You read that right.
Bad reviews are indeed good for your business.
But, “how?” you might ask.
Well, it’s simple actually.
Bad reviews provide benefits to your business.
For starters, they create trust and credibility. They provide you with opportunities for improvement. They function as a customer service showcase. Ultimately, bad reviews increase engagement.
If your business has a good amount of positive reviews, then having a mix of good and bad reviews provides a buffer against the impact of future negative reviews.
One more benefit that these reviews provide is expectation management.
All these things benefit your business in the long run if you care and invest in your voice of customer data (VOC).
This isn’t advocating for getting bad reviews. Or that you shouldn’t care about how many bad reviews you get.
Instead, it provides the reasoning behind negative reviews, and a stepping-stone for you to boost your business in the long run.
Bad reviews create trust and credibility
A mix of both good and bad reviews increases the perceived authority of your business.
Have you ever come across a Google business listing and noticed that it has only 5-star reviews, and they’re all saying the same thing?
That’s often-times a result of asking employees, friends and family, to positively review their business.
To note, according to explodingtopics.com, per the FTC, governing bodies are willing to crack down on “own-endorsements.” Meaning, positive reviews written by employees, friends and family, pretending to be customers.
Having some bad reviews sprinkled throughout like glitter provides credibility to your business.
Define bad reviews
Well, as we’ve said in our other blog with 9 tips on how to deal with negative Google reviews, there are good negative reviews and bad negative reviews.
That means we can look at bad reviews in two ways.
First, bad reviews that provide constructive criticism or genuine feedback and suggestions should be considered good negative reviews—they ultimately provide value to your business.
Second, bad negative reviews are detrimental to your customer’s perception of you.
Don’t fret.
Some of these reviews can be removed by Google if they break any of their rules. Especially the fake reviews.
Negative customer reviews provide opportunities for improvement
That’s a bingo.
Positive reviews tell you that what you’re doing is working.
Negative reviews tell you what you can improve upon.
When looking at it that way, they’re more valuable than 5-star reviews.
Your customers are your lifeblood, and their customer feedback directly influences your business and its success.
Take the feedback from your good customer, and consider implementing it in your business. Watch your overall customer satisfaction improve and your online reputation increase.
Customer service showcase for potential customers
Responding to negative reviews gives you a chance to demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction.
Publicly handling a complaint professionally and graciously actually enhances your reputation, and shows potential customers that you care about their experience.
The truth is: no one wants a dissatisfied customer.
But, when showing potential customers testimonials from happy customers, you provide a reassurance—one that says, “good customer experience.”
Now that’s some good reputation management.
Bad reviews increase customer engagement
Reviews, good or bad, can boost SEO rankings, especially for local businesses.
More reviews mean more content, and when you respond to reviews, it adds even more content, which search engines like Google consider when ranking businesses.
For small businesses, it’s an easy way to boost your SEO and increase your reach for new customers.
Bad reviews can help mitigate the impact of future negative reviews
That might sound backwards—but let me put it this way: when you’re running your business well you should naturally be getting 5-star reviews.
Occasionally you’ll get lower star ratings that balance out your overall rating and depict a more honest rating for your potential customers.
When you have a good mix of positive reviews and negative reviews, it provides you a buffer against the impact of future negative reviews.
The key to this is to capture as many reviews as you can. The more quality reviews you have, a few bad ones won’t significantly impact your overall rating in the future.
One-star reviews shouldn’t crater your online reputation when you’re putting in the work to run a good business.
Manage people’s expectations with bad reviews
Sometimes, customers might leave a negative review because their expectations were not met.
Reading these reviews allows potential customers to set their expectations accordingly, leading to more satisfied customers in the long run.
When a customer comes across a business that has nothing but 5-star ratings, they start to expect a lot from engaging with that business.
So when they end up being disappointed by their experience, they might leave a bad online review.
If your business reviews are balanced by good reviews and a few reasonable bad reviews, your customer’s expectations can be more realistic and thus, translate into a good customer experience.
Now you know: bad reviews are good reviews
If you’re running your business well, and you’re always doing good work and providing good service, the bad reviews you get should always be used to your advantage.
A customer with a negative experience that leaves them unhappy can provide you with some very valuable information. Information that you can then use to improve your business and reduce the chance of an unhappy customer with a bad experience.
As a business owner, you should take all your VOC into consideration. Listening to customer feedback and implementing it leads to better word of mouth and an increased bottom line.
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