Why Your Business Needs Both Positive And Negative Reviews As Well

According to the consumer buying decision process, every consumer actively looks for the information before making any purchase decision. Initially, this information is collected through traditional sources like Friends, Relatives, newspapers, etc. But, in this Internet era, all the required information is directly collected from the Internet.

According to one research, today around 81 percent of the consumer reach online before making any purchase decision. They consult independent blogs, social networking sites, and other websites to know more about the products or services.

Next, they check online reviews of real customers available on your store or independent sites before making any purchase decision. Do you know? Around 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Do you know? Around 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Hence, online reviews have become the key factor in starting a successful store. Always remember, Whether these reviews are available on your website or any other independent sites, in both cases, these will act as powerful pieces of social proof that persuade people to buy.

You can check the below-attached image to know how #EmbroideryShristi is using real reviews from real customers to gain their customer trust.

Now, if there are reviews then obviously it can be both- either positive or negative.

I am sure you will try to get as many as positive reviews you can. The reason is obvious. These reviews are the social proof of your good product or service. If you get a five-star rating then it means you are doing great.

Whereas the negative reviews mean the product or service is not good.

The Power Of Negative Reviews (With Examples)

A customer will definitely not buy your product or service if you have negative reviews for it.

But, does it mean, you should work hard to earn great reviews only? What about those reviews which are not so good?

According to me, getting only great reviews should not be your goal. Trust me, your business needs more negative reviews than positive.

For example, please check out the below-attached images.

In the first one, you will find a frustrated customer sharing negative feedback about our online store #EmbroideryShristi and in the second one, you will find the same customer saying thanks for the support (post providing support for the negative feedback)

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Now, just imagine. What if this customer does not share those negative feedback with us? In such a case, the customer could have become more frustrated and I may have lost him permanently. Next, I could never come to know about the problem been faced by our customers. Right?

So, in this case, the negative reviews helped me to boost my business.

Now, If you really want to start a successful store then do not ignore these kinds of negative reviews. Always Remember, Negative reviews are as important as the positive ones.

This article is about those negative reviews received for your business.

Hereby, in this article, I will tell you, Why negative reviews are so important for your business and how to deal with it.

This article will also include different ways to convert your negative reviews into marketing wins.

Why Negative Reviews Are Good For Your Business?

Yes, you heard it correctly. Negative reviews are good for your business.

I know many of you are thinking that I am gonna mad now. How negative reviews can help my business?

But believe or not, this is true. Negative reviews are good for your business. To know Why or How, please read out the below article.

True Face Of Your Business

There is a very common tendency that if you are getting positive reviews for your business then it means your business is doing great.

But, this is not true in all cases. Getting a few positive reviews will not show the true face of your business.

For example, suppose you started an online store selling downloadable images online.

Now, last month you made 10 orders from your store. Out of which, 7 customers shared positive reviews for your business and the remaining 3 customers did not share any reviews with you.

Getting 70% of positive reviews does not mean your business is doing great.

Now, take this example in another way. Suppose you got only 5 positive and 2 negative reviews. Rest of the customers did not share any reviews.

In this case, the two negative reviews will show the true face of your business.

It will help you to identify the problems and thereby resolve it and build a successful business.

I know you will definitely dislike the negative feedback but those reviews are the only source from where you can get the true face of your business growth.

Trust me those negative reviews will teach you many things.

Let us understand this with another live example of my blog LoveUMarketing.

I received lots of comments every day saying thanks for writing or sharing the article. But, these comments are of no use for me.

I simply ignore them because it is not making any value addition to me. Actually, it does not help me to improve myself and become the most popular blogger in the Industry.

Instead, I prefer negative reviews from my users. It helps me to identify the problems being faced by my visitors. The below snapshot is a proof for the same.

From the above-attached image, you can clearly observe that my visitors like to read a detailed and unique post instead of a theoretical one.

Next, based on his suggestion I started writing a more experience-based post.

Hence, I prefer to get more negative reviews than positive. This is because it shows the true face of my business and helps me in improving it.

Gain Trust Of Your Visitors

If you are getting too many positive reviews but not negative reviews then your visitors may think something fishy in it.

Your visitors may be hesitant about the “too good to be true” nature of your website.

Remember, lots of positive reviews are clearly an indication of data manipulation. In this Internet era, one can easily manipulate the number online. I have seen many people buying or selling reviews online.

Now, just imagine. You did not receive any negative review on your website. Do you think your users will believe in this? Of course ‘No’.

Nowadays, consumers are very smart. They easily identify fakes reviews online.

Hence, it is always advisable to focus on getting real reviews for your business. Do not manipulate it. Publish the same without any interference from reviewing or moderating it.

The reviews at #EmbroideryShristi is getting published directly without any interference from the owners. It does not matter whether the reviews are positive or negative, they are posted on the store without any type of editing.

At last, I can say you need to maintain a counterbalance between positive and negative reviews to build credibility and trust among your customers.

Bad Reviews Helps You To Get Engage With Your Customers and Provides Help To Them

Do you know? More than 70% of the negative reviews are because of lack of information or understanding gap between you and your customers.

At my online store ‘EmbroideryShristi’, I received lots of emails asking a refund for their money. According to them, my embroidery designs are not getting open in their digitizing software.

They were facing this problem because they are trying to open compressed ZIP files through their digitizing software.

Actually, they need to uncompressed the file before using it.

My customers were not aware of this fact hence I wrote a short tutorial on ‘How to Unzip Files’ and share with them.

In this case, the negative reviews were not because of my services but instead, it was because of the lack of information available with my customers.

Of course, my customers would not have written this kind of negative review if they were aware of this fact.

Let us understand this with one more example.

Recently, one of my customers shared negative feedback on the Independent website saying we are forcing them to purchase a few designs of the given freebie set.

Even in this case, When I dug further, I found that the negative feedback was because of the lack of information available with her.

She doesn’t know, from where she can collect those freebie embroidery designs?

At last, I helped her by providing clarification and sharing the direct link. Next, she texts me the below message.

Hence, negative feedback gives a chance to interact with your customers and resolve their problems.

Informed Purchase Decision

Last but the most important reason for getting negative feedback is to help the customers to make ‘Informed Decision‘.

Let us understand with an example.

Suppose you want to purchase a SmartPhone having below specification from Amazon

• Having Price less than 10,000
• 6 GB Ram
• Golden or Black Color
• Free Delivery

Next, you visited the Amazon store and found a SmartPhone meeting all the above-mentioned specifications.

But, it has some negative reviews regarding its battery life.

Now, What will you do? Will you purchase it or ignore the same because it has a few negative reviews regarding its battery life.

If I would be in your place then I will definitely purchase it. This is because the battery life is not in my specification list.

I am not looking for a Smartphone with good battery life. As far as it’s satisfied with my battery needs I will be happy with my purchase.

Hence, at the time of purchasing the Smartphone, at least I would be informed about its limitation or drawback.

I know this mobile has a battery problem and I will not feel regret for it.

At last, the negative reviews help customers to make an informed purchase decision.

How to Turn Negative Feedback Into Positive

So, now you know the importance of Negative Reviews. But, do you know? These negative reviews will help only if you know how to convert them in to positive.

Below we have shared few tips to turn negative feedback into a positive one.

• No matter, how busy you are? Reply to all negative feedback you received. If in case you don’t get enough time to respond then you may skip the reply to positive feedback but do not skip a single reply to a negative review.
• Respond Immediately. Do not wait for anyone. If you are not the right person to resolve customer query then send them an email asking some more time to address their problem. But, do not delay in addressing negative feedback.
• Assured your customers saying they will get back their money if their problem did not get resolved.
• Keep it Simple. Do not make your customers more frustrated by making things complicated. For example, Whenever, my customer faces any problem regarding downloading the design, instead of teaching them the long process, I attached them ordered designs directly in the email.
• Do not feel sorry for accepting the mistakes. Remember, Customers are the real king of your business and they can’t be wrong.
• Compensate them for the loss.

The Final Words

Remember, if you are working hard to gain positive reviews then you should immediately stop it. Instead, you should try to maintain a counterbalance between both positive and negative reviews.

Next, negative reviews can be harmful to your site if not treated immediately. The above tips will help you to respond to negative reviews effectively.

Pro Tips: The best way to treat negative review is to respond and close it immediately. If in any case the condition is served then the same can be treated easily by providing refund and compensation to the customers. Remember, the customers are the real king of the business. If they are happy then your business will definitely grow.

At last, do not forget to share your ways to respond to a negative review? How do you deal with negative feedback?

Next, feel free to contact us if you face any problem in understanding any part of this article. You can share your message in below comment box.