hobvias sudoneighm/Flickr
In the social web, even negative reviews have their place. Companies are finding that negative reviews allow an honest dialogue with customers and potential customers, and allow for the company to “humanize” itself.
It is often said that word of mouth advertising is the best form of advertising. Over the years businesses of all kinds have invested significant time and resources into ensuring that their clients have nothing but good things to say about them, hoping that such positive word of mouth would lead to additional sales.
But in the Internet Age, especially as it relates to Web 2.0 - which focuses more on the social aspect of the Internet - reviews (the Internet's version of word of mouth) have taken on a significant role in the fortunes of millions of companies across the globe.
However, while word of mouth advertising tended to be most effective when it was positive, some companies are finding that even negative Internet reviews have a positive effect.
Negative Reviews May Make All Reviews Seem More Authentic
Most Internet users are familiar with the fact that it is not difficult to create an online identity and then go around the Internet professing all manner of weird, crazy, and controversial opinions.
This is one reason why many Internet reviews are not taken seriously – people don’t know who made the review or what their motive was. In the end, the reader may not trust that the reviewer is a genuinely person who has truly tried a company's products or services and is reporting without bias.
However, one way reviews seem more authentic is if there is a mix of positive and negative commentary.
When a company's product or service is reviewed in too glowing a manner, it may seem as if the company has either spammed the review sites themselves, or has hired paid reviewers to talk up their wares.
However, when negative - and the more biting and caustic the better for this purpose - reviews are intermixed in with the glowing reviews, the overall review profile of the company becomes more believable.
Negative Reviews Give a Company a Chance to Show Care and Class
Because reviews are public, and meant for public consumption, a company's response to any given review can also reasonably be made public. Hence, negative reviews can offer a company a golden opportunity to show the public that it truly cares about its customers and that the company will meet negative reviews with overwhelming class and concern.
For example, when a woman recently complained that her granddaughter had been asked to leave by a KFC employee due to the fact that the little girl had bandages on her face (resulting from a dog attack), the company immediately went in to "care" mode and apologized to the grandmother.
The grandmother had reported that the employee told her that her granddaughter’s appearance was scaring other customers. KFC pledged to donate $30,000 toward the girl’s recovery.
Interestingly, when it was discovered that the entire situation had likely been fabricated by the grandmother - that it was likely all a hoax - KFC did the right thing by insisting it would continue to donate the money regardless of the truth grandmother’s claims. In this case the original negative review gave KFC two opportunities to show how much it cared, not only about its customers, but for people in general.
Negative Reviews Are a Chance to Improve and Even Show Self Deprecation
A recent Domino’s Pizza advertising spot made fun of the company's ill fated "cookie pizza", which was a product Domino’s launched, but which failed miserably. In this case Domino’s took negative feedback related to its not-so-well-received product and threw it back at the customer, essentially saying "yea, we know you all didn’t like that, but we'll do better next time."
The negative reviews were an opportunity for the company to open a true dialogue with their customer base, as opposed to giving their customers the sense that - as Steve jobs said - the customer doesn't know what he or she wants.
In today's social world there will doubtlessly be millions upon millions of customers which appreciate such dialogue, and resolve to give a company a second, third, or even fourth chance as the company continues to improve upon its products and dares to innovate.
Why You Should Use Negative Reviews as an Opportunity
Aside from companies that purposefully insert negative reviews into otherwise fraudulent review commentaries (often generated by the companies themselves), no company truly wants negative reviews of their products or services.
However, as can be seen above, negative reviews can actually help a company grow its relationship with its customer base, and its sales as a result. In the present and future the companies that are truly able to engage in the process of listening to their customers and appreciating even their negative reviews will be the companies most likely to reap the benefits of all Web 2.0 has to offer.