I have a new favorite thing to do: Read reviews. I know, I know…this is something that many of you have probably made a habit of already. I mean, have you seen how many people have reviewed the “Banana Slicer” on Amazon? (If you haven’t, please put it on your to do list. You’ll thank me later!) I made a recent purchase for a robotic vacuum. Those things are ridiculously expensive, frivolous and should be a ONCE IN A LIFETIME purchase. Did you know there are like a billion models? I didn’t, either. So, the reviews on Amazon were incredibly helpful in this purchase. Not to mention the fact that everyone shared the names of their friendly robots. Now I don’t feel too weird that I named mine “Dusty”…hahaha…okay, back on topic…
So, my question is: How many of you write reviews? I mean, you count on them when you’re looking for a new restaurant. How about when you make a major purchase for appliances or a car? There is no better way to find out about a product or service than by reading what other people have to say about it. It truly is a gift to humanity to rave or thumbs down something so others can save time and money! Commercials, magazine and web ads are designed to make the product look good. What better way to know if it is good by customer reviews?
Two other areas I have found extremely helpful to check reviews for are service companies and health care providers. I want to know who’s coming to my house? Am I going to get my money’s worth? Has the doctor been around long? Do they know what they’re doing? I can promise you that if either profession has issues, you WILL read a review for it. Angie’s List is a good one for service company reviews. Healthgrade and the State Board of Medical Examiners are great for finding out the scoop on health professionals.
When you leave a review, be honest.Try not to be emotional when you write it. These reviews stay on there. Many times, businesses just want a chance to make the customer happy. Going off the handle and leaving a vengeful, raging review because of a less than attentive server at a restaurant isn’t fair to all of the employees and the business’s owner. Leaving details about satisfaction or dissatisfaction is important. It gives people a chance to decide for themselves if they want to try the product or service themselves. Also, being overly positive can actually hurt a business. If you never see anything constructively critical, you know something is up. Nothing is ever perfect! Google is super smart with this and will actually catch it in the algorithm….okay, that’s all I know about the scientific side…don’t ask me how it works, but it does…like magic. Business owners can take constructive criticism and actually welcome honest reviews. It makes them better!
ome of the best places for reviews are Yelp, Google and Facebook. They are huge arenas for the retail market. I find them simple, effective and on occasion, can get you a return such as a discount or even something free! Another benefit of leaving company reviews is ensuring businesses and products you enjoy stay around. With the increasing use of the web for products and services, reviews almost do the advertising now. Setting up accounts to review sites really isn’t that difficult. It’s usually just a little bit of information such as an email address. You can actually link your Facebook account to your Yelp account. Don’t use Facebook? Don’t like privacy issues? Facebook has made great strides in security so that you can make everything virtually private. It comes in handy when signing up for many things like Yelp, other social media sites and even Pinterest.
So, should you review? Absolutely! QCBN
By Beverly Golin
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