Human tendency is to trust fellow beings more than in institutions or organizations. This is particularly so when it comes to businesses, buying products or using services. With the influx of internet, review sites have been the latest way for people to know about products and services. It is these review sites that can make or mar a company’s reputation online.
History has borne witness to the fact that people always discussed about products and services and companies have gained profits and increased sales by word of mouth influence than by any other means. With internet have come social review sites like Yelp, Naymz, RepVine and networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube to name just a few the companies which have realized the power of blog marketing and use the social sites have become successful in their online business . This has helped people create blogs or personal spaces on these sites were they can express their views and opinions about literally anything under the sun. These blogs on networking sites are also the best places for people to write about their experiences with products and services. Hence it is imperative for companies and organizations to know what the search engines churn out about their products particularly on the blogs of networking sites.
It would also be a good idea for companies to encourage such reviews from customers as that would also increase their presence on the World Wide Web. But these reviews would not be limited to praises but may also include criticism from unhappy or unsatisfied customers. Such criticism should be considered objectively, is the criticism legitimate or just some kind of hate mail, will tackling such criticism help the company build a better bond with their customers.
If the criticism or complaint is legitimate written honestly and transparently by one of the valued customers, the seller should address the problem directly by telling them about your company, cause of the criticism and steps being taken to address the issue. This will not only help sort out any ill feelings in the customers mind but also build a positive image in the potential customer’s perspective. Most customers are quite reasonable in their demands and want to be heard or their problems resolved. When they hear from the company, it would give the company a lot of credibility in the eyes of the customer making them more favorable towards the products. People do understand that not everything is a hundred percent perfect and are ready to let goof minor issues if only their views and opinions are valued.