As a consumer, you are inundated with requests for reviews and feedback. While it can be inconvenient, those few minutes you spend logging in and leaving a review on a platform like Google can mean a lot to a local small business. Forbes magazine shares the following statistics:
92% of consumers read online reviews of local businesses in order to determine whether these businesses are good or not
80% of consumers consider reviews just as important as personal recommendations.
87% of potential customers won’t consider businesses with low ratings
Exceptional service from a small business
If you receive exceptional service from a local business, leaving a review on Google or Facebook can help ensure that their name spreads in your community as a provider of quality services. We all know that there are substandard organizations, and the best way to bring the cream of the crop to the top is to spread the word by all means available. Google reviews are right at your fingertips and take seconds to complete.
Satisfactory service from a small business
If you receive satisfactory service from a local business, understand that anything less than a five-star review can be damaging to their reputation and ability to continue doing business. A four-star review may indicate that they did well but weren’t the best of the best. Perhaps they made a mistake, but they took care of it or things did not go 100 percent according to plan.
A three-star review can be received by the public as this company being middle of the field or mediocre. If you feel that the company doesn’t deserve more than a three-star review, perhaps it would be good to call or email the owner and discuss your experience. It probably comes as no surprise that many business owners are busy and can’t be in every place at once. Your input may help them better understand and improve their processes as they grow their team.
Subpar service from a small business
The same issues may be in play as listed above with the satisfactory experience, an owner who is growing their business may not have as much supervision of their employees as they should. Making a call to discuss your concerns with the owner may help them recognize and correct issues in their company. If they don’t respond to your call or you prefer not to make one, email can be a good way to share your feedback. If the information is not well received or they refuse to get back to you, leaving an honest review may be the only way to get through to them as well as warn other consumers.