Customer feedback is of critical importance to all kinds of business. But for local businesses that rely on walk-ins, it can have a huge impact on the bottom line. Whether your online customer feedback is overwhelmingly positive or negative (or somewhere in between), the point is that it's visible.
So, for better or worse, customer reviews have a direct impact on whether prospective customers decide to choose your restaurant from among the competition.
It may seem obvious that customer feedback has an impact on whether future customers choose to walk through your doors or not. But there's a little more to it than avoiding negative reviews. It is about having an online presence that is inviting to potential customers as well.
There are four main factors that make your customers' online feedback more impactful. When looking for a new restaurant to visit, the online content that users are influenced by are:
The industry statistics are there to back this up. For example, 53% of engaged customers wouldn't even consider visiting a business with any bad reviews or average review star rating under four stars. Negative comments are also very detrimental, as consumers also spend over 13 minutes reading detailed social media comments before coming to a decision. Meanwhile, 58% said the recency of reviews was the most important factor for them, and 50% said the number of reviews was what mattered most.
Many businesses, both local and international, can be affected by online reviews. But the research shows that restaurants are far and away the most impacted industry when it comes to customer feedback. A good customer experience is what leads to happy customers, which builds a positive reputation. In other wards, customer service is key.
When it comes to local businesses, particularly restaurants, a lack of online reviews makes you far less competitive in the market. Online customer feedback is now part of the extended online brand experience for consumers, outside of having a social media presence. You can have the best website or even the best restaurant around, but if you neglect your presence on online review sites, your business could be hurting unnecessarily.
Reviews matter. An overwhelming majority of consumers 91% according to BrightLocal say that seeing positive reviews for a business makes them more likely to visit their physical location. When they do see a positive review, consumers are most likely to do one of two things: either visit your website or look for more reviews., as this is a great indication of satisfied customers.
So, by curating a positive and widespread presence on the online realm, your restaurant can get customers to your website faster for reservations, and create loyal customers.
The factors that make your review presence positive are the same ones that can have a direct negative impact on how many diners visit your establishment. If users see negative feedback, a small number of reviews, or reviews that are old, they can quickly be turned off and switch to checking out one of your direct competitors. A bad experience or unpleasant experience will almost always lead to a negative restaurant review, affecting your businesses average rating.
The same BrightLocal research referenced above indicates that 82% of consumers say that seeing negative reviews makes them less likely to use a business.
Although many restaurant chains might be tempted not to focus on online reviews and their presence on online platforms, their influence on future customers can't be ignored. Restaurant managers and executives should be aware of the following stats : 90% of users in 2019 said they found a local business online in the previous year, and 33% say they do this every single day. Here's what you can do:
Users are getting very adept at spotting fake reviews online, and they can have more of a negative impact than a low number of real reviews. If you've previously added some fake reviews to online profiles to boost your ratings, it's a good idea to remove them and take the time to build real reviews from real customers. As a restaurant business, fake reviews can hurt your branding more than negative feedback, as they are obvious to spot and hurt your brand reputation.
Customer feedback is now closely integrated into the overall brand experience consumers have with your business online. So they like to see that you are engaged with your customers by responding to reviews, both positive and negative. Responses to reviews, whether they are positive feedback or negative reviews shows that you're an attentive and welcoming business. All feedback is valuable feedback. Managing this online presence also aids in boosting customer engagement and customer loyalty, as it shows you care about all opinions that your customers have. Having a fast response rate when addressing customer concerns also helps to build customer trust and build customer loyalty.
There's no doubt that some review platforms are more impactful than others, but 70% of users take a look at multiple review sites before making a decision. So while it might be tempting to focus on the most visible review platforms, such as your Google My Business profile, it's important to cover all relevant review sites.
Being a business owner and managing your online reputation on multiple websites and platforms can consume a lot of your valuable time, but it is incredibly important for creating loyal customers and for building positive experiences.
To make informed decisions for your business, you need to identify key metrics that will be important to your ability to fulfill your commitment to customer satisfaction. meet your customer expectations.
Maintaining online reputation management, including monitoring and responding to reviews, can take up a lot of time and resources. Rather than logging into separate review sites constantly, you can manage everything through a single dashboard with Localyser. Localyser is a powerful tool at your disposal for reputation recovery, building a strong customer base, mitigating negative reviews, and helping you sort through the vast amount of reviews you receive at all of your locations. There aren't a lot of online reputation management tools that do what we do to help your have a competitive edge. See for yourself how much more efficiently you can manage reviews across all your social media platforms and each business at the location level.
Book a personalized demo of Localyser today!
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