Know How Your Potential Customers Think
There is one key thing companies always forget when dealing with poor online reputation. I already wrote few sentences about company owners who don’t really know the importance of good online reputation, so I won’t write about it now. Besides not knowing their faults and not admitting them, companies owners make another huge mistake. They think like company owners, not like potential clients.
I will try to show this on a simple example.
Company thinks that their product, service, goal etc. is the best there is. The quality, the price, the idea – everything. They cannot do any wrong (you’d be surprised how many of them think they are never, ever wrong!), they are always right and their customers know that. They expect loyalty, and good buzz. Even if there is someone who doesn’t appreciate them, it doesn’t matter. People know they are the best, and few unappreciative ones aren’t a problem.
Customer thinks that there are many, many choices. Whatever they need, there are dozens of better products/services out there. They just need to research. RESEARCH! Once they start their research, they start to form their decision depending on what they found out.
Here’s one everyday example. A family of four are in need of a new car. They are not really sure what they want, and since there are so many dealerships out there, so many car makes etc. they need to conduct a research. They go online, browse through the SERPs and find some interesting information. They are going back and forth between few dealerships, and decide to do some thorough research.
One dealership has great reviews, another one doesn’t have any reviews or a website, and finally, the third one has some good and some bad reviews. The one with the bad reputation is out of the game, why would they risk their hard earned money and give it to someone who has a reputation of treating their customers bad, selling cars with mechanical problems etc.
The dealership without reviews or a website is also out of the picture, but there is a slight chance the family might consider it.
The dealership with good reviews is the one to go to. There are no bad reviews, no risks to take and family feels safe with trusting the dealership with their money. They trust them with the car choice, car price and performance etc.
Once we’re done with the example, I can point out some basic issues company owners don’t want to deal with.
1. They think (or don’t, but they act like they do) as if their product/service/company is the best. They don’t need people who think otherwise. Why bother with them? Well, no matter how good one’s product/service/company is, be sure there is place for improvement. And have on mind, although they might think that 25 satisfied customers versus 5 unsatisfied ones is good, it’s not great. Those 5 have family and friends and Internet – they will let everyone know about their experience. So, instead of 25 satisfied customers, following month you might have 23, then 20…
2. Potential customers have many choices. They have the real power, not the company. What’s the use of the greatest product in the world if there’s nobody to buy it? Another point is, if the company A has great product, and company B has better, but their customer service is horrible, guess who will get the money? The company A! Reputation is everything. Branding is everything.
3. It’s OK to have few bad reviews. The world is not going to an end! There are many ways to take care of the bad reputation. That’s why professionals like me exist! And always have on mind – the least a company can do about bad/negative reviews is to take care of them. Post a reply to the review, apologize. It will go a long way, trust me. Doing so shows people that company cares, and will give its best to do a better job.