Monday 3 April 2017

Choosing a reviews solution - don't be like the dog in the Larson cartoon

Some of you will be old enough to remember this 1980s cartoon:



More Gary Larson madness here


But why are we showing it here? Because, nearly every day of our working lives, we are reminded of it - or the human equivalent. In the dog analogy the dog hears nothing unless its name is mentioned (and we can be forgiven for extrapolating this to include words like 'din-dins' or 'walkies'). 

In our 'human to human' analogy the businessperson being sold to has hearing that is nearly as selective.

Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"You need our solution because we have a system that makes sure only your real customers can write a review."

Businessperson hears:

 "Great, we can just invite customers that we know are sure to write us a five-star review."

Reality:

Fine, but you will only be doing this because you are unaware that the law - in the person of the Competition and Markets Authority - expressly forbids this kind of selection.

 
Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"People can only invite a review if and when you ask them."
 
Businessperson hears:

"Even better - no review later on when [the product falls apart] or [the service is not as good as they were promised]."

Reality:

Fine, but again: you will only be doing this because you are unaware that the law - in the person of the Competition and Markets Authority - expressly forbids this kind of selection.


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"Your rating will show in Google search."

Businessperson hears:

"We'll look great in search."

Reality:

Your rating will only show as long as you pay Google to advertise. If you want a rating to show in organic search - i.e. all the time - you just need to ask your web designer to implement the Google schema - and that's free.


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"If you pay [extra] we will allow you to challenge all your negative reviews."
 
Businessperson hears:

"Fantastic, we can filter out negatives - we'll look great."

Consumer/press/regulators think:

"We are being manipulated."

Reality:

The solution you are being offered is flawed (and non-compliant with CMA regs.)


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"You will benefit from the crediblity of our global branding."

Businessperson hears:

"Our business will benefit from their global branding" 

Reality:

Consumers don't care about review sites, or their branding - all they want to know is that they can believe the reviews (and when we say 'consumers' you should read 'press' and 'competitors', because if you select the wrong solution you can be sure this will be highlighted by one or the other - or even both - before long).


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"Ours is the best solution"

Businessperson hears:

"Theirs is the solution for my business"

Reality:

No one solution is sure to work long-term (look at the solutions offered to just one type of business - estate agency - over the last ten years if you are in any doubt).


HelpHound salesperson selling HelpHound:

"We are review managers, not a review site - we work for your business, so if we think your business would benefit from having a presence on any particular review site we will advise you accordingly.

Businessperson hears:

"HelpHound will make sure we are always given the best advice, because they work for us.

Reality

We work for your business - if our advice is not the best, or if it's not working for your business - fire us!


In summary

We hope all the above makes sense. It does to us, and most important of all it does to our clients, because they are getting what they heard they would get.
 
Further reading;

No comments:

Post a Comment

HelpHound is all about feedback, so please feel free to comment here...