Negative Customer Reviews = Gold

In a general, on the subject of customer ratings and reviews, in terms of quantity only, regardless of whether the review is positive or negative, i.e., quality, having the business reviewed and rated is a good thing. Good in two ways. Firstly, it means that a customer went out of his/her way and invested time and energy to express how he/she felt about their experience dealing with a business, which implies that their interaction with the business evoked a feeling strong enough for the customer that they wished to express it to the business and the world. As such, that, on its own, is a favor done by the customer for the business.

Secondly, as customers, when in search of a place to do business with, the higher the number of reviews we see next to a place of business or product, the more attractive it that business becomes. This is human nature. E.g., on Google reviews, when I find two new restaurants, I generally feel more inclined to explore the one with the high number of reviews (regardless of rating, for now). Having a higher number of reviews, compared to other places with a smaller number of reviews, would indicate that the business has experience, that it is in more demand by comparison, and that it evokes strong feelings from its visitors. All those factors and more contribute to the appeal of quantity, at both a conscious and sub conscious level.

A such, since there is value in quantity, a business simply must express its appreciation to any customer that goes out of their way to invest time and energy in rating and writing a review, regardless of the rating and content of the review. This is good business practice and equally important, good manners.

I will not spend much ink on positive reviews, as it is not the focus of this article. Of course, a positive review is a most special thing. It means that a business evoked such a strong positive emotion from the customer that that he/she felt inclined to rate and write about the business to express their satisfaction, for the world to see, essentially endorsing the business in what is free marketing of the most powerful sort, word of mouth. As such, it is unforgivable for a business not to express its timely appreciation of the customer who left that positive review or rating. Again, not doing so is bad business and more importantly, to me at least, bad manners.

Now allow me to write a bit about negative customer reviews, the crux of this article. True, a positive review is fantastic, but I would argue that a negative review is even better! Better in that when a customer leaves a negative review, a business is presented with a couple of golden opportunities.

Firstly, when a negative review is received, a business has the opportunity to right a wrong committed against a customer. There are not many things that can create stronger customer loyalty than a timely acknowledgment of their grievance, followed by a heartfelt apology then followed by a promise of doing better then finally, an offering of some sort of compensation for the inconvenience. That is the magic formula of transforming an upset customer into a lifelong loyal advocate. This is pure gold.

Secondly, a business is given the chance to analyze and discover any negative trends by calculating the number of times the same negative feedback is given by different customers. Thus, identifying a trend. Once a trend is identified and confirmed, corrective action can be taken. Businesses pay consultants massive fees to do exactly the same thing, identify problems. A customer that leaves a negative review does this for free! Once a business identifies a trend, it can now act to figure out the root cause of that problem, then to systemically fix the root cause issue. Fixing a problem permanently, from its root cause, contributes to operational excellence, and operational excellence contributes to customer satisfaction, and that in turn equals financial growth! Again, gold!

And that, dear readier, is how negative reviews can equal business growth. Everyone makes mistakes. It is how we deal with mistake that sets us apart. It is the mindset that allows for gold.