Moderation - it protects and aids the consumer just as much as the business under review

Read this article - it will give anyone seeking professional medical help massive pause for thought

It's one of the key issues facing both businesses and consumers in the C21. We have all the options a click away, but how do we distinguish between them? Back in the day we would have two: accept a personal recommendation or take an educated guess.

Now, we are are not saying that reviews are the whole answer today, but if adopted and addressed in the right way they have the ability to truly add value, both for the consumer and great businesses. What we can say, for definite, is that consumers now rely very heavily indeed on online reviews. But first let's look at the issues highlighted here by the Washington Post.

Problems with reviews in the 2020s

When the Washington Post contacted Google, Yelp and Truspilot about the reviews of the business in question the sites removed 73, 40 and 93 respectively. Reviews that, until then, the public had been relying on to make informed decisions about serious medical procedures.

Businesses - some businesses anyway - nowadays will do almost anything to ensure they look great. What can an unscrupulous business do?

• they can get staff to write reviews
• they can get staff family and friends to write reviews
• they can buy reviews
• they can cherry-pick happy customers to write reviews
• they can do their utmost to control the timing of their reviews
• they can 'gate' their reviews - meaning inviting 'customer feedback' or using a less visible review site and then only inviting those who rate their service 5* their to post to the most visible site (usually, but not invariably) Google

All of the above serve to mislead consumers. And a misled consumer is much more likeley to seek out ways to 'get their own back' by writing a negative review.

Why do businesses adopt these kinds of strategy? It's simple: a great rating and great reviews lead directly to increased business flows. But there is a less-understood reason as well: fear. Fear that reviewers will post inaccurate and/or misleading reviews. Neither are a valid excuse, and both are a) illegal under UK law and b) against Google's terms of service.

Why is this so much more important for the professions and other service businesses than for e-Commerce?

e-Commerce has adopted reviews with a will, but what value - for the consumer - is added by them? Little, we would suggest: one camera or washing machine or shirt does much the same job as the next, but e-commerce understands the power of reviews and mobilises them very effectively. When did you last see an advertisment for a vacuum cleaner or an e-bike that didn't incorporate a bold reference to the business's review score?

But just put yourself in the position of a consumer needing medical, financial or legal advice: how much more important do reviews of those services become when they have the potential to save lives, livelihoods and money?

So what should a business do?

First: none of the above! Most businesses, to be fair, are not buying reviews, but you might be surprised to know that well over 50 percent of businesses that are proactive with reviews are adopting at least one, often two or more, of the strategies listed above.

How do they get away with it? That's simple: the CMA - the government regulator - currently has other priorities, and we are sure COVID has slowed things up considerably. But that does not mean that these abuses are not well and truly on their radar. Anyone who doubts this would do well to read this open letter from the CEO of the CMA.

But there are other implications of gaming reviews: the main one being that competitors will notice (or be told by whistleblowers) and won't hold back when asked by a potential customer how the business in question manages to have so many overwhelmingly positive reviews.

So: how to comply with the law and still look great?

1. Be great at what you do. We know it sounds like we are stating the obvious, but businesses that provide value for money and great levels of customer service invariably have a head start when it comes to reviews. Test your CRM to destruction.
2. Invest in moderation: moderation is the process of having each review checked - independently - for accuracy and the potential to mislead readers. No business would hesitate to invest in other areas of marketing, PR and advertising, so make allowance for a moderated review management system in your marketing budget.
3. Invest in compliance: as you would do for any other aspect of your business.

That's it. Not rocket science is it? 

Reviews for 'sensitive' professions

'I would expect someone to write a review of their accountant or estate agent, but for their gynaecologist?'

It's not the first time someone has said this to us. Our response: it is even more important, if anything, that we provide an environment where people feel comfortable writing a review, especially in areas where they may not even feel comfortable asking their best friend or closest relative for a recommendation.

In the following example we are going to show you some reviews, written both on our client's website and on Google, by women about their experience of their women's health clinic. 

Reviews on the clinic's own website...

 

And on Google...

There are several important points to note:

• We don't insist on the reviewer using their full name, or even their 'real' name (see 'Sarah' and 'Sam' above) - they can choose a username that preserves their anonymity if they wish

• In spite of this we are pleased to see just how many people do use their real name (well over half)

• The quality of the reviews is uniformly high. They are not one-liners or the kind of 'Great service!!!' reviews you see commonly all over the web. The authors seem aware of just how helpful a thorough review can be

• There is a fall off between the numbers who will happily write a review to the consultancy's website and those that are prepared to copy their review to Google, but that is in line with our experience of other businesses

Conclusion

That review management is just as important for this kind of business, perhaps even more so. And within that review management our moderation system (many of you will know it as Resolution™) is crucially important. It is undesirable that people read factual inaccuracies in reviews of estate agents and insurance brokers - both for the business and for their potential customer - but how much more important that reviews like those shown above are not simply published ad lib, without first being checked for veracity?