Week 2 Part A: Communication between Business and Consumer

 

In the past, both positive and negative reviews to a company could be delivered in person, over the phone, or through written surveys. Today, we can give reviews in these same ways but with the addition of the web are also able to give feedback directly via email, online surveys, and through review websites like Yelp; this addition has enabled the business and the customer to have active discussions about services and experiences in near real-time. This shift has also made it necessary for businesses to step up their PR game to keep their customer’s loyalty and trust.

I checked on reviews for a couple of local businesses on Yelp and Google to get a perspective of how most people communicated to the business as well as to other customers about their experiences. As far as these platforms go, these feel less like a direct complaint or praise to the business but more like the customer posting a notice to other customers to either warn or encourage use of the business. A complaint that X person was rude and that the service received was not anything they were promised feels like more of a warning to potential customers that the staff may not be friendly, and you won’t be paying for what you will want to receive. I saw that most businesses that did interact back to customer reviews would give cookie-cutter thank you notes to customers but for negative reviews would try to remedy this situation either by offering to resolve in private or publicly stating that they could receive refunds or be re-serviced. I was able to find one business that was consistently justifying their actions when a negative review was left which looked like it soured other customer experiences that said they should have seen these responses as red flags. Overall, these reviews seem to be more about a businesses ability to take responsibility and take proper action to remedy situations rather than a two-way conversation between the business and the customer.

I don’t write reviews very often but the few times that I have it was to critique products that were received; the product came in fine but quickly deteriorated and I felt like it was only fair to let others know that the item works but not for a long time. I think that reviews need to be written in a way that not only tells customers about the good and the bad but can also give enough information to the business to help fix the situation with this customer or at least help address the problem internally, so it does not happen again. I appreciate when a review, good or bad, break down the factors that contributed to their experience and explain them in further detail and I’m sure business will appreciate this breakdown as well.

If these businesses were my own then I would like to respond to more of these reviews, at least the more in-depth ones, to better my relations with my customers and to improve my business practices. Rather than give a cookie-cutter thank you of “Thanks! We appreciate you, Barb.” I’d like to be able to give thanks for specific things in the review to acknowledge that it was read and taken to heart by the business.  It’s also equally, if not more important, to address the negative reviews to keep trust between the business and the customer. I think that an acknowledgment of the issue, an apology, and a need to remedy the situation is important for the business to express to the customer who is complaining and for potential customers that will see this conversation; specific details can be handled in private but to me it feels like a business is trying to sweep an issue under the rug when the first response is to DM the business privately. Working with both the positive and negative reviews should be valuable critique that should help shape better business practices or at least train employees to better communicate with customers on behalf of the business.

Positive Comments for Local Businesses:

Wrote some reviews on Milk Organics and Black Rock. I praised the food and drinks of both places but expressed that there is usually a wait time for these places but staff are always friendly and ready to help. In the case of Milk, I advised ordering ahead for pickup as it was the best way to receive food in a timely manner.