14 October 2013

Nowadays just about every customer goes online before they choose to pay you a visit (or not, as the case may be).

If they do arrive, you expect them to be pretty genned up – on what to buy and also who to buy from. Online reviews play a big part in this process.

But how many customers view online comments with a critical, perhaps even disbelieving, eye? I come to this question because of two recent personal experiences.

The first was the franchised retailer who pursued me relentlessly for feedback on a scheduled service they’d performed on my car. Not only did the service advisor request a positive review (explaining that the department received bonuses for praising comments), but later that group’s call centre also contacted me twice to request that I leave feedback.

What chance, given such pressure, that many customers will leave comments that are authentic and meaningful?

The second concerned a small local garage that I use for the family’s 1996 Mini. I’ve been a customer of theirs for years and they have always served me well. I found them through word-of-mouth.

Online, however, they’ve drawn a slew of negative reviews that run totally at odds to the service I’ve had from them. So much so that it is hard to imagine the business behaving in the way so described.

Looking more closely at what’s been written, it appears to be the work of a couple of disaffected customers who have posted up multiple critiques using various identities. But, to many online seekers of garage recommendations, it would be enough to put them off.

Because of my involvement in this industry, I’m not your typical customer. However, I do believe that fewer drivers are now content to accept online comments or reviews at face value. They look beyond the words to speculate on why they’ve been written and how much weight they should be given.

The importance of online peer reviews will continue to grow and can no longer be discounted. Wise retailers will encourage reviews but gently so, allowing them to develop organically. They’ll also involve a trusted third party (such as Reevoo) to ensure impartiality and to purge anything suspect.

Managing them, fudging them or ignoring them just won’t work.

Ray Castle
Editor, Auto Retail Agenda

Tags: customer reviews, online reviews, Reevoo