Reviews speak to potential customers before you can

First impressions are important. How you greet customers as they walk in the door or how you answer the phone makes a big impact on how they begin to form their impressions of you and your business. The same is also true for the reviews a potential customer sees online before they even interact with your business. 

A prospective customer will find your business, and then go to Google and other review sites to learn more about your business and the experiences others have had. They’ll see your star rating, your number of reviews, and then they’ll dive into the actual content of the reviews. Of course you hope to always get glowing reviews, but mistakes happen sometimes or someone is just difficult to please. If they leave a negative review, then that is now out there for others to read and consider before deciding to try your business. 

Even just 1 negative review can impact your business. It takes about 40 positive reviews to negate 1 bad review. The average person is usually compelled to leave a review for either a wonderful experience, or a terrible experience. When a visit is average and perfectly okay, customers are less inclined to leave reviews because they feel there isn’t much to comment on. That is why it is so important to build consistent review generation in your marketing strategy. If you’re only gathering very positive and very negative reviews, the negative will far outweigh the positives. 

By actively asking for and encouraging reviews, most customers will be compelled to leave a review for an experience that was perfectly fine. These “average” reviews will still bolster your overall online review appearance and help negate the negative ones. 

It can be as simple as posting signs near your registers, or on the door for someone to see as they are leaving. You could further encourage by offering raffles and prizes for anyone who leaves a review. Whatever method you choose to generate reviews, it will be worth it. 94% of customers say they have chosen to avoid a business based on a negative review they saw. Counter those stats, and make sure you’re generating as many positive reviews as possible.