29/07/2026
How important is feedback?
A tricky question that depends on the business and the service. For a small business it is important and poor feedback can be destructive. But how many of us have used companies like Virgin Media where the customer service at times is appalling but because they are a big name, we still use them? Is it just because they dominate the market?
It's easy for me to post pictures like these of our ebay feedback and give the impression everything is perfect when it isn't and all we can do is our best and we do get things wrong in the shop.
But as a consumer do you ever find yourself looking for the worst feedback? I'm sure we have all gone straight to the 1 star reviews on Amazon for a product just to what we can find. Usually those reviews can be discarded. I'm not interested in a review of a movie that is 1 star simply because the buyer didn't like the film, but it happens. Feedback should reflect the customer service, delivery time, packaging etc.
So, negative feedback does have a bigger impact on small businesses. We see it a lot on Google Reviews on Google Maps. It happens to many businesses not just us. Some guy comes along who has the username BugsBunny and decides to put your business down. These 'anonymous' type of reviews must be disregarded. There are people out there that make stuff up, are having a bad day or could simply be being spiteful if they are your competitor. I look at google reviews with a pinch of salt and any business hitting over 4/5 is actually doing pretty well. Genuine bad reviews in reality should be less than 1%. People leaving a 3/5 review should also be ignored if they don't give a reason for this rating. If you have an opinion we want to hear it. You're not helping a small business improve if you don't explain where an improvement can be made. Sadly, Google doesn't filter out the chaff reviews but it does give you the opportunity to respond to them, and you should with honesty.
There is also a bias. People are quick to leave poor feedback for a restaurant if they had one bad meal. But you won't see them leave a proportionate amount of positive feedback when everything has been perfect.
So is customer feedback so important? Not really. It will help when looking for new customers but two things are far more important. The first is looking after your regular visitors. The second is recommendations. When your regulars are happy, they will tell their friends. When someone tags you in a group that is a strong indicator you're doing well. One recommendation like this can be worth a 100 ads on a Monday morning in all the local groups.
If you see a post on Facebook for a business you have used then please either like it or share it. It helps so much.
