More often than not, when you search for a restaurant or a business online, a review site comes up, or you see a review attached to the listing. You either click on the site or you read the review to see if you want to partake in the product or the restaurant. It’s not uncommon for anyone to do that, but it is becoming more and more of a norm – especially as mobile websites become more and more prevalent.
Customer clients or reviews drive your business – it’s just a matter of what direction is it going. Client reviews have the power to help or hurt your business now and in the future, too.
It’s a never-ending cycle
It never ends because the Internet doesn’t end. The content that gets put onto cyberspace stays out there. As such, review sites like Yelp, Urbanspoon, and others often hold restaurants and businesses accountable. A one-star review from 2008 can haunt you in 2015 – and your potential and current customers have access to see that. The Internet is an open book and all the content out there that involves you, negative or positive, can never be closed.
There is a way to fight fake or false reviews
Let’s face it. There are malicious people intent on trying to destroy you and your business. It’s always important being vigilant in looking out for malicious or fake reviews. One strategy is to respond. At the very least, responding allows potential clients to see your side of the story. For all anyone knows, the reviewer could have misinterpreted the situation – or they had a bad day – or they were tired and took things too far. Ultimately no one knows except the reviewer.
Another strategy is to flag the review. You have the right and ability to do that in some cases. If the review appears slanderous, you can win the case to get the review taken off the site.
Great reviews can drive business to you
Great reviews and a great average from reviews is a powerful lead-generating tool. It can never be underestimated because we look at review averages too to make our decisions. Good and bad reviews have a tendency to stick with the reviewer, but great reviews tend to make more of an impression than a bad one.