Gone are the days when buyers had to make uneducated purchasing decisions. Now 89% of global consumers consult online reviews before deciding whether to buy. And that makes total sense. Let’s say you’re in the store comparing two vacuums (yay adulting!). Both have similar features, but one’s cheaper. Do you automatically go for that one or do you wonder why it’s less expensive? Chances are you whip out your smartphone to check out the product reviews before investing in either vacuum. Online reviews are also a great tool for making B2B buying decisions. And, for the most part, people trust them. But that trust is starting to erode thanks to a sneaky issue lurking in the shadows: review gating. You might have heard of “review filtering,” “review incentivization,” or using “qualifying questions” before asking customers for reviews. While these customer review strategies may sound like helpful features at first blush, they don’t result in an entirely truthful impression of what potential customers think about a company and its products or services. The ironic part: Review transparency is actually a good thing — not just for buyers, but companies too. Buyer Trust, Brand Loyalty, and Review Gating: Making the Case for Online Review Transparency If you’re leery of asking all of your customers for online reviews, consider this important fact: Most reviews are good anyway. Nearly 90% of all reviews are 4+ stars. And when your company gets a negative review, it has a chance to respond publicly, often completely winning over those formerly unhappy customers. This is known as the Service Recovery Paradox, and it may even help you get new customers who see your public response. The Business Benefits of Authentic Reviews When all customer reviews – good and bad – get aired publicly, potential buyers get an honest view of a company’s offerings while businesses get valuable feedback they can use to improve. And that’s not all. Companies also enjoy these benefits: A higher volume of online reviews yields better search engine visibility. One study showed that after eliminating gating practices, companies saw their review volume grow by nearly 70% while the average star rating only fell by five hundredths of a point. Prime opportunities to win over unsatisfied customers by responding to reviews and demonstrating helpful customer service. In fact, 78% of people will forgive a company for a mistake after receiving excellent service, and a majority feel positively about companies that respond to reviews. Improved authenticity which builds trust. When you stop gating reviews, you’ll likely have a sprinkling of ratings below five stars. And that’s a good thing. Showing some variation in your reviews and ratings shows consumers they can trust the reviews’ authenticity. In fact, conversion rates are better when companies are in the 4-star range but slump if the average is a perfect five stars. The Drawbacks of Review Gating Companies that gate reviews risk losing buyer trust and missing valuable cues from their customers. Plus, any practice that could suppress negative reviews while elevating positive ones violates Yelp’s and Google’s terms of service and even Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules. In a recent effort to ensure consumers get an accurate impression of customer experiences, the FTC has begun a public education campaign on review gating that is targeted to review sites and companies participating in review gating activities. In fact, in early 2022 it put 10 review management platforms on notice for potential “review gating,” even fining one company $4.2 million for completely blocking negative product reviews. So, keep in mind that if your company asks customers for reviews, it needs to ask everyone. Do not cherry pick—the recent FTC actions have made it clear that is not allowed. The following practices are customer review “don’ts” per the FTC: Sending review requests to a select group of customers Preventing negative reviews from posting publicly via built-in filters Steering unhappy customers away from posting reviews Using pre-review surveys to identify happy customers before asking for reviews Routing negative feedback away from review sites and into private channels Delaying the publication of negative reviews Creating unique survey paths based on user responses, such as filtering based on your Net Promoter® Scores Our Take on Review Transparency At ClearlyRated, we’re big fans of online review transparency. We believe in authenticity and proactivity when it comes to customer feedback. Allowing honest ratings, and especially responding to detractors and negative reviews, improves the customer experience and helps business service providers build better relationships. That’s why we designed our new Reviews feature in ClearlyRated’s Amplify product to comply with FTC guidelines. When you have the Reviews feature enabled, every survey respondent will be asked if they would like to leave an online review. You’ll be compliant with FTC guidelines, and even better, you can expect to grow the volume of your online reviews and increase your visibility in search engine results. Plus, you’ll hear genuine customer feedback that can help your organization improve and strengthen client relationships.
