This one thing you might be overlooking that will dramatically improve your business.
Welcome to a society that is laden with reviews. You might have heard about a multimillion dollar (and sometimes billion dollar*) company named Yelp. Yes, that’s right, a company is raking in the cash to help our world understand which businesses are performing sub-par and which businesses have earned excellent ratings. All the ratings are submitted by actual customers who have experienced these businesses—and one of them could be your’s.
Assessing your company’s customer service is crucial. Amazon is a Fortune 100 company that has fantastic customer service and is one example of a company that repeatedly wins business and positive recommendations because of their commitment to customer service. Your customer service has to be a core value of your company. It has to be so much a part of the culture in your workplace that everything is looked at through the lens of how something will affect your customers—the good and the bad outcomes.
Our society is ‘review happy.’ We are ‘happy’ to leave a negative review warning other potential customers while venting about a poor experience. On the flip side, rarely does a person ever leave a positive comment (comparatively speaking). Why is that? We don’t know—no one really knows, but research backs it up. In fact, studies say that people are more than 50% more likely to share a negative experience compared to a positive one.
Don’t be afraid of reviews. Being afraid of reviews reveals that deep down you know you have weaknesses and that others may find them out too. It’s time to fix them.
Negative reviews are an opportunity to become a better leader, to thank the customer with the negative comment, and genuinely try to make things right with them. Even if they continue to be negative with unwarranted fervor, by maintaining your cool and being genuinely kind, others will see that. People are smart. People can (often) see who’s at fault, or how the company handled themselves with someone who is being difficult.
"Take the time to listen because you can't afford to not."
Insecurity that you may not be enough reveals itself in fear of failure or making mistakes. The risk of failure shouldn't cause you to shrink back nor should it cause you to pretend the risk isn't there. In business, the risk is real, and this should drive you to pursue excellence.
Your business can be a means to do good in the world. Use this opportunity and strive for excellence for the good of the world. Start asking for more feedback and more reviews to learn your areas of opportunity and start doing better business. Take the time to listen because you can’t afford to not.
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