Negative online reviews are welcomed by bosses as two thirds of 500 companies surveyed agreed complaints were equally as important as positive online reviews according research conducted by independent online review forum, Feefo.
In the spotlight
In the spotlightOver the past few years online reviews have become increasingly more relevant and prominent as consumers turn to advice from their peers and communities to influence their buying decisions. This is particular key to the travel industry, The Deloitte Consumer Review 2011 revealed that 89% of all transactions between a three month period in the travel category were ‘digitally influenced’.
Bosses of both small and large businesses have been seen to shy away from negative comments, but in the era of social media this is hard to do. Nestle learned this the hard way after they faced a backlash on their Facebook page when it was revealed the company allegedly used palm oil from deforested areas in Indonesia. Nestle made the situation worse by responding in a negative fashion and threatening to delete comments.
Embracing change
Managing director of Feefo, Andy Mabbutt believes things have changed, he said they had found that most bosses welcomed negative feedback as much as positive feedback, if not more, as long as it was open, honest and from genuine customers.
“Most bosses value complaints and often look forward to them more than a pat on the back particularly as it helps to head off a major problem before it does untold damage to a business.
“The only way a boss can retain a customer who is unhappy is if they know about it and are able to remedy the situation as quickly as possible.
“Most businesses are realistic enough to realise an operation may not run seamlessly all the time. But they also know that a business is measured as much by how it deals with those problems as it is by the services it provides.
“The issue for them now is not getting complaints but how to encourage responsible and transparent feedback that is beneficial to both the customer and the business. With the emergence of Twitter and other social media the way we complain has changed and bosses also want feedback to come straight to them rather than having to search it out.”
