How Much Can Negative Customer Reviews Cost Your Business?

According to a report by Deloitte Global Risk, reputation damage is the biggest concern for most business owners across the world. In fact, almost 88 percent of people consider reputation damage a major business challenge. With the Internet solidifying its position as the biggest medium of content consumption, the importance of protecting your brand’s online reputation is growing stronger with each passing day.

People want an awesome experience, and many brands tend to ignore it. Ultimately they suffer the consequences of ignoring their customers’ needs and demands. The brands that do not prioritize customer experience not only lose their reputation but also start losing customers rapidly. On the other hand, brands that focus on improving customer experience go on to become the biggest brands in the world.

Failing to keep customers happy is a major concern, particularly for your brand’s reputation, customer retention and bottom line. Bad customer experience can travel twice as fast and reach twice as many people as it once did simply because of social networks and third-party review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. Because of their popularity, most of these review sites appear higher in search results than any SEO-friendly website. This makes it easier for customers to find negative reviews online. According to a study by Harvard University, online reviews on third-party review sites can have a serious impact on your bottom line. It was found that for every one-star increase in rating, there can be a 5 percent to 9 percent increase in the bottom line. The research also indicates that the revenue difference between a business with three stars and business with five stars can be almost 18 percent.

For most businesses, the impact of negative reviews or a bad online reputation can be severely damaging. Most customers will not buy from a business with negative online reviews. In addition, according to Google research, brands that have a three-star rating or higher receive a higher number of clicks.

If you want to turn around the impact of a bad online reputation, you will need to ask for more positive reviews. According to experts, it takes 10 to 12 positive reviews to offset the impact of a single negative review.

Business Loss Due to Bad Reputation

According to Moz, four or five negative reviews about your brand or product can cost you 70 percent of potential customers. In another study it was found that four out of five customers will change their mind about doing business with a brand due to negative online reviews. This can be damaging, assuming most customers will search online to learn about your reputation. If online opinion makes your reputation negative, you may lose four out of five of your potential customers.

Today, building a positive online reputation online is essential to ensuring growth and longevity of your business. An excellent way to improve customers’ trust in your brand is to come up with an online reputation management strategy.

Get a Handle On Your Online Reputation

The first step in protecting your online reputation is not to wait until you are struck with a crisis. Instead, work to improve your current standing with both customers and employees. You must proactively monitor review sites where your business is showcased to determine if you need to pay attention to your current reputation.

In addition, you can use various online metrics that will help you gauge trends and statistics regarding your brand. Creating a careful and consistent online reputation management strategy is the most effective way to repair and strengthen your online reputation.