You’ve likely heard some variation on this: people only post a review when they’re unhappy and want others to share in their misery. But good reviews matter, too! Actually, all reviews are important when dealing on Amazon. If you already use FeedbackExpress, then you know what we’re talking about. But if you don’t, then read on to have your mind mini-blown.
The Single Most Important Reason for Having Reviews
Think back about 20 years ago. If the holes in your socks finally got big enough to the point you couldn’t wear them any more, you schlepped out to the store and picked out another pack. Maybe you asked a salesperson some questions about them, or maybe you just picked up different packages to compare softness and strength. Either way, you could see immediately and first-hand just what kind of socks you were getting.
If your socks today got big holes and you had to replace them, it’d be far easier to just order them online. But without being able to pick them up, how would you know if they’d last a good long time before getting holes in them or having the elastic go? Yep, you guessed it — reviews.
In the online world, reviews are the best, fastest and most efficient way to build up trust, whether you’re the buyer or seller. If you’re selling, you can immediately let customers know you’ve got a reputation for quality and reliability. And if you’re buying, then the choice becomes easier who you should go with.
Plus, when you’re selling (or buying) on Amazon, Seller Feedback is one of the most direct routes to a Buy Box and compounding your success. If the score drops to even as little as 5% (or Customer Feedback goes from Good to Fair), that Buy Box is gone right away and so is a lot of the work you’ve put in to build up your reputation.
How to Keep a Close Watch on Your Seller Feedback
It depends if you want to see what your Seller Feedback looks like from the vantage point of a buyer or seller. If it’s the former:
- Buyer: Either log out of your Amazon page or open an Incognito window and click on your page (it’s the ‘Sold by’ link on a product page). From there, you’ll get a page with a bunch of tabs at the top and ‘Feedback’ is the one on the far left. It’ll show you the average number of stars, number of reviews and a little snippet of the review. If you hover over the stars section, a little box will appear and you can see how many of each star category people have left reviews for.
- Seller: You can get all the metrics in your Seller Central account, right in the dashboard section (left column). Then you click on the ‘Customer Feedback’ link to where you’ll see positive, negative and neutral reviews from the last 30, 90 and 365 days and all of them over the lifetime of your selling activity.
What You Can Do to Get More 5-Star Reviews
The whole list of steps you should take can fill many articles, but here are some of the more important points.
- Use an automated service (like FeedbackExpress!) to deliver the same format and message consistently every time.
- Never approach a negative review as though it’s permanent.
- Use negative or neutral reviews as a way to pinpoint areas you should be strengthening.
- Treat responding to customers with top priority.
- Avoid having shoppers writing they’ve felt misled about your products by optimising the descriptions and photos.
- Don’t run out of stock, especially in high-buying times.
Final Thoughts
Knowing why feedback matters so much is only the first step; the next is to get your page filled with a whole bunch of good ones. But who has the time to send out personalised emails and fill out forms to try and ameliorate existing reviews? Not the top sellers, that’s who! And if you’re looking for a way to cut down on time in that area so you can continue building your reputation, then you’ve got to hop on the FeedbackExpress. Okay, so maybe our attempts at humour may be a little cheesy, but getting the first 14 days free when you sign up now isn’t.
