Depending on the nature of your industry, a few reviews can even make or break your business success. A perfect example of this is the mobile app industry. If you release an app and the first 10 reviews leave a 1 star rating, then you can all but guarantee your sales are going to slow down or even completely halt.
The same is of course true for Amazon sellers, and it only takes a few bad reviews – which are displayed right in the search results – to ensure that people choose a different product over yours.
So, what do you do? Providing the very best product and service you can is one important step but these additional tips can also help a great deal…
Offer a Freebie
One way you can avoid negative reviews is to offer a free sample of whatever it is you’re selling. That could mean standing outside your restaurant with tasters, or it could mean having a free ‘trial version’ of your app. This isn’t just good marketing – it also works to actively turn away the kinds of customers you don’t want.
Of course, this will cost you money as an Amazon seller and it only works if your product is inexpensive (ideally something people order in bulk). While it might hurt you upfront, it can pay off big time in the long run – it’s called a “loss leader.” Give away one of your amazing razors from your website, then link your lucky recipients to your Amazon listing.
In turn, this will then help you to make sure that the vast majority of your reviews are positive. Why? Because anyone who tries your freebie and doesn’t like it, won’t become a customer. The only people entitled to leave a review are people who paid for your services and if they have all previously tried whatever it is you’re offering, then you know that in theory they should at least be impressed. Meaning positive reviews only!
Over Deliver
Another strategy is to over deliver on your promise by pleasantly surprising your customers. You can do this in any number of ways. One obvious strategy is to deliver a parcel faster than you say you will, another is to include a free gift. Otherwise you can just make sure that aspects of their experience are better than they would have predicted.
Either way, people will be so pleasantly surprised at getting something ‘extra’ that they will be almost guaranteed to leave a positive review.