How Online Reviews Can Make or Break Your Business

This blog was last updated on November 30, 2020.

If you’re a business owner, it’s important to be aware of the significant impact that online business reviews (or lack of them) currently have on your business.

Whether you realize it or not, regardless of whether you have several reviews or none, positive or negative, they may be affecting your business for better or for worse. Like it or not, the marketplace has changed dramatically and today’s consumer puts a great deal of weight on online reviews.

If you’re wondering just how much influence customer reviews have on the purchasing process, recent research indicates that people continue to rely heavily on online reviews with 91% of consumers saying that positive reviews make them more likely to use a business. They put as much weight on online reviews as they would on personal recommendations.

Additionally, consumers actually read the details in your customer reviews. Consumers are interested in learning about the experiences and problems customers have had, see how you’ve responded to complaints, and get a consensus on whether or not the product or service lived up to your claims. Over 80% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses and typically read an average of 10 online reviews before they feel they can trust a business.

The good news is, if you’re intentional and consistent in your efforts to obtain reviews, that effort can bring in more new business than you can imagine!

It’s also very important to engage with your negative reviews to show that your business values customer service. Everyone out there won’t always be happy with your service, but customers want to see that you’re trying.

Remember, even if you don’t have negative reviews hurting your business, all it takes is the lack of positive reviews to put your competition ahead of you.

You can have great staff, equipment and deliver superior results, and yet the guy or gal down the street with an inferior business can still bring more customers into their place because they invest the time and effort to get a bunch of positive reviews.  

They don’t need to be better than you. They just need to be better at getting positive reviews than you!

An easy way to get positive reviews for your business:

Admittedly most of us understand the need for a systematic approach to getting positive reviews. But most business owners are working a ton of hours and don’t have the time or energy to develop and implement an effective system for their business. If you’re in that position, the following resource can help solve that problem.

As a business owner, you don’t need to “work” on getting negative reviews from unhappy customers. Yelp is filled with those kinds of reviews. However, it usually requires effort on your part to motivate happy customers to share their positive experiences. That may not seem fair, but that’s the unfortunate reality for most businesses.

Review and Reputation Management Strategy

This is a 2 staged approach.

1. Email a brief survey to every customer that purchases a product or service from you.

2. Follow-up with every client that fills out the survey.

Using a survey as your first contact does several valuable things for you and your business.

1. Presents the customer with an opportunity to offer insight on their experience while the interaction is still fresh in their mind.

2. Let’s your customers know that you’re interested in learning about their experience with your business and that you value any feedback they may have.

3. If a negative issue does exist, you have an opportunity to deal with it internally instead of on a public platform. It also gives the unhappy customer a chance to “vent” and gives you the opportunity to turn their opinion from negative to positive.

Follow-up – Encourage your customers to leave you an online review. Online reviews help to build up your online reputation and add social proof for others who may be considering your products or services. Whether you receive positive or negative reviews online, be sure to respond to each one. You can show your excitement for positive reviews by thanking the consumer for a great rating. Additionally, for less-than-stellar reviews, you can learn more about a consumer’s experience, offer a solution to help fix the issue, and demonstrate that you value their feedback.

One last thing to consider, every business gets a less than desirable review from time to time. View this as an opportunity to let your customer service skills shine. Being able to resolve the issues presented in negative customer reviews can end up having a positive effect on potential customers in the end, because it shows you care about your customers. However, leaving them unanswered will only hurt your reputation and your relationship with other potential customers.

That’s all there is to it. When you use this system consistently, you can expect to build your online reputation and revenue!

Call Mulligan Funding at 855-326-3564 to discuss your financing options today!

The information shared is intended to be used for informational purposes only and you should independently research and verify.

Note: Prior to January 23, 2020, Mulligan Funding operated solely as a direct lender, originating all of its own loans and Merchant Cash Advance contracts. From that date onwards, the majority of funding offered by Mulligan Funding will be by Loans originated by FinWise Bank, a Utah-chartered Bank, pursuant to a Loan Program conducted jointly by Mulligan Funding and FinWise Bank.