Why your business should never remove reviews
People can tell when businesses filter reviews.
95% of consumers suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don’t see bad scores. Customers are growing to be more and more review savvy, because they know that people are opinionated. The truth is that some customers expectations are unrealistic. Regardless, their voice still gives you more credibility! When reviews are removed, people can tell that something doesn’t add up. Don’t let others assume that things are too good to be true by trying to sweep bad reviews under the rug.
Removing reviews will further anger customers sharing their experience.
If you business doesn’t allow it’s customers to have a voice, they can further justify their opinions and start talking about it where you don’t have the opportunity to reply. Whether good or bad, your customers may have something to say. Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they are there. This is why we stress claiming your listings across the web, to ensure that you are aware of the conversation going on about your business.
When a customer takes the time to leave a review, it obviously matters to them. This is a huge indicator that you have made an impact on them, that at the end of the day only you are responsible for. Giving people the opportunity to have their say could in turn give you the opportunity to resolve an issue. Showing that your business values its customers, even after the sale, proves to other potential buyers that you are worth trusting.
Feedback helps your business become a better
It’s easy to think that we have the best business in our industry when we are working hard to ensure customer satisfaction. But we have to remember that everyone is different. Some customers will have higher expectations, that require us to go the extra mile. When you look over your reviews, do you notice any recurring issues or concerns that you’ve overlooked? Take note and make any necessary actions to prevent these comments from being made in the future. When a potential customer notices that a reoccurring issue hasn’t been addressed, it may detour them from the sale.
Is it ever okay to remove reviews?
Here are some hypothetical situations your business may run into that would warrant review censorship:
If a review contains inappropriate language or graphic material.
If it isn’t caught by the review platform, you have the option of flagging material that could be offensive to other viewers.
If a review is irrelevant to your business.
Reviews that don’t provide any context to your business, products or services, it’s not really a review anyway. Sometimes people may accidentally ask a question rather than leave a review, in which case don’t let that review factor into your score.
Spam reviews, mistaken identity, or shameless plugs
If a review is obviously spam that isn’t related to your business in any way, or if someone is talking about another business instead of yours. In this example, the review is for a direct competitor and mistaken for the business being reviewed:
If this is a common occurrence, which could be made from competitors to confuse people, report it to the review site for help. Review fraud does in fact exist and should be considered when things seem out of place.There are plenty of free tools online that help to determine when you are being scammed by fake reviews. In this example, the person has never actually been to the establishment:
Self promotion is also okay to remove. No one likes shameless plugs like this overly long review that no one will ever read through:
How can your business practice good review management?
- Always provide exceptional customer experiences
- Encourage customers to leave reviews (on e-receipts, in person or email content)
- Stay on top of reviews by checking them regularly and setting up email notifications so that you can reply swiftly.
From a consumer’s perspective, it’s more realistic to see businesses with a mix of reviews. Of course the higher, the more likely they will trust your business. As long as your business is responsive and diplomatic about issues and thankful to customers that take the time to leave reviews, it will interest others to try it out.
