Shoppers Using Yelp! Make 3 Costly Mistakes

Sept. 7, 2014 - PRLog -- Imagine your child presented you with a report card from school. It consisted of two “B’s,” two “C’s,” and one “F.”

Which grade would be the most stunning?

Which would warrant the most conversation?

Which grade would overwhelmingly inform your overall opinion of your child’s performance?

Which grade would you use to predict your child’s future academic success?

It would be the “F,” correct?

You would be typical of most parents in arriving at a negative conclusion, according to Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com.

You would also be making three evaluation errors that potential buyers make when they are searching the Internet for a “report card” pertaining to a professional, a company, an organization or school.

“Like parents, shoppers that consult Yelp! will make three predictable errors in judgment,” says Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com and the best-selling author of 15 books, including Wiley’s Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service.

Goodman says:

(1) They’ll devalue the positive; (2) They’ll exaggerate the negative; and (3) They’ll over-generalize.

Goodman would have you imagine a company that has received an average rating of three stars out of a possible five, at Yelp!. Two of those scores are 4’s, two scores are 3’s, and one score is the lowest possible, a 1.

Four of the five scores that make up the average are decent, says Goodman.

“Two are like B’s, and two are like C’s,” he points out. Based on 80% of the scores presented, a customer could expect an average-to-good experience when dealing with the company under evaluation.

“But this isn’t how customers think. They spot the single worst score, the 1, and like the parent seeing the solitary “F,” they catastrophize,” Goodman says.

“They’ll shun your company,” the U.C. Berkeley and UCLA Extension Instructor points out.

Goodman cites research that supports this conclusion:

“Any negative rating that appears at a site such as Yelp! is potentially so powerful, so influential, that it will denude higher ratings that may be presented on the same page, even if those positive ratings are much more numerous.”

Customersatisfaction.com’s position is that it is “unfair” and “too costly” to allow one disappointed buyer to be able to shout-down a chorus of satisfied and happy customers.

“The solution,” according to Goodman, “is to guide your clients, customers, prospects, and employees to a forum where your positive customer comments are presented but no negative comments are featured.”

“They need to be directed to, or discover through natural Internet search results, a credible site that will NOT trigger the three buying mistakes shoppers are otherwise likely to make—mistakes that damage your reputation while costing huge sums,” Goodman warns.

Customersatisfaction is providing a forum for positive customer reviews, as well as endorsements, in an effort to counteract the negative impacts of Yelp! and other ratings sites.

Further information can be obtained at: inquire@customersatisfaction.com or by contacting Dr. Gary S. Goodman at: (818) 970-GARY  (818.970.4279).