Even though collecting online reviews have been around for some time, there are business owners and other individuals who are yet to fully get the hang of the concept. Daily, more and more people and businesses are getting online presence and doing more of their activities digitally. Thus, businesses need to know how online review systems like US Reviews can affect their business. You can be sure that review systems are not going to fade away, they are only going to get even more popular. This article discusses how online reviews can affect your business.
Customers don’t care about your information about your business
If a journalist was to ask you about your business, are you going to tell them about the fight you had with a customer the previous week where you thought the customer was at fault, only to later find out that you are the one who is at fault? The obvious answer is that you are not going to tell them. Thus, every business owner will only give positive information about their businesses every time even if it means lying or exaggerating the truth. This is why it would be difficult for customers to believe what you have to say about your business. The only way that the information on your website can serve your customers is that they provide your customers with something to hold you to. Thus, when customers find reviews on your website or your Facebook page, they know it could have been posted by you, and even if not, they have no way of being sure, thus it does not mean much to them.
Online reviews are highly trusted by customers
A study discovered that 84 percent of customers in the United States consult online reviews, friends and family members when they want to know about a service or product. Furthermore, 76 percent of the respondent stated that they checked online reviews before deciding if they would go ahead to patronize a local company or not. 85 percent of respondents in another study said they only patronize services or products for which they can find online recommendations, while 70 percent of the respondents said they believe in online reviews in the same vein they trust recommendations from people they know. This shows the influence of online reviews and the fact that over 70 percent of your sales could be influenced by online reviews.
Your sales can be influenced by your reputation online
Even though a lot of small businesses claim they do not care about reviews left for them online, online reviews can make or mar their businesses. This also applies to big businesses as well. A significant number of negative reviews about your business or no review at all is enough to discourage prospective customers from patronizing you. You would thus, be losing a high number of new customers that could turn out to become loyal customers and referrers of other new customers.
