe push those to the top so people see those first. One bad review can hurt, but imagine multiple bad reviews when there are only one ore two good ones; those are clearly going to convince someone.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have never posted a review, but I do count on them a lot when I am searching, which makes me think I should start posting them! I know that there are places that I had a great experience that may have bad reviews online, and I would want people to know not just to believe those bad things they hear. I think it is very important to have an employee, or whoever does the social media, to constantly look for and be on the hunt for bad reviews. In the end, you don't want social media hurting you, it's there to help!
Maybe it is time for you to write the first review this week.
DeleteOnline reviews will continuously have a huge effect on a product. It usually determines the success or failure of it. If an online review completely bashes a product, on an incredibly noteworthy site, this can make or break it. Before buying something, I usually look at online reviews to make sure that I am not buying something that I am going to completely regret. Clothing websites always have comment boxes for the customers to express their opinions on a specific piece of clothing that they purchased from the store. This is incredibly beneficial to other customers. People usually give an honest opinion of what they think of the product and will give a lengthy detailed description, where the customers can use to decide if they actually want to purchase it.
ReplyDeleteRestaurant reviews in Zagats and Michelin are incredibly trustworthy. Whenever my family and I go for meals in other places besides New York City, we use these guides to help us eat a good meal. They are known by people world wide, and will always have recognition to be incredibly notable reviews. It is incredibly important to have some good reviews, not everyone is always going like a specific product, so make those who speak well about your product viewable. Hopefully everyone will like your product, because more than one bad review can make people skeptical of purchase. I personally have never posted an online review, but do constantly look at them for advice. It is also incredibly important to be aware of those who may be saying bad things about your product, and try and control it. Online reviews as a whole will make or break a product, so make sure the customer continuously has positive things to say.
Zagat has becomed more popular than Michelin, more or less because of social media: http://linchikwok.blogspot.com/2010/10/michelin-and-zagat-restaurant-reviews.html What can small businesses do if they don't make it to Zagat or Michelin?
DeleteI have never actually heard of Michelin but I know that a Zagat rating is very important to the restaurant industry. I feel that most people tend to analyze the negative comments more than the positive to see if it will make a big difference regarding their purchase. As you said below Adam, I also look at the negative comments and compare them to see if guests complain about similar things.
DeleteOnline reviews are extremely powerful. You can have a ninety nine good reviews and then one bad review and that could hurt your product more than the good ones. People remember the bad for more than they remember the good. When I am searching for a hotel to stay out or a restaurant to go eat at I check the reviews most of the time. When I check the reviews I focus on the negative more than the positive as it stands out more. People tend to always look for the worse in someone rather than the positive traits that they may present
ReplyDeleteWhat if the negative comment is made up by a competitor? Is it fair?
DeleteI haven't done any official review on any site but i have tweeted and posted comments on Facebook and Twitter. Word of month is especially influential among friends, families and relatives. I decided to visit a new restaurant because someone i know said the food is good. Listen to what customers have to say is a key to success. However, it does not mean that managers have to make changes based on customer's requests. It is better make adjustments after research and communications with the team.
ReplyDeleteSandy, it is very true that word of mouth has a greater effect on whether you choose to try a product or service. Although I think that listening to customer suggestions and implementing changes to fit customer needs is key in growing a business. It is important listen to customers because ultimately they are the ones investing in your brand.
DeleteOnline reviews play a major role in whether or not a potential customer will complete his or her purchase of the product. People enjoy get other peoples feedback on items that they are interested in because they have the ability to convince them to continue their purchase or not to continue. For instance, if someone is looking to purchase an iPhone and they go online and see that someone wrote a review RAVING about all of the feautures it has to offer and many other advantages that come with th iPhone, that person is more inclined to purchase it. However, on the other hand, if someone said that they had a truly horrible exprience overall, that may convince the potential buyer not to continue his or her purchase. Online reviews are extremely powerful in the sense that they have the ability to make or break a companys reputation. Im sure that many people, like myself, search for online reviews when curious about a product or service. Since this is an ongoing trend, that does not look like it is going to fade out at any time soon, it VERY important that companys build and maintain a positive reputation.
ReplyDeleteI have actually posted an online review once on a restaraunt that i had went to in California with my family. It is a very nice, upscale restaurant, and we had fabulous service, food, and expirience there. Given that, i thought that it was neccessary to let others know about my great expirience so they can have the priveledge of enjoying it as well!
I agree that it is very important for companies to build and maintain a positive reputation because that ultimately affects sales. I think it is also important for people to share their experiences because as much as we like to read reviews, if no one posts them then we would not know what to expect from a product before we try it.
DeleteOnline reviews are certainly important thing to business. Negative comments can nudge the brand down and positive comments can improve their value of the name. Even though I havn't posted up any online reviews, I depend on some customer reviews to make decision to purchase the product. It is true that people have different tastes so there won't be all positive or all negative comments only but I usually compare the number of each so if 3 out of 5 customers said the product is good then I would purchase it. However, the most important thing for the company is the action they take after receiving negative comments. People can make mistakes, so do business companies. But since they have responsibilities on their jobs and their customers, to be a professional, it is also one of their duty not to make same mistakes again. Personally, I hate those companies who keep saying thanks for your comments and we are trully sorry about your inconvenience blah blah blah and no actual changes made for it.
ReplyDeleteOnline reviews are extremely powerful. Before buying something, I usually look at online reviews to make sure that I am not buying something that I am going to completely regret. Great information, I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSocial Reviews