In a world of digital reviews, people are always saying something about practically everything. Just as in person interactions, some people are definitely louder than others. Raving fans leave 5-star reviews, and outraged customers leave 1-star reviews. But it’s easy to forget about those middle-of-the-road voices. Plenty of brands can get distracted by the loud voices alternately praising or berating their product or service, but what about the quieter reviewers in the middle?
The customer reviews that rate a product or service as a 2, 3, or 4 out of 5 are often the most informative. They will list aspects that lived up to their expectations and aspects that didn’t. When considering ways to improve your company’s customer service, it isn’t always productive to focus on the worst of the worst or the best of the best. Of course, you should take all suggestions and criticisms into account, but sometimes moving from a 3 to a 4 can take a lot less time and effort while still significantly improving customer satisfaction.
Read Between the Lines
When considering comprehensive three-star reviews, there are often multiple critiques where expectations weren’t met. Some of these critiques might be specific to the reviewer, but many of them will be universal. For websites like Amazon, where there is an additional rating that shows how many people found a particular comment helpful, you can also gauge how many other people have had a similar experience with your brand. Many of these criticisms will only require small changes that can be implemented quickly.
Acknowledging and responding to these types of comments is a good way to show that your brand cares about your customers’ experiences. This might also be the way that you stop things from escalating. If you nip an issue in the bud, you will be well on your way to providing high-quality customer service. After all, the last thing any brand wants is a disgruntled customer spreading increasingly negative word of mouth on different social media or rating platforms.
How We Can Help You Hear What’s Really Being Said
HS Brands is good at helping businesses understand the smaller, softer voices that might otherwise be overlooked in a sea of reviews through most innovative analyses and software. You might be surprised by the number of things that go unnoticed and ultimately lead to customer experience issues. We want to help you set the bar high, maintain your values, and elevate your standards through our well-structured auditing programs. We also facilitate conducting surveys, so you can collect and respond to criticisms and suggestions, even when they aren’t digitally shouted over social media.
At HS Brands, we help identify smaller improvements that might not be glaringly obvious, resulting in 1-star reviews, but ones that are still vitally important. When it comes to inspecting brands, we leave no stone unturned and help ensure that every piece of informational data, including middle-of-the-road reviews, is collected to take your business to the next level. Those small improvements can make a big difference in your customer experience ratings, and they can also give your company a bit of an edge when it comes to transforming customer reactions from lukewarm to stellar status. Remember, there’s often much to be heard from a mere whisper.
