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Honest Marketing report - Banner image

### Brand integrity: the new frontier for marketing

[Get the report here](/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/brand-integrity-the-new-frontier-for-marketing?cta=banner)

Get more out of your customer reviews with our case studies, webinars and videos. Find the latest trends to promote your company in search and manage your online reputation.

Learn From Your Customers - Trustpilot Blog

Reviews - Learn From Your Customers

building great experiences with customer insights

As customer experience is rapidly becoming a high-impact differentiator, it’s becoming clearer that customer-centricity is a great tool to ensure your business is future-proof.

In 2020, over 88% of consumers read reviews to determine the quality of a business’s customer experience, and [86%](http://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-experience-statistics/) of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience, according to American Express.

In a world where consumers are empowered like never before, brands no longer get to control their reputation - instead, customers get to share their experiences with others. 

As customer experience is rapidly becoming a high-impact differentiator, it’s becoming clearer that customer-centricity is a great tool to ensure your business is future-proof. Indeed, today, 76% of people say they view customer experience as the true test of how much a company values them. Oracle research also found that [74%](http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/1903222) of senior executives believe that customer experience impacts the willingness of a customer to become a loyal brand advocate.

Delivering great customer experiences means you’re more likely to increase customer satisfaction, reduce consumer doubt, and boost conversions in the long run. In this article, we’ve shared 3 tips to enhance your customer experience, and we discuss why a customer-centric strategy is the best marketing tool your business could use in 2020.

### 1. Pay more attention to your customers

Paying more attention to your customers’ needs and wants has become one of today’s best tools in order to amplify any marketing efforts and ensure your company is future-proof. 

In such a competitive landscape, listening can empower any business to learn from their own customers. Today, the best-performing companies have strong, quality data, which leads to actionable insights, to back up their overall business strategy.

Collecting and analysing good data will help you get fresh insights, which will help you improve and will grow you bottom line in the long run.

Indeed, collecting customer insights is a great way for any business to continue to keep learning and growing. Consumer insights can help you gain a deeper understanding of how your audience thinks and feels. That's why listening to customers should improve the effectiveness of how a company communicates, which is likely to change future consumer behaviour, and therefore increase sales.

You might be thinking: “I’m a market leader, there’s no need for me to do this.” Well, we believe that whether or not you are the market leader in your industry, looking at how consumers talk about your products and/or services can reveal a lot about their needs, and what you should be changing and implementing to better your own business.

A Trustpilot study found that 88% of businesses that use Trustpilot say it is important for them to be "able to track, monitor and analyse the ratings and reviews".

Trustpilot's Review Insights tool allows you to learn what customers expect from different parts of the business. It also highlights topics within your reviews, and identifies customer sentiment for each of them.

image learning from your customers with Review Insights

learning from your customers with Review Insights

Review Insights for customer trends

This data will also help you identify different patterns and trends. Machine learning handles all of the heavy lifting of pulling insights from your customers’ feedback, which means you can spend more time solving your issues rather than looking for them.

By collecting customer feedback and insights, you can improve any areas of development within your business, such as customer service, shipping, delivery, product quality, and even your overall customer journey.

### 2. Enhance the customer journey

You’ve collected enough feedback to understand that your customer journey isn’t totally seamless. Now what?

Creating a perfect customer journey is what every company aspires to, but it’s not that easy - so how can you achieve this successfully?

In a world where [84% of millennials do not trust advertisements](https://www.clickz.com/84-percent-of-millennials-dont-trust-traditional-advertising/27030/) anymore, and where engaging with consumers takes more time than ever before, it’s getting harder for businesses to create a seamless, trustworthy customer journey. The lack of trust in businesses and advertising means a lot of big companies have had to stop selling hard, and have become more ‘human’ brands. Today’s consumers want to be listened to - and heard.

Your actionable insights will help you figure out which areas of your journey should change, and which areas already work well.

Is your checking out process too long? 

Have you thought about showcasing other customers’ feedback at different touchpoints of the journey? 

What about your product pages, are they user-friendly? Are you displaying enough information?

Shoppers go through a considerable amount of research before making a decision and buying from a company. Listening to what existing customers have to say will help you improve the customer journey, which is likely to increase customer satisfaction, and therefore boost conversions.


Here's how content marketing can help improve your customer journey

### 3. Deliver better customer service

76% of consumers say they view customer service as the true test of how much a company values them, which means overlooking customer service simply isn’t an option anymore. We understand that’s easier said than done, but growing competition and lack of trust in businesses means today's companies have to work harder to create great experiences. 

Every company likes to think their own customer service is top notch, so how do you really define successful customer service?

Delivering great customer service means investing more of your time into your own customers and their expectations, and therefore understanding your audience’s needs. Delivering great service boosts customer confidence and ensures customer loyalty. Indeed, successful companies (think Apple!) put their customers at the heart of everything they do.

Today, consumers are more empowered than ever before, making customer-centric companies who care about customer experience and service the kind of companies people want to engage with.

Trustpilot review data shows that 1-star and 5-star reviews most commonly mention ‘customer service’, meaning a lot of companies either do it right, or extremely wrong. 

A HubSpot research study also found that 88% of customers now have higher expectations than they did before, and almost half of businesses who say they are customer-centric don’t actually do much about it. Indeed, 42% of companies don’t survey or collect customer feedback, and only 19% of brands have a customer advocacy program. 

Customers’ needs can change rapidly, and businesses should constantly be looking for new ways to adapt.

That's why companies who are always looking to *meet and exceed* expectations are more likely to deliver great service and outstanding customer experiences. [HubSpot](https://offers.hubspot.com/state-of-customer-service?__hstc=98516096.d43bdaaa13c0881ec864823c3ca4a2b8.1552486635047.1581412100288.1581420554730.338&__hssc=98516096.5.1581420554730&__hsfp=3480816081) found that 74% of companies say they are measured on customer satisfaction, but only 58% of them actually survey customers. 

Can great customer service really be achieved without collecting any insights from existing customers? To build a great customer experience strategy, don’t be afraid to embrace the feedback, good and bad. 

Once you have the data, start thinking about how you can keep learning and improving regularly. Then, put together your plan of action. Our Trustpilot data also showed that over 92% of customers said they wouldn’t even consider buying from a 1 or 2-star rated company. 

If you're looking for a sign to start building great customer experiences, *this is it*!

To learn more about online reviews, download a copy of our latest whitepaper!

3 Ways to build a great customer experience strategy

how to respond to negative reviews trustpilot blog

Reviews are a huge part of researching purchases both online and offline. When it comes to negative reviews, do not ignore them. See how you can responds to negative reviews to create a trustworthy brand. 

Well, other people’s feedback can help shoppers decide whether they want to engage with the brand they're researching, and reviews serve as a guide to help consumers make better, more informed, choices.

But no one expects your business to get 100% positive reviews. It’s only natural for companies to receive some negative feedback. In fact, 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad ones.

Reviews are about giving customers a chance to provide an honest recap of their experience with your business. It’s essential to choose and implement the right type of reputation management strategy in order to ensure customers trust your business. 

In this article, we’ll explain how to respond to negative reviews, and turn the negative into positive.

### Here are 5 tips your business can use to respond to negative reviews:

Bad review example

### 1. Don’t ignore your customers' negative experiences

Almost 26% of consumers see responding to reviews as an important part of business activity. You will have to start looking at this activity as a way to build a meaningful relationship with your customers and your critics.

You have to actively participate while conversations around a negative review are going on, get an understanding of the situation, and answer every question that comes your way. Ignoring your bad reviews is the worst thing you could possibly do!

While we understand long threads of disappointing rants might serve as a tough read, some points will actually give you some insights on where your business is faltering.

Strike up a two-way conversation with customers, ask them where they have felt difficulties, find the areas that need improvements, and let them know publicly that you’ll work on them.

Once you have addressed the issue, make sure you thank your customers. It makes them feel like their suggestions are valued, and it shows you care.   

Engaging with your customers also gives you a chance to tell your side of the story, which might alter customer opinions. 

### 2. Keep your ego out of it

There is a lot of passion that runs when you start your business, but it shouldn’t make you egocentric. You cannot expect to have the authority of an established brand as your business grows, no matter how great your product or service is.

People take their time to trust you and your company, and it’s never only about the product.

Start by being absolutely objective - set your pride aside and address customer issues with utmost humility.

Customers can be threatening at times - they will try to project their authority, frustrations and criticisms on you. In such cases, it’s important to react  with your brain, not with your heart.

Here are a few tips to help you deal with a difficult customer-related situation:

- __Cut certain phrases__ when dealing with the customer. Do not use any of the following: I think, I feel. They make it all about you. Customers want to feel like they're being listened to. They've had a bad experience, and want you to make things right.
- __Give facts__, not sob stories. Make sure you’re trying to fix the problem. It's better if you keep your conversation strictly professional.
- __Don’t take it personally__ if want to handle the crisis. Keep in mind that the customer is upset with the product, and not with you specifically.

Here's a great example of how to respond to negative feedback professionally

How to respond to negative reviews - example

### 3. Approach the problem with a positive mindset

No matter how big or small the problem is, be prepared to take some tough criticism, and learn to approach the feedback with reason. The only way to turn a bad review into a positive one is to roll with the punches.

Research has shown that businesses able to address service failures quickly and properly have a higher chance of gaining customer loyalty. It all boils down to how you handle unhappy customers. Remember, customers are stressed and their anger is triggered by an external stimulus that is perceived to be unfair; in this case - your business.

The moment you are able to understand the mind of an angry person, it makes you more empathetic. Now that you know where the frustration comes from, it’s time to start working on defusing it.  The best way to deal with angry customers is to ask more questions...

Keep probing them, understand what caused the exasperation in the first place, and communicate how you will start working towards making amends. When they see that you are taking them seriously, you’ll earn their trust back, gradually.

Once you have solved the problem, start working on building a rapport again. Thank them for pointing you to the problem areas of your product and tell them how you’ll make sure the problem does not happen again.

Keep in touch with them, and see if things have improved for them. A neatly-executed service recovery goes a long way in fostering a strong association. Indeed, research shows that if a business resolves an issue quickly and efficiently, 95% of unhappy customers will return back to your business.

### 4.  Apologise and provide a solution

An apology is important, but be careful not to overdo it. Saying sorry all the time can make you look ineffective, and can lead to the customer losing confidence in you.

When handling a bad review, you need to treat the strained customer relationship with equal and mutual respect in order to create a more conducive environment for your business to manage negative feedback.

Apologise once, and provide real-time, actionable and easy solutions. This makes you look both decisive and caring, characteristics that can change customer perception for the better.

Here's a way you could respond:

*We are really sorry to hear about that. Our owner, James Piper, would like to personally speak with you regarding your terrible experience. We believe he will be able to provide you with the best solution to your problem. We really appreciate your feedback. Have a nice day.*

Always try to incorporate the following in your replies:

- __Empathy__ - Trying to understand the pain of the customer
- __Helpful__ - Redirecting to the owner or someone more senior
- __Valuable__ - Highlighting the benefits of talking to the owner or someone more senior
- __Positive__ - Ending the conversation on a happy note.


### 5. Don't promise what you can't deliver

A bad review might lead you to make promises just to make sure the customer is relieved.

You might think it's a temporary fix, but when your business can’t meet expectations, the initial problem is exacerbated.

When customers leave a negative review, they have very little faith in your business. Furthermore, when you try to cover yourself with fake promises, you’re digging a grave for whatever is left of your reputation. The customer will lose all trust and, most likely, never do business with you again.

__Be honest__. It may sound cliche but it works. If, for whatever reason, you can’t meet customer expectations, give them the real picture. Understand the problem and give plausible solutions. It might not be what customers want to hear, but they will eventually respect you for telling the truth.

### To sum up...

Responding to negative reviews can be challenging, but it also reveals a lot about how much your company cares about its customers. Whether you're a new business or a brand with a hundred-year-old legacy, being empathetic to a customer's problem needs to be the foundation of your reputation management strategy.

When customers see a lack of understanding from your side, it makes them reconsider, whether to continue doing business with you or not. As a general rule of thumb, remember no bad reviews (even good ones) should be left unanswered, and respond quickly to take control of the situation before it goes out of hand. After you make contact, use the above points to enable your new business to respond to negative reviews in a more tasteful manner.

If you'd like to find out  more about how negative feedback can help you improve, innovate, and grow your business in the long run, give our Bad Reviews Report a read below.

Bad Reviews: Why People Write Them And What They Expect

How to respond to negative reviews

getting customer experience right a guide by trustpilot and brightpearl

Everyone knows that intuitive site navigation, fast checkout, detailed product descriptions and positive customer reviews and testimonials are all vital ingredients for ecommerce success.

But the processes that exist after shoppers click “buy” are often not seen as a priority by retailers - or are forgotten about entirely.

This is at odds with the latest [consumer industry insights from Brightpearl and Trustpilot](https://www.brightpearl.com/trustpilot-rise-of-the-review-culture), which has found that in the world of online retail, it’s the __last impression__ that determines whether a shopper comes back to your store.

The graph below clearly shows that customer satisfaction declines as the lifecycle of the buying journey progresses. We call this: the slippery slope of customer happiness.


Percentage of satisfied customers after buying something

The same study also found that 77% of 1-3 star reviews written about ecommerce businesses are a result of typical operational failures, such as:

- Slow, delayed or late delivery
- Items not arriving
- Items being listed as ‘out of stock’ after purchase
- A lack of delivery updates
- Expensive and unexpected shipping costs
- Time-consuming returns and poor refund policies


Reviews today

Customers want a slick website experience but they also want to trust that their item will arrive when it should, not cost them the earth to do so - and that they’re able to return it easily if they need to.

But if one of these areas fail, then they all do, leaving you with nothing more than the equivalent of a deflated soufflé: a lot of hard work for a messy and disappointing outcome.

## Three essential ingredients of customer experience

The following three essential ingredients of customer experience will help you to avoid mediocre service and a deflated soufflé situation, instead, powering CX worthy of a Michelin star - or five.

### 1. Up-to-the-minute data

Just like an outdated sat nav won’t get you safely from A to B, inaccurate and outdated data won’t put you in the best position when it comes to timely business decisions.

First, analyse the customer feedback that’s linked to your website on review sites like Trustpilot. This will show you where pain points exist within your customers’ buying journeys and thus, what you need to fix.

Next, use the data found within your retail operations platform to measure your business and its customer service against key retail KPIs like:

- __Perfect Order Rate__ - how often do incorrect items get shipped out to customers? 
- __Processing Cost Per Order__ - how much does it cost your business to ship each order out?
- __Rate of Return__ - which products have a higher rate of return than others - and why?

### 2. Best-in-class services

Getting customers to stick around for the long haul is undoubtedly harder than it’s ever been. And costly too - an [oft-quoted statistic](https://www.invespcro.com/blog/customer-acquisition-retention/) states that it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Furthermore, big box retailers like Amazon have conditioned shoppers into expecting frequently high level levels of customer service. Fail at that and you become at risk of customers leaving harsh one-star feedback and avoiding your store in the future.

In fact, [over three-quarters (79%) of shoppers](https://www.brightpearl.com/trustpilot-rise-of-the-review-culture) told us that they are likely to leave a negative review following a bad experience. 

Therefore, actively building brand loyalty through superior customer experience is the answer.

With a sprinkle and a dash of best-in-class services throughout the customer journey like [buy online pickup in store](https://www.brightpearl.com/shipping-and-fulfillment/buy-online-pickup-in-store), same-next day delivery and hassle-free returns, you’ll gain the power to convert and retain customers while successfully standing out from the competition.

### 3. Retail automation

But the ability to offer the best-in-class services mentioned above, relies on your ability to save time, reduce cost and reinvest resources back into other areas of your business.

Key to this is using [automated back office systems like Brightpearl](https://www.brightpearl.com/retail-workflow-automation/), which add speed and efficiency into the retail operation and enable world-class customer service at every touchpoint.

With technology like this in place, you’ll gain the power to:

- Keep inventory levels updated throughout your website and other channels both on- and offline
- Instantly route orders to specific warehouses
- Automate shipping label creation and tracking reference information
- Invoice orders in real time based on a set of preconfigured rules.

Here are the fundamentals you’ll need to keep in mind when automating your retail business:

- __Map out your current workflows using a tool like Lucidchart__. This will help you to determine exactly how orders, returns, inventory and customer data should be managed and whether there are any special scenarios or easily corrected bottlenecks to consider.
- __Determine your criteria and actions for each channel__. This step will help you to identify how to build automation rules. Retail orders will typically be straightforward, while other channels, like wholesale, can be more complex. It’s important to understand what criteria you have for each channel and what actions should be prompted.
- __Set up your automation rules__. With your actions and criteria defined, you’re now ready to use a tool like Brightpearl to automate your business. It’s easy to setup automation rules; you don’t need a developer and you can choose from dropdown menus to help you decide what to automate if you’re unsure.

## Three retail brands who have perfected the CX secret sauce recipe

The following three brands have all used powerful retail technology to perfect the complete end-to-end customer experience. Here’s how they’ve done it and the benefits they’ve seen.

### 1. Mad4Tools.com




Mad4Tools.com customer experience

__Trustpilot Snapshot:__
- 4300+ reviews
- Excellent five-star rating
- 9.6 TrustScore

[Mad4Tools.com](https://www.mad4tools.com/) specialises in delivering power tools and workwear, as well as lighting and electrical equipment to DIY enthusiasts and tradespeople all over the world.

The brand has successfully built a passionate and vocal community around their products by investing in excellent experiences. [Their Trustpilot review profile](https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/mad4tools.com) is full of comments like: 

“Fast and efficient service”
“Quick delivery”
“Great quality, great price”
“Delivered faster than expected”

You get the idea.

As Paul Swain, Director of Mad4Tools.com, [explains here](https://www.brightpearl.com/expertise/customer-stories/mad4tools), the business prides itself on an excellent end-to-end journey. “If a customer has a positive experience with our brand, they’re more likely to buy from us again, to tell their friends and leave positive feedback on consumer review sites, which gives other shoppers more confidence to buy.”

Clearly it’s working.
 
Mad4Tools.com views its sector as extremely price competitive so the delivery of excellent buying experiences has become a key differentiator for them. Paul explains: “We win business because of our positive feedback and high ratings and we retain business because of the experience we provide - from meeting fulfillment expectations to orders being delivered as expected.”

Mad4Tools.com uses technology to ensure its retail operations are slick, automated and able to deliver more competitive offerings while maintaining the excellent standards of service that are in line with its five-star mantra. Paul says: “As the entire order process is automated, from inventory updates, to automatically generated shipping labels and tracking references, to fulfillment - we’ve eliminated the opportunity for human error and improved the overall experience for our customers.” 

### 2. Wineware


Wineware great customer service

__Trustpilot Snapshot:__
- 2800+ reviews
- Excellent five-star rating
- 9.7 TrustScore

[Wineware](https://www.wineware.co.uk/) specialises in glassware, wine racks, corkscrews, wine cabinets, decanting products and numerous other wine accessories and has been trading online since 2000. 

Now one of the leading wine accessory suppliers in the UK, Wineware sells to thousands of individual customers and hundreds of hotel, restaurant and bar clients, as well as wine and whisky tasting clubs. 

No matter who it’s selling to, Wineware offers a premium service.

Lynsey Wellman, Company Director at Wineware, explains: “People expect a very high standard these days. We want to ensure we offer the best experience and the best journey to the highest standard – to make every customer happy.”

As with all other retail brands, it’s essential that Wineware maintains a smooth order fulfillment process to ensure the business meets customer expectations. There’s a lot of pressure on the company to turn around orders in mere hours as company service commitments allow customers to place orders by 3pm to go out the same working day. 

Thanks to intelligent retail technology, Wineware has gained greater insight into its sales processes and order tracking, alongside the ability to seamlessly manage both its retail and wholesale divisions, accurately forecast sales and get orders out of the door faster - helping the company to meet late cut off orders successfully.

And, because of this, Wineware has [an excellent five-star rating on Trustpilot](https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.wineware.co.uk) with customers referencing things like: "fast delivery", "really great service”, "reliable", “efficient", “great experience" and “good communication".

### 3. Energybulbs.co.uk

Energybulbs.co.uk online experience

__Trustpilot Snapshot:__
- 2200+ reviews
- Excellent five-star rating
- 9.5 TrustScore

[Energybulbs.co.uk](https://www.energybulbs.co.uk/) is a large online retailer of lighting products and operates alongside other brands under the umbrella company of [Love Shopping Direct](https://www.loveshoppingdirect.co.uk/).

Selling to consumers and businesses, from public sector to FTSE 100 companies, Energybulbs.co.uk has put superior end-to-end experiences at the very core of its strategy to help the brand differentiate itself from a fairly saturated and price competitive market. 

“Technology allows us to process orders twice as fast as before, giving us the confidence to introduce multiple delivery options, including late next-day delivery services,” explains Andy Lockley, Head of Ecommerce at Energybulbs.co.uk.
 
The tech-led improvements to the customer experience have translated into a huge increase in positive reviews. “We’re now [flooded with 5* reviews on Trustpilot](https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.energybulbs.co.uk), most of which quote ‘fantastic, ‘great’ or ‘excellent’ customer service,” says Andy. “Now, we don’t just meet our customer delivery expectations, we’re exceeding them, with an experience that both surprises and delights our shoppers. It has become a key competitive differentiator for our brand.”

Energybulbs.co.uk has truly revolutionised its overall customer journey. Andy explains: “We wanted to take the experience we offer to the next level with new delivery options and service that would offer a real wow factor for shoppers while helping to drive customer loyalty. To do that, we needed a reliable, user-friendly system that would streamline our order and fulfillment process.”
 
The brand’s approach recognises that modern consumer expectations stretch beyond the website, to factors such as fulfillment, delivery, returns and post-purchase customer service. They understand that it's not enough to efficiently fulfill orders and expect to generate glowing endorsements. Instead, you need to support lightning-quick turnaround times which are more likely to delight customers with the speed at which they receive their items. 

By taking their end-to-end customer experience to the next level, these brands are able to offer competitive options and convenience, which attract and drive conversion, build loyalty and encourage the five-star ratings and reviews which are essential to the success of any business. 



### About Brightpearl

Brightpearl is a retail operations platform for retailers and wholesalers. Our mission is clear: automate the back office so merchants can spend their time and money growing the business.

Brightpearl’s complete back office solution includes financial management, inventory and sales order management, purchasing and supplier management, CRM, fulfillment, warehouse management and logistics. In addition, the solution has high-performing connectors to the major ecommerce platforms, including Magento, BigCommerce and Shopify. Over 1,200 businesses in 26 countries use our platform and we manage over 10m transactions and $3bn of business a year.

To find out how our solution can drive operational efficiency within your business to power positive reviews and ratings on Trustpilot, [give us a call today](https://www.brightpearl.com/contact-us) or [check out our website](https://www.brightpearl.com/).

And for more insights about consumer reviews, take a look at the report we co-wrote with Trustpilot [here](https://www.brightpearl.com/trustpilot-rise-of-the-review-culture).

canvas8 report teaser banner

Canvas8 teaser banner

The three essential ingredients of customer experience

customer insights reviews trustpilot

You are doing a great job. Really. 

But there’s just one small problem: Your company goals are not being met. There’s pressure on you to improve your reputation even more, and to truly understand the review topics you encounter.

Perhaps you’re reading this and thinking ‘this writer is speaking right to me’. Well fear not, dear reader, for there is something you can do right now to extract the most valuable insights from your reviews.

It’s called Review Tagging, and it’s really simple to get started. Here’s how you can do it to gain every gram of value from your customer feedback.

## What is review tagging and how can it help you get better review insights?

It’s as simple as it sounds. You attach a particular word or phrase (a ‘tag’) to a review. Thereafter, all reviews with that particular tag will be grouped together.

However, randomly [tagging reviews](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/203840856-Tagging-and-pre-tagging-service-reviews) with generic phrases won’t be much help to you. Instead, you need to start with some soul searching. It’s time to get critical.

### Step 1: Ask yourself what you want to measure

By far the most important step.

Take time to decide which areas of your business impact your customers the most. 

Ask yourself: ‘What affects customer satisfaction? What do our customers regularly mention as positive or negative? Who are our best performing customer service staff?’

The questions you can ask yourself about your business are almost endless. Yet don’t get stuck asking generic questions. Be specific and spend time drilling down what it is you really want to know.

For example, let’s say you’re a travel retailer, helping families book their dream holidays. However, you’ve realised repeat bookings are quite low, and you want to find out why. Questions you might ask could be:

- Which packages are our best selling?
- What do customers love about our customer service?
- Is there a weak link in the sales chain letting us down? Where is this weak link?

And so on. Now onto stage 2.

### Step 2: Track, track, track

Whenever you hear the word ‘tracking’, your heart sinks. I know - it sounds technical and dull.

But it really isn’t technical, and the results you’ll receive certainly won’t be dull.

With Trustpilot, you can create Review Tags and attach these to any number of your reviews, to compare trends and performance across different areas of your business.

Tags can literally be anything, but stick to specifics where possible. Don’t go so specific that the tag makes no sense to anyone (e.g. Package-001-XYZ-Gem-R2D2) but tag intelligently to group together reviews in a logical way.

Using the travel company example from step 1, here are some example tags you could use to answer the questions you’ve posed:

__QUESTION:__ Which packages are our best selling?

__TAG:__ *Package holiday name (one tag for each package)*

____

__QUESTION:__ What do customers love about our customer service?

__TAG:__ *‘Good customer service’ or a phrase similar to that*

____

__QUESTION:__ Is there a weak link in the sales chain letting us down? Where is this weak link?

__TAG:__ *This could be the product name, particular stores you notice are underachieving, or specific sales reps.*

It doesn’t end here. You can pre-tag Trustpilot review invitations with data from your sales system (e.g. this customer ordered this product, from this sales rep, at this store location) so your reviews already filter according to their relevant tags. 

It saves you time, energy and cost - and gives you quick results. Win, win, win, win.

### Step 3: Analyse your results

Like any great detective, you’ve done all of the hard work. You’ve asked the right questions. You’ve got the answers. Now, Sherlock Holmes, it’s time for the real rewards. Let’s [analyse your data](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/introducing-trustpilots-new-machine-learning-tool-review-insights). 

Let’s go back to the travel company again who specialises in perfect package holidays.

To recap, here are the questions the travel company asked and the tags they applied. We’ve put imaginary example findings and learnings alongside each bullet point too.

__QUESTION:__ Which packages are our best selling?

__TAG:__ *Package holiday name (one tag for each package).*

__EXAMPLE FINDINGS:__ The travel company knows now that their ‘Colourful Cuban Caper’ is the best selling trip. (Not a bad choice, to be fair.)

__EXAMPLE LEARNINGS:__ There could be elements of the trip that people really love. Perhaps it’s the price, the activities, or something else. But now you know what the most popular trip is, you can take the best bits and see if you can implement them across your other products. Alternatively, you can promote this popular trip even more so online, backed by excellent reviews.

____

__QUESTION:__ What do customers love about our customer service?

__TAG:__ *‘Good customer service’ or a phrase similar to that.*

__EXAMPLE FINDINGS:__ Reviews grouped under ‘good customer service’ show there are common trends, such as ‘quick response’, ‘friendly’ and ‘informative’.

__EXAMPLE LEARNINGS:__ Overall, great job! But are these positive phrases paired with particular customer service reps, or particular store locations? If so, then reward these particular parts of your business for their hard work. Or perhaps these positive reviews have identified some good customer service practices. If that’s the case, record these good practices and be sure to build them into your training of new employees, for example.

____

__QUESTION:__ Is there a weak link in the sales chain letting us down? Where is this weak link?

__TAG:__ *This could be the product name, particular stores you notice are underachieving, or specific sales reps.*

__EXAMPLE FINDINGS:__ You tagged particular sales reps here, as you wanted to know how your sales reps are individually performing. You’ve found there is a big difference between different reps. 

__EXAMPLE LEARNINGS:__ If you implemented this particular sales rep tag in your business, you could create a sales rep leaderboard where the top performers are rewarded on a regular basis. Another idea could be to use these tagged reviews in 1-to-1 performance reviews, or to use certain sales reps as good examples to anyone who is underperforming. 

### Step 4: Repeat the process

As we established at the start, the possible list of questions to ask is pretty much infinite. As such, so will be the tags you can use and the learnings you can deduce. 

So don’t stop after just one round of analysis. Keep going back again and again - using tried and tested tags, or newer ones - to start spotting the themes in your customer feedback. 

Simply: your customers are telling you what works and what doesn’t. Now it’s [your job to listen](https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2017/04/29/six-ways-listening-improves-the-customer-experience/).

## Ready to collect more insights from your reviews? Get started today

We appreciate this can be a daunting task, but that’s why we’re here to help you along the way.

Interested in getting started with review tagging and tracking? Reach out to your Customer Success rep to find out more, or get in touch with us at Trustpilot. We’ll gladly show you the ropes and you’ll be a champion in no time.


How to achieve your company goals with review insights

B2B companies need customer feedback to fuel their sales, marketing, retention and growth efforts. As the B2B martetplace continues to grow, companies need to leverage the voice of the customer to differentiate themselves from the competition.

## 1 - A bigger cost/commitment
Because of the generally bigger cost and commitment of investing in B2B services, (such as software which may be deployed for an entire organization) a potential buyer will want to know that the solution is both a perfect fit for their needs and the support and service they may require is top-notch.

If a company is looking to invest in a product or service that will potentially be rolled out to hundreds, maybe thousands of workers at once, it is paramount that they make the correct choice. This solution may potentially be the only one they will be able to afford in their budget for the quarter, or possibly the entire year. So where do online reviews fit into this equation?

Well, a potential investor will want more validation that a product/service is perfect than just what is written on your website. They will want to know from others who have gone through the buying process that the money they are about to spend is well worth it. They want to know that they will be getting exactly what they need to make their business work better, without any hiccups along the way.

By citing the experiences of previous customers who are freely posting about their interaction with your company, they are able to gain this crucial information that will influence whether or not your company is the right fit. By collecting and displaying online reviews potential customers gain the trust that is so often not found by simply browsing through the ‘About us’ section of a website.

Yes, a phone call to talk about the services or product is a great step to get more information but a true account from someone who has already gone through the purchasing stage is a primary account of what the potential buyer can expect.

In addition, because these investments are larger decisions, there are generally more stakeholders involved with the purchasing and approval process. Stakeholders who ensure that the product/service fulfills their needs (making sure it works as expected, legal to review the contract, the person signing the check, etc.) are all involved in the process, and they too want to make sure the purchasing decision is a sound one.

What better way for them to see what they can expect than with TONS of reviews from different people in similar roles who allow them to understand how it could work for them too.

## 2 - Time and implementation

As mentioned earlier briefly, because B2B purchases have a penchant toward bigger costs and commitments, companies are fearful to get stuck with the wrong tool or service, because it’s a huge waste of time, money, effort, resources and planning.

Unlike B2C, the sales cycle of most B2B companies tends to be much longer, with contracts and subscriptions. Reviews are a way to bring real authenticity and trust into a process that could otherwise feel very stale.

By allowing for third party validation to take place with online reviews, companies can ensure that the time they spend researching and implementing their new service or product is time well spent. Many B2B companies rely heavily on the retention of current customers because obtaining new customers is costly and time consuming.

Having accounts of excellent customer service and products continuously being hosted on a profile page like Trustpilot offers, gives consumers a place to check for fresh content and ensure that time is saved and customers are retained.

In addition, customers are willing to voice their opinions for all to see so if there are any problems that may arise with the products or services, the reviews make the potential problems come to the surface that might otherwise go unseen. This allows time for them to be corrected and maintain customers down the line.

## 3 - User experience can’t be overlooked.
Where technology, user needs and business goals meet you’ll find user experience. Often, the main target of B2B focused companies is [functionality](http://www.gorillagroup.com/trending/insight/b2b-focus-interview-sam-bayer/) and features, with less of a concern generated around the overall user experience.

Some reasons why user experience suffers as a result are the allotted budget and having too many features. User experience is more critical than most think though, and while it is often thought of as “the icing on the cake(...)a nice to-have discipline instead of a ‘must-have’.” ([Claxton](http://theamericangenius.com/tech-news/ux-critical-every-1-invested-ux-yields-2-100-return/)) What is most shocking about investing in user experience is that “[every $1 invested in UX yields a $2 to $100 return.](http://theamericangenius.com/tech-news/ux-critical-every-1-invested-ux-yields-2-100-return/)”

By collecting online reviews, a company can get the essential feedback they need to evaluate the status of the success rate of their user experiences. Perhaps some elements of the software are not user friendly, or the site which the consumer uses to access their solution crashes far too often.

[Mouser Electronics](http://www.mouser.com/) had this to say concerning their relationship with collecting online reviews through Trustpilot:

   *Providing an avenue for our customers to leave feedback is a great way to gain insights into our online customer experience. The positive reviews help affirm that our tools and ordering process have value to our customers, while the negative reviews help alert us to areas that may need attention. We also value the interaction we can have with our customers as well as the brand awareness the Trustpilot interface provides.*
   
Reviews are an excellent way to find out what needs improvement and a way to make sure that each dollar spent yields a minimum of double ROI.

## 4 - Authentic user-generated content.
[User-generated content (UGC)](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/how-to-use-user-generated-content-marketing-to-reach-and-convert-millennials), is one of the most popular types of content available online presently. When used properly, it can prove to [drive sales effectiveness](http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press-Releases/2012/3/comScore-Study-Finds-Professionally-Produced-Video-Content-And-User-Generated-Product-Videos-Exhibit-Strong-Synergy-in-Driving-Sales-Effectiveness).

Unfortunately, out of uncertainty about how to encourage and use UGC, B2B companies haven’t been as quick to the draw with developing a strategy to put UGC in place. So how do you (the B2B company) get authentic UGC?

Online reviews from websites like [Trustpilot](https://business.trustpilot.com/plans) allow your brand name to be paired with the words your customers have written about you. As you request more customers to write reviews, more content around your name will be generated, thus boosting your search ranking.


After a consumer has used your products/services, allow them some time to evaluate how well it is working for them and then be sure to send out a request for a review so you can gather feedback to help improve your products/service, engage in conversations with your users that will attract more views and foster loyalty with your customers.

After you have begun to stockpile some great reviews it is time for you to leverage this content in your own blog, social marketing and your email marketing campaigns. It’s a win, win, win.

## 5 - Ensuring your customers are successful.
Your business grows as your customer base does. If you can make sure to have a fully-integrated customer success component to your brand, your company’s architecture will become stronger and your customers will remain loyal.

To put it simply, your success is dependent on your customer’s success. Your customer service team is constantly gathering great feedback that is more than just a comment on a profile page, they are gathering insights from direct 1-1 contact with current customers.

Making sure your company takes the time to get this valuable feedback exposes you to new customers, new sales and retention. Keep your customers smiling and you’ll be smiling too.

Vendors, no matter the industry should be collecting reviews, but in the B2B space in particular, reviews have become more important than ever. If you aren’t capitalizing on feedback from online reviews to boost sales and expand your brand you are truly missing out.

Download our report 'Trustpilot's impact on advertisements', and find out why leveraging Trustpilot reviews in the B2B space will help you build trust with your prospects.

sirkin research

b2b businesses need customer feedback

5 Proven reasons why B2B companies absolutely need customer feedback

API header

## My review invitation text message tool
To get started, you’ll need a key and secret for the Trustpilot APIs. Don’t know what that means? Then it’s time to get your developer involved.

To open and see the code for any of the Google Sheets, go to the Tools tab, and then the script editor. Most of the code that interacts with Trustpilot APIs is hidden away in a [small library](https://script.google.com/d/1lZeDUzGx6VdodaotmvzfvgvZy7aPZHj9Yf1jU_9vhcL563ASKsb1KhhZ/edit?usp=sharing) included in the script.

To get our full API documentation, look [here.](https://developers.trustpilot.com/)

## The details of my experiment
I started off by testing our APIs with nifty Google Sheets. I chose this method because with Google Sheets you can create extensions using JavaScript, you can build small tools to optimize workflow, and to top it off, you can call APIs from other services.

### Using Twilio and Google Sheets
I wanted to see how hard it would be to build a small tool that would let me send review invitations via SMS. Turns out, it was fairly easy.

After checking out some different tools for sending text messages, I decided to go with [Twilio.](https://www.twilio.com/)

Twilio has well-documented APIs and a free trial, so I could easily test out my ideas. I set up my account, played around with the Twilio APIs, and figured out how to set up the authentication and finally, how to send out text messages.

Now I was ready to build a Google sheet with columns that include all the parameters needed for creating an invitation link:

- Trustpilot API parameters - order ID, customer name, email, locale (language)
- Twilio API parameters - country code, phone number and the actual text message copy

I also included tags as a parameter, making it possible to tag review groups about e.g. product lines, store names, etc.

### Building the Google Script
Once the parameters were in place, I could write the Google Script. Trustpilot has a small library with a Trustpilot API client for Google Sheets. Its main function is to handle authentication for the API and generate invitation links.
Here are the steps I went through to build the script:

- I got an instance of the Trustpilot API client
- I used the “findBusinessUnitId” method to get the unique ID of my domain/website address (this is required when using the Trustpilot API)
- I went through the Google Sheet rows using the “getInvitationLink” method to create an invitation link with *order ID, customer name, email, locale and tag*
- I merged the copy for the text message with the link
- I used the Twilio API client to send the merged text message using the “sendSMS” function.

__And voilà!__ The result is a [Twilio-Google Sheets-tool that can send review invitations via text message.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_9OF0TcAGo5qq39flvxu62V7eC08M2yW8dDFI3ds1xY/edit?usp=sharing)

I hope my experiment will inspire you to do some API testing of your own. For more information and inspiration visit [apps.trustpilot.com](http://apps.trustpilot.com/) and [developers.trustpilot.com.](https://developers.trustpilot.com/)

## Some final pointers
If you want to try the same experiment using a Twilio trial, keep in mind that you’ll only be able to send text messages to your own phone number.

Also, make sure to select an SMS enabled number when you pick your free trial phone number. Have fun!

*Written in collaboration with Oline Damborg Schøler*

Find out more about Trustpilot reviews, read our Complete Guide to Reviews [here](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/the-complete-guide-to-reviews).

My API experiment - sending review invitations by text message

parachuting letter

1. __Embedded review forms can be key.__
 
 __a.__ You can place the Trustpilot review form right on your site. This way, you won’t need to compete with other emails landing in your customer’s inbox. No flashy subject lines necessary. As an e-commerce company, you could implement an embedded review form on your site, post-checkout. Alternatively, a software company might choose to integrate a form for users within the platform, post log-in.

  __b.__ Next, decide: what’s the best way to introduce the review form to your customers? You can choose a passive or more direct approach. If you want to quickly draw users’ focus, have the form pop-up. If you’d rather the form be subtle, include a button requesting reviews. When your customer clicks, the review form appears. As with all of the following options, it’s important that you A/B test your options to see which performs best.

2. __Timing, timing, timing! Also, content.__

  __a.__ If you choose to trigger your invitations at a delay, as many of our partners do, figure out the best timing to do so. When your invitations are triggered by shipping time, we recommend identifying your longest shipping time and adding a day or two to that for delay. Typically, if you’re shipping a product, we recommend waiting until your customers have received the product before requesting a review.

  __b.__ If you are a business who wants reviews of your service, not a product, you can personalize your invitation to reflect what you want. In the invitation, you can ask for feedback on user experience with your site, or your customer service team, or your marketing efforts. If you lay out your needs clearly, the customer will review your business accordingly.

3. __Remind me again? __

  __a.__ I can’t say enough good things about our reminders. Just ask the main POC’s at my accounts. When supplementing invitations with reminder emails, our partners have seen an increase in response rate of up to 50%.

  __b.__ Your customers do want to review you. But sometimes they get distracted, by their new puppy, or House of Cards, or you know, life. Having our system send an automated reminder a week after the initial invite can provide the push the customer needs to leave your business a review.

  __c.__ To determine whether reminders are right for you, and if so, what delay to use - consider your client base. If you’re a software company with a longer term relationship with your client base, you can send a reminder a month after the first invitation - the customers are still using your software, so it won’t seem out of nowhere. An e-tailer selling khakis should send a reminder closer to the time of the initial invitation. Again - A/B testing is your friend!

4. __A call to action!__ 

    __a.__ Consider incorporating a review CTA (call to action) into existing emails. If you’re running a fabulous marketing campaign/newsletter/promotion, why not include a CTA to review your company? Depending on your customer base, it might be ideal to send out Trustpilot invitations, and supplement the invites with a CTA in your email campaigns, to increase number of responses.
 
   __b.__ If you decide to send an emails with multiple calls to action, make sure to prioritize the CTA’s accordingly. What’s the most    important thing you need from your customers? A financial company providing loans might include a review to CTA with their approval email. A link to review is incorporated easily with our unique link or API solution.

  __c.__ One thing to always remember - TIMING! If you’re sending an email to several hundred customers simultaneously, you won’t have the same level of control, and will not be able to target everyone at the same moment. If you are a software company, or a B2B service used regularly by customers, there may not be an ideal moment, so an email campaign utilizing a review CTA could be a great fit. Be strategic with the incorporation of a CTA - and if it doesn’t work for your business, forget about it!

For non-traditional industries, there are endless ways to customize the Trustpilot platform to your customer base. A finance company that triggers a review following a loan approval, a B2B software company that utilizes a pop-up embedded review form, a moving company that invites customers at a one week delay following their big haul… We work with partners every day who utilize customization to make our review solution work for them.

You never want to interrupt your customer journey, or be a nuisance. By using these solutions, you can have your invitations to review feel like a natural next step for your customers, one you will occasionally nudge them to take (I’m telling you! The reminders are key.)

Tips and tricks for tailoring your invites to your customer journey

3 TV sets

## Here’s why:

- A typical business only hears from [about 4% of dissatisfied customers](https://www.helpscout.net/75-customer-service-facts-quotes-statistics/)
 
- [78% of customers](https://www.helpscout.net/75-customer-service-facts-quotes-statistics/) have bailed on a transaction because of a bad service experience. 

- Your chances of selling to a new prospect are [as low as 5%](http://mobilemarketingengine.com/focus-on-loyalty-not-acquisition/) while your chances of selling to an existing customer are as high as 70%.

So, if you’re not actively requesting feedback from your customers, you may miss out on what they want and need, and ultimately lose sales and/or current customers. Here are four ways you can collect useful feedback from your customers to ensure you’re getting a diverse array of feedback, while making sure your policies are on par with what they expect.

## Send them an email

Email works well for gathering customer feedback, when done correctly. In order to execute this strategy successfully, you must provide purpose and context. Your customers are more likely to respond to your request if they know why you care about their answers. So, be mindful of how you elicit feedback via email.

__Personalization__ can increase the click-through rate of an email by 14% and the conversion by 10%. So, try to use the recipient’s name in the messages you send. When you have more information (the city they live in, company they work for, etc.) use that as well.

__Segmentation__ will allow you personalize your messaging even more fully, ensuring every message is on target for each recipient. If you’re selling art products, for example, you want the language to be different for hobbyists compared to professors and seasoned gallery artists. By segmenting your list, you can use a similar feedback request with minor edits for each group.

__Optimizing Mobile testing__ for your campaigns is critical, since [53% of emails are now opened on mobile devices](https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-new-rules/). So, before you send out requests to your customers, check that your links, feedback forms, and surveys are easy to access and navigate from mobile devices.

## Leverage Online Review Sites 

Online review sites are an excellent way to find out what people think of your brand. Customers will leave feedback your products and services for the world to see. You want to leverage this to your advantage.

Encourage feedback on your website, both on the product pages, and in your customer service center. Customer reviews are [nearly 12 times more trusted](https://econsultancy.com/blog/9366-ecommerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them/) than a manufacturer’s product descriptions.

Furthermore [90% of customers read online reviews before](http://marketingland.com/survey-customers-more-frustrated-by-how-long-it-takes-to-resolve-a-customer-service-issue-than-the-resolution-38756) making a purchase. So, make it as easy as possible for customers to share their experience using your products and services.

hottub reviews

__Respond__ to both negative reviews and questions promptly, letting everyone know that their grievances will be heard. This goes for both public and private feedback.

Once an issue is resolved, make sure to update the customer on its progress. Here are [some examples](http://www.reviewtrackers.com/case-studies-examples-hotels-applying-practices-responding-bad-tripadvisor-reviews/) of how hotels responded to bad TripAdvisor reviews to change the way their brand is perceived.

## Consider Text Messaging 
You may think that text message marketing is reserved for promotions. This couldn’t be further from the truth. One important statistic: [about 90% of text messages](https://theblog.adobe.com/marketing-with-98-percent-read-rate-and-10-more-compelling-stats/) are opened within three seconds after receipt, and the response rate is about 30%.

These numbers show that text messaging is arguably the more effective way to reach your customers. So, texting should definitely be part of your customer feedback collection strategy.

__Opting-in__ is critical for text message recipients, just as it is for email. Though you already have your customers’ phone numbers from their account information, you must have permission to send text messages. Otherwise, you could be looking at hefty fines. So, make sure you have[ a text message list that customers have](https://www.textmagic.com/blog/how-to-grow-a-strong-mobile-opt-in-list/) subscribed to before you start texting everyone who has ordered something from you.

__Normal business hours__ are appropriate for sending text messages. You can send emails any time of day. But, you don’t want to wake customers up at midnight, so be mindful of where in the world people are and schedule text messages accordingly.

__Craft your messages__ in one of two ways:

- Send one or two questions the recipient can respond directly to.

- Include a link to a more in-depth survey (use a URL shortener to save space when sending text messages).

illuma glass imessage

## Start a Supportive Conversation on Social Media

Social media platforms are set up in such a way that you can both “listen” and respond to customer feedback in a conversational way. Monitor your brand to stay updated on what people are saying, respond to positive and negative feedback for public and private posts, and initiate discussions to find out what people think. This will help you know what you need to change and keep people informed, and ultimately satisfied, with the work you do.

__Social listening__ is one of the most valuable skillsets to employ, where customer feedback is concerned. Here are some tips to help you gain the most from your listening:

- Conduct frequent searches for your brand, your competition, and industry buzzwords.

- Note what people are saying about you and your products. 

- Implement changes to your policies, based on what people want in combination with what your internal data suggests.

__Use [social monitoring tools](https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-monitoring-tools/)__ to make the most of your efforts. When there is a lot of information to sift through, and you can’t feasibly respond to every single request coming in, technology can help you identify trends. Based on these trends, you can brainstorm strategies to respond to these concerns.

__Respond to customer feedback__ in a calculated way. On social media, the information you share is never going away. Ask yourself, what is the best possible way to reply to this statement?

Even if you choose to move the conversation to a private platform (if you’re sharing private data, such as your customer’s account details, it’s better to communicate by email), parts of the conversation could become public. At any time, a customer can screenshot your conversation and show the rest of the world.

Illuma glass facebook

Here’s a great [example from Cisco](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/08/cisco-social-listening.html) showing how social media listening/ monitoring can improve your strategy.

## Conclusion

Customer feedback can serve as a launching pad for your business’ growth. Source feedback through email, online review sites, text messaging, and social media. Use these tips to expand your business in a way that leads to happy customers, retention, and higher sales.

Find out how Trustpilot could help you out, read our Complete Guide to Reviews for free [here](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/the-complete-guide-to-reviews).

4 Channels to collect customer feedback you’re probably missing

picture of a man yelling at the screen of his computer

man yelling at the screen of his computer

## 1 - The not so good read
We all have opinions and personal tastes. So if you’re an author, musician, artist, or whoever, you’ve got to learn pretty quickly that you cannot please everyone. And that’s fine.
But not if you’re the [author of this book](http://archive.is/rFgtE "external link").

Rather than take a somewhat blunt negative review on the chin, an argument over the merits of the critique ensued. Some 927 comments later, a mutated insult forum developed (by this point with little input of the author, Dylan) and the author’s profile has since been removed from Goodreads.

Lesson? Everyone has opinions. Don’t go out and claim the views of others are wrong.


## 2 - The “I’m better than you” rage post
Small business is a tough game. Budgets are typically low, staffing starts at a minimum, and there just aren’t resources for big-budget marketing from the off.
But thanks to social media, you can still make an impact and generate a following. Sometimes that’s not always for the better though.
So launching an attack on your small yet loyal following is not advised. Here’s how [one baking company messed it up](http://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-respond-to-negative-online-reviews/).

Remember: stop, breathe, engage brain, then respond.

## 3 - The review with a sour taste

When this amateur food critic [wrote a negative review](http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-not-to-respond-to-negative-reviews-online-aka-how-to-make-people-hate-your-brand/59903/) of a restaurant run by a famous chef, he didn’t expect it to quite take off as it did. The author was dissatisfied with the meal and, rather than feel bad giving criticism in the restaurant, he went online to write a negative review. Keyboard warriors who hurl abuse online cannot be excused, but this reviewer is well within his rights to write a review however he sees fit.

That’s not how the owner saw it and, [as the exchange shows, ](http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-not-to-respond-to-negative-reviews-online-aka-how-to-make-people-hate-your-brand/59903/) publicly shaming a critic is not the nicest move.

## 4 - The insult to customers story

A tearoom in the Peak District of North England was branded the worst in the country - a bit of a dramatic label, we agree.
However, rather than address the complaints, the [owner went to the national press](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2873512/Is-real-life-Basil-Fawlty-Owner-tea-rooms-branded-TripAdvisor-users-worst-Earth-says-people-complain-moaning-prats.html) to call his customers “moaning prats”. Yup, he went there.

There’s also [this explicit exchange](http://www.reviewtrackers.com/revenge-business-owners-worth-fighting-negative-reviewers/) between a New York deli and their customers, which includes calling the customers “idiots”. You know the phrase ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’? Yeah, that. But it’s not all doom and gloom

Collect reviews, respond to them in a timely and effective manner, and there’s no need to fear customers at all.

We know you can do a much better job. So why not open up those customer conversations today? Reviews could be exactly what you need to take your business to the next level. 

Download a free copy of [Trustpilot's Bad Reviews report here,](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/learn-from-customers/bad-reviews-why-people-write-them-and-what-they-expect) and learn how you can turn negative feedback into an opporunity to grow and improve as a business.


4 Of the worst ways to respond to negative feedback

Shopper insights data

## Gathering shopper insights

__Deciphering Trends__

To gather the most compelling data, you need a sizeable sample that can be observed over a long period of time. Consistently collecting reviews is key. Once you have the sample, you can transform the raw data into valuable shopper insights, as illustrated below.

This is an example of a 12 month overview, plotting average rating vs quantity of reviews.

download

Graphing average rating and quantity of reviews side by side will also provide you with a better understanding of when customer sentiment was at a high/low. For instance, when one large company compared the same periods, year over year, they found that  there was a significantly greater quantity of reviews. In order to stay actively engaged with all of these customers, the company saw the need to hire several full time employees to analyze the review content, interact with consumers leaving reviews and manage any concerns that may come up. With these changes, the company realized faster response time to reviews allowing for quicker escalation of problems and higher overall customer satisfaction. Regardless of the size of the business, reporting can help garner insights.

With enough data, your business can analyze your business performance for the same periods over several years - the discrepancies can be very telling.   

This is a dynamic time range to compare two custom periods

download (1)

## Analysing shopper insights

We always encourage our partners to respond to their reviews whether the reviews are positive or negative. The most valuable information comes from the meat of the reviews - not merely the star rating. That being said, most businesses don’t have the time to read through hundreds of reviews - and even if you do, the results are often unquantifiable.

However, if you know what to look for, every review will contain a nugget of valuable information. If you’re able to quantify the content of hundreds of reviews - you might notice that the majority of your customers are experiencing late shipping.

While responding and resolving the issue for individual customers is important - it won’t fix the underlying issue, and you might not even recognize that there is one.

One example of how you can figure out the “bigger picture problems” is using shopper insight analysis to see which words are most frequently used, broken out by the rating of the review:

The keyword search displays % of total reviews the words appear in and the % broken out by rating

download (2)

By adding keywords to the analysis, you can make note of which rating specific words are most commonly found. For instance, if the keyword “website” appears in a significant portion of your one star reviews, it suggests you should investigate the user experience on your website.

It might be a small issue that’s having a larger, ripple effect. Identifying specific areas is made simpler with this tool. One of our partners knew they were receiving negative reviews, but didn’t know what was making the customer unsatisfied. They realized they were getting poor feedback related to shipping, and determined that their shipping service wasn’t the issue - the shipping times just weren’t clearly communicated during the checkout process. Once they fixed that, customers were proven to be quantifiably happier with their shopping experience based on the impact measured after the changes were made .

On the opposite end of the spectrum, your business can also determine your biggest successes.  The above example depicts a company where the words “easy” and “help” are associated with positive ratings. This company is therefore likely providing a user friendly, positive, and helpful customer experience.

Determine which keywords are most relevant to your industry, and your branding. Specific keywords can range from what the industry calls their workforce (i.e. masseuse or flight attendant) to the items/services sold. Once you determine what your customers are talking about, you can be most effective in your analysis of what’s working and what isn’t.

Date range comparison can show how often keywords were mentioned in two different periods

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To operate as a successful business, it’s important to keep track of your customer feedback. Being able to quantify the difference in customer sentiment and keywords commonly used, can provide the shopper insight to constantly improve your business and beat your competitors.

Using these reports will also allow your business to determine whether a policy or service change was effective. After a corrective measure has taken place, your business should see an inverse correlation between mentions in 1-star related views and other higher ratings.

Keyword mentions broken out using custom periods and rating

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When your business has improved their services and business product, one would imagine there will be a positive kickback - in sales and future reviews, drawing a larger audience to your business.

## Collect valuable shopper insights

Lastly, you can analyze the times during which customers are posting their reviews:

his is an easy way to determine when consumers are actively engaged, and learn the optimal times and days to send invitations, marketing materials, and promotions. The information you learn from your reviews can and should be used to help optimize your other channels as well, increasing response rates and engagement with your business.



This charts when reviews were most frequently posted by day and time

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## Conclusion

Trustpilot has been distributing this report to dozens of customers on a monthly basis; reach out to your Success manager to see about adding this to your solution and start looking at what your reviews are trying to tell you. Many of our partners have recognized the possibilities of deeper engagement with their Trustpilot reviews and many more are being exposed to these possibilities every day.

Whether it be through this tool or another, understanding customer feedback is of paramount importance to improving business practices, measuring success internally and growing your business.

Using online review data as shopper insights

consumer insights

## Collecting consumer insights

Verified online reviews – posted on an open platform – carry more weight with consumers than unverified testimonials. They also make for quicker references than wordy case studies.

Online reviews help customers research and ‘learn’ about the product or service they are interested in. And, with this constant stream of customer feedback, businesses also learn about what their customers do and don't like.

Overall, reviews help build trust, and with that trust comes an improved business-customer relationship.

What if I collect negative consumer insights?

Unfortunately, it's bound to happen. But that's no reason to shy away from your reviews.

While positive reviews make up the absolute majority of reviews you'll receive (hopefully!) those negative reviews are actually positives.

How?

Well if you can turn the ship around, you'll see that snatching victory from the jaws of defeat can be more beneficial. Around 40% of customers claim that they were swayed to try a business when they see a public resolution to a dispute.

## Drive change with consumer insights data

You should share reviews and comments made about your business across your website and social media channels. This will show you are willing to help customers’ research your products and services – you will become a transparent business.

Online reviews are important for customer research. With the right software, analysing review data for customer insights and trends is easy. They are a great way for you to keep an updated overview of what is working for your customers.

Using reviews, you can drill down into critical areas of your business, allowing you to spot problems with delivery companies, shopping cart abandonment or a particular product or service. You can then take action.

## Keep on changing

Some businesses are creating round-ups of the most important reviews in management or internal newsletters. While customers research you, you can also research the view of your customers.

Others are using online reviews as a basis for scoring internal rankings and determining bonuses. After all, it’s hard for a call centre manager to know who’s doing a good job until they get feedback from customers.

More and more employees are setting themselves weekly targets to [make the most of online reviews’ potential](https://neilpatel.com/blog/).

Their attitude? __“I must get three new reviews each month”__.

Some are even setting time aside each week to respond to non-emergency reviews; [it’s all part of offering great customer service](http://www.slideshare.net/helpscout/75-customer-service-facts-quotes-statistics).

Companies who have a dedicated community manager are reaping further benefits with the community manager feeding back all relevant customer reviews on a regular basis. With this, trends and issues can be spotted and dealt with in a timely fashion.

__The net result?__ Standards across the company increase due to monitoring consumer insights.

If you'd like to learn more about the importance of consumer insights, [check our this article](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/what-are-consumer-insights-and-how-do-i-use-them).

Are you sitting on a consumer insights goldmine?

Do's and Don'ts best practices trustpilot guide

Dos and Donts best practices trustpilot guide

Should you respond to reviews? How should you do it? Why-oh-why can’t you remember what that peppy Integration Manager recommended?

Not to worry. Peppy Integration Manager here for your edification.

### 1. First things first – YES, you should respond. 

Your business profile page is valuable real estate for your brand image.

By responding to your reviews, you can showcase your excellent customer service, reward your customers for leaving feedback, and encourage future interactions with your client base. Positive, personal interactions with customers can help increase brand loyalty.

quote1-krossover

### 2. How should you respond? Here are a few things to keep top of mind:

You may leave exactly one response to every review. This is not a chat thread. If you want to continue the conversation with your consumer, let them know you will get in touch with them privately, or provide them with an email address or phone number to contact you.

Framesdirect.com customer service messaging

Framesdirect.com

Keep your response highly professional. It doesn’t matter if the review is completely bonkers, if you use a rude, curt, or defensive response, it’s likely to reflect poorly on your brand image. You should also avoid sharing too much detail. Save that for the private correspondence. While the above examples are friendly and courteous, the approach below is perhaps an example of the worst possible way to respond.

View your response as an opportunity to acknowledge the reviewer and/or to save them as a customer. According to LinkedIn, “it costs between 4 and 10 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.” Strategically and financially, it’s best for your company to actively work on the upkeep of your existing customer relationships.

By responding to reviews warmly and professionally, you can improve the buying experience, reaffirm relationships with your customers, and show the transparency of your brand – all to build trust the Trustpilot way.

Find out why responding to reviews is important, and why you shouldn't ignore negative feedback. Download your free copy of our 'Bad Reviews' report [here](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/learn-from-customers/bad-reviews-why-people-write-them-and-what-they-expect).

Learn From Your Customers