By Tim Atkins 
From the restaurant to the tech industry, you can find plenty of business owners who couldn’t care less about their online reviews. Some believe no one reads them, others simply refuse to accept criticism. Whatever the case may be, they’re all missing out on one of the most powerful marketing tools in today’s business world. If you’re not convinced that online reviews matter, then there are a few statistics you need to know.
Does Anyone Read Reviews?
The first mistake business owners make is thinking that consumers don’t care to read reviews. As it turns out, that couldn’t be further from the truth. A recent survey found that 86% of Americans turn to ratings and customer feedback before deciding to give a company their business.
It doesn’t end there, though. Take these statistics into consideration:
- On average, consumers read ten reviews before they know if they can trust a business.
- Roughly 57% of individuals require a four-star rating or higher to use a company.
- 91% of consumers between the ages of 18 to 34 treat customer reviews as if they were personal recommendations.
- 89% of Americans also read the responses left by businesses.
Does Anyone Take Negative Reviews Seriously?
There are some people out there who are simply impossible to satisfy. Luckily, most consumers can tell the difference between an actual complaint and a ridiculous one. However, you should assume that even the craziest of complaints can impact your revenue.
Forbes reported that just one negative comment can take away 22% of your potential customer pool. With four or more, you’re looking at up to 70% of possible business turning away before ever walking through the door.
Whether you’re still starting up or competing with the likes of Microsoft, those numbers are staggering. If your number of low-star ratings and complaints are on the rise, you can bet that your competition is reaping the benefits.
Is There Anything You Can Do?
Luckily, there are a variety of tools at your disposal. Companies like Bird Eye offer review monitoring software that allows you to stay ahead of the competition by increasing the number of reviews your customers leave as well as staying proactive about sour experiences.
Bird Eye specifically helped create these stellar Schoenberg Family Law Group reviews, boosting them above the 4.5-star ratio and netting them over 90% five-star ratings. By using their software, Schoenberg can create customized templates that prompt clients to leave a review on a high traffic sites like Google.
The level of personalization helps consumers relate to business brands, furthering their reasoning to leave a few words about their experience with you. Even better, instantaneous updates allow you tee see when someone leaves a rating or review.
When someone does leave with a subpar experience, you can work to remedy the situation immediately. It isn’t unheard of for positive business comments and quality customer service to turn a one-star rating into a three or four-star review.
If not, your potential customer pool can now see that you care about their business enough to right your wrongs. The combination, among other tools, allows you to turn the power of the consumer review into a valuable marketing asset capable of boosting your revenue.
SME Paid Under
Editorialist Team 
Sitetrail Research Team