People Are Far More Likely to Leave a Negative Review
It’s frustrating the first time that you see a negative review of your business. Maybe it’s on Facebook, Google, Yelp or some other site. You have worked hard to provide excellent products and services, and the majority of people leave your business feeling happy about what they’ve received. Evidently, not everyone felt the same way, but why is it that the negative review showed up and it isn’t balanced out by positive reviews? Where are all of those highly satisfied customers that you are used to seeing on a daily basis?
Those customers certainly exist. The problem is that only about 10% of them are going to leave a positive review. The odds are vastly higher that someone who is unhappy with the service is going to write a negative review. So you may be making the overwhelming majority of your customers happy, but your reviews are still going to reflect far more of the negative experiences that others have had.
Why Does This Happen?
Some have gone so far as to say that you need roughly 40 positive interactions with customers if you want to balance out the impact of a single negative review. But why is it that the negative has much more impact than the positive? Why is it that the tiny minority of negative experiences are the ones making it into the reviews and making it harder for you to get new customers?
The issue is, to some degree, that people always expect a good experience. When they have it, it lives up to their expectations. This does make them happy in the moment, but it’s also fairly forgettable if it doesn’t exceed their expectations. They’re unlikely to review a product simply to say that it is just as advertised and works well.
On the other hand, the person who has a negative experience also had expectations. This person feels wronged because they did not get the product or service they expected. That may not be your fault as the business owner, but that’s not how the customer sees it. They are much more likely to let their emotions push them to write a negative review. This means that negative reviews or low star ratings are overrepresented. They do not tell the whole story and they can give an inaccurate impression of what the business is like.
Review Management
At Content Customs, we work hard to manage your company’s reputation and reviews so that they are fair and accurate. We can help you put your best foot forward. Contact us today to get started.
