Recently, I wrote two blog posts about the actions some business people were taking to shield themselves from negative reviews from their customers. One tactic was to have customers sign contracts that allowed the business to penalize anyone that left a negative review on social media. The other approach was to legally try to discredit Yelp.
Though neither of these ploys has been particularly effective, I can understand why businesses might be tempted to take action to protect themselves. After all, as Laura Entis points out, “On average, a one-star increase on Yelp leads to a 5 to 9 percent increase in a business's revenue…On the flip side, one negative review can cost you 30 customers.” Not only that, but it seems that “a whopping 45 percent of customers share their negative experiences over social media, while 35 percent post them on review sites.”
So yes a business must proactively try to protect its online reputation. As the Chatterbox infographic below shows, 16% of the reviews on Yelp are fraudulent. If you can track down these reviewers and you think it’s worth the time effort and expense, don’t forget that you have the legal right to sue for defamation, libel, or slander.
But before you use that expensive and time consuming route, why not try the more effective steps in the infograhic below to counteract negative reviews on Yelp?
