Did you know that only a small percentage of customers leave a review for a product or service? Despite this, a whopping 20 percent of sales are determined by the reviews that are online.

With so many websites out there, anyone can leave a review of your business or products and services. Things can become scattered and chaotic. However, there are many ways to use review management services so that you can take advantage of customer reviews and boost the success of your business.

With the internet being such a big, virtual landscape, you’re probably wondering where you need to start and how. Managing company reviews is important but it doesn’t have to be a long and difficult process.

Keep reading to learn about the importance of review management in a successful company setting.

1. Reviews Allow You to Connect with Customers

It’s becoming more and more common that customers expect businesses to engage with them on social media and elsewhere. Whether it’s replying to a comment, tagging a relevant photo, using trendy hashtags, or something else, interacting with your customer base can give people the feeling that you’re more than a faceless business.

Customers want to feel like they have a voice, knowing they exist as actual people rather than just a number or statistic on a business spreadsheet. Responding to reviews is a wonderful way to engage and interact with customers.

By leaving a review, they’ve taken time out of their day to share with the world what they love about your service or product. It sets a positive example to show that your business can take time out of its busy schedule to acknowledge the customer’s gesture. That way, you can respond to specific things that they said, whether it was good or bad.

It’s not about doing favors for favors. Rather, you want to show that your business cares about its customers and about fostering an active and positive community.

2. Reviews Enhance Your Reputation

By paying attention and caring for your reviews, you’re essentially investing in your reputation as a business. Managing your reviews can reflect not just the kind of business you are but also the way in which you do that business.

A company that doesn’t care will not reply to any review, whether they’re positive or negative. By showing that you do care, you’ll solidify the customer base you have while also bringing in new customers. Shoppers will be won over by the professional and caring personality that you shown online.

When you respond to reviews, you’ll be able to get more customers and more reviews. It’s a process that can snowball toward success all because you’ve invested in the reputation of your company. Keep in mind that even if a small number of your customers leave reviews, those reviews still drive the success of your business by a lot.

3. Reviews Can Boost Employee Morale

Customers aren’t the only kinds of people who look at your reviews. Chances are employees may see what kinds of things past customers have said. If you’re employees know that your company is providing quality products or services, then they’re more likely to take pride in their work

Employees can do more quality work knowing that they’re contributing to the existence of a product or service that is effective. They’ll care about what they’re doing when they know that many other people care about the product or service that is being offered.

Your employees might even use your products or services for themselves. In that case, they could even add their opinion to the rest of the reviews online.

It’s important to have employees who are happy with what they do and who they work for. It’s just as important to hire employees who already know and respect your company. If your business has many bad reviews and no review management, then when you’re looking to add to your team, the best employees will be difficult to find.

With review management services that boost the success of your company, you can also be confident that many promising and qualified candidates will submit their applications. Potential employees will have the hope of even just scoring an interview with your highly-rated and reputable company.

4. Positive Reviews Lead to More Sales

With so many marketing options out there, it can be confusing trying to figure out what really works. A man dressed in a funny costume who stands on a street corner and dances with your business sign might be a good idea. On the other hand, it could be better to give out business cards and fliers with special deals at various festivals.

Who really knows what marketing tactics are effective? As it happens, unlike other methods, reviews have been proven to lead to more sales. A Harvard Business School study discovered that reviews can actually lead to more revenue.

The same study showed that even when you increase the rating of your business by one star, it can result in a short-term increase in sales. The increase can range from 5 to 9 percent. This shows that reviews are not something to be ignored.

Combined with your reputation, reviews can mean the difference between a sale for your business and a sale for your competitor.

A classic study at the University of California, Berkeley determined that reviews can be a powerful force, with even an increased rating of half of a star resulting in an additional 30 to 49 percent chance that a restaurant will see more customers flock in during the busy hours.

Overall, the one sure thing is that investing in reviews ultimately means that you’re investing in the success of your business.

5. Reviews Can Lead to Customer Advocacy

When it comes to spreading the word, companies often go to social media influencers, whether they’re celebrities from Hollwyood, YouTube, or elsewhere, but companies are forgetting that their own loyal customers can actually do a wonderful job of getting their name out there. No one knows your product or service better than the customer who uses it on a regular basis.

Customers don’t become loyal to your business as a favor to you. On the contrary, the keep coming back to get your product or service because they think it’s the best out there, even better than anything else offered by a similar company.

With this in mind, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend so much money and energy recruiting social media influencers when the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic influencers are your own customers. Customer advocacy should be the last thing your company ignores when it comes to marketing.

Your most loyal customers can become the ambassadors of your brand, using the power of word of mouth to recruit as many people as possible. A customer advocacy strategy will increase your sales, improve your reputation, and give you a chance to stand apart from competitors who unwisely ignore such a marketing tactic.

In order to get your loyal customers to do just that, you need to give them a chance to tell others about their experiences with your company, and that’s where online reviews come in. You shouldn’t stop there and expect your customers to take the reins for you. You must also respond to their needs so that you can improve.

From there, you can rise above their expectations and really impress them with your products or services.

6. Reviews Give Your Business Exposure

You could have the best product or service on the market but not many people will know if you have only a few reviews or no reviews at all. One of the best benefits of online reviews is that they make people aware of the fact that your business exists in the first place.

Once they know, then they can go about the decision-making process. When they see that you have a high rating and a pristine reputation, they’ll open their hearts by opening their wallets.

The more reviews you have, the better chance you have at getting exposure. You should work to get as many reviews as you can in more than one place, not just a single online review site.

From there, people will be able to share reviews of your service or product on social media, comment on them, ‘like’ them, and more.

Don’t forget that most potential customers ask online search engines like Google first and foremost. This means that you must attempt to get near the top of relevant search results. Although a range of factors can contribute to your placement after a search, one important factor involves fresh and helpful content.

Reviews are the special ingredient of search engines. Once you’re ranked higher up in the search results, it can often help you get more reviews, creating a feedback loop of success.

7. Reviews Give You Credibility

With so much competition out there, the company with the most reviews and highest ratings will stand out as credible. A company without engagement from customers and employees will not look as trustworthy as others. If potential customers aren’t familiar with your business, then they will be hesitant about handing over their hard-earned money.

When you have a lot of positive reviews, you can boast about your products being highly-rated and popular. The reviews give you the credibility that every business needs when making such claims.

To get the most out of your reviews, you should post testimonials on your website. To be safe, you should ask the reviewer for permission to quote them. Because they love your business, they should be fine with you sharing their positive feedback.

Testimonials can also be shared on social media to get the most views and engagement as possible.

If you have low ratings, it’s unlikely that a potential customer will choose to do business with you over your competition. Even average reviews are not something that will immediately win over a careful shopper. Review management services are the best way to get higher ratings and better credibility. That way, you can turn views and clicks into actual sales.

8. Reviews Can Help You Improve

Let’s face it, no business wants to receive a negative review. But people may not realize that some negative reviews can offer feedback that you can use to make your products or services better. If you respond and learn from negative reviews, then you’ll be able to improve and grow.

Even a single negative review can be disheartening and affect sales. Despite that, if you respond to the customer with politeness, understanding, and a willingness to fix the situation, then you can make the customer happy. There is always a possibility that they will remove or alter the review.

Even if the negative review remains, other shoppers will at least see that you put in the effort and that you care about what your customers have to say.

Customers who use your product or service may have constructive feedback to give you that you might not have ever thought of before. This is why it’s important to take a look at all feedback and see if there is an opportunity to make your business the best it can be.

Are You Ready to Use Review Management for Successful Results?

Now that you know all about the importance of review management in a successful company setting, you can use review management services to boost sales and build rapport with potential and recurrent customers.

Zurvia is a review management company that boasts the best software for getting reviews, analyzing feedback, responding to customers, and more. Our review management services will allow your happy customizers to spread the word high and low. Additionally, the friendly face of your business will be able to connect with customers on a personal level.

Try our software for free and you’ll see how much easier and streamlined review management becomes.