by I was recently asked to leave a review for some clothing I bought. You went into a draw for $100.00. I filled my form saying how much I liked the product and that the service was so slow if it wasn’t for the fact that I was doing a pick-up of an online order I would not have waited that long.
I explained that I had to wait ages and ages to get served whilst one staff member chatted to other customers, and one was getting stock off the shelves. The form took me 5 minutes to complete. After sending it in, I got a message two or three days later saying my review (feedback) did not fit their criteria and would not be posted. Interesting!!!
What is the point of asking for feedback but then rejecting it.
So many companies pay lip service to feedback by either rejecting negative comments or trying to impact what people say by telling them what score to give them. In the industry we call this ‘gaming’. What’s the point of asking for feedback but trying to manipulate the results.
For example, I would say just about any car dealership or service centre you go into, always have a sign up on the wall, saying something like, if you like us don’t give us a 8, give us a 9 or 10.
The Australian Competition And Consumer Commission outlines,
it’s against the law for a business to create fake or misleading reviews or to arrange for others to do so and this includes the suppression or editing or removal of negative reviews.
And, when incentives are offered for positive reviews, they state businesses that offer incentives to people to write a positive review risk misleading consumers and breaching the law. Incentives include offering discounts or free gifts.
Incentives offered to customers to provide reviews must be applied regardless of whether the reviewer leaves a positive or negative review and clearly disclosed so consumers know the review was incentivised.
Don’t you want to know how customers really think and feel?
The truth means we can actually do something to improve the overall customer experience, especially if it is statistically valid.
The customer research we do for our clients is straight up. It covers the very good, the good, the bad and the ugly…. we never tell them what the score means, we just ask each customer to give a rating out of 10 and in fact we ask them what number best matches how you feel?
We never try to manipulate the score or the verbatim comments that each customer gives us. What’s the point? Even if they give us an EIGHT and a NINE, we still ask a second time which number would you choose?
I feel there’s this whole thing with social media about people trying to control what’s been said.
My wife recently dined at an Italian restaurant which was recommended to her whilst she was on a holiday. She mentioned how surprised she was that there was no pricing on the menu, and the meal was much more expensive than she thought it would be at over $40 per main course.
She didn’t feel that the restaurant environment nor the quality of the meals warranted the $40+ cost, she also felt that given there was no prices on the menu, she wasn’t given any choice in the matter of how much she would spend.
Interestingly, after her dining experience she looked at the reviews on social media and found there’s lots of people complaining about this, and the restaurant responds to every review with a big justification, not even an apology. Clearly, they’re not listening nor interested.
So, again what’s the point? My wife is left with what’s the point of me wasting my time and energy leaving a review only to have them respond and justify? I wonder how many others have been left feeling this way and how much business the restaurants attachment to no prices on the menu and the justifications in response to feedback are costing them in word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business.
Generally, the reason these review (feedback) manipulations occur is because the leaders are financially rewarded for the results, so they do whatever they can to get a positive result. It’s also a system problem. The system drives the wrong behaviour.
What we know after speaking with 1000’s and 1000’s of passive customers – nothing stood out or it was a mixture of good and bad, they normally say something like it was good – but!!
So why would they fill in a form?
Often you don’t hear from passive customers. They are the percentage of your customer base that will shop around, they are not loyal to you. In the work we do with our clients, they are the people you most need to hear from. They represent the greatest opportunities when it comes to increasing revenue.
When we speak with them and get into their world, initially they will tell you:
It’s just fine.
It’s okay.
It’s what I would expect.
I like this part but very disappointed with this part.
That says so much compared to a loyal customer who is wax-lyrical and uses language like amazing and exceptional when describing their experience.
Sometimes what people don’t say is most important. Which is why, when we speak to passive customers, we are always able to delve deeper to find out why nothing stood out.
I often say when a passive customer speaks about their experience it’s beige!
How do you manage your reviews (feedback)? Who are you talking to?
Our proven Six-Step System utilises the true voice of the customer (verbatim) to identify the exact behaviours from which any team can implement to increase revenue.
Warm Regards
Craig Cherry