Week 2, Part A: Communication Between Business & Consumer

Communicating with businesses has dramatically changed over the years. Clearly we now have many social media options available for businesses to utilize, such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. This not only provides the businesses an extra channel of marketing/advertisement, but this also allows customers the ability to review and communicate with businesses for any reason they like. Before channels of social media came about, a business would need to rely on word of mouth recommendations, or adverts in a newspaper or magazine and maybe even TV if they could afford it. Communication is so much easier these days, but that does not mean it comes without it problems. 

When I completed my research, I looked at all kind of different reviews, mainly on Google and Yelp as these are super easy to access and filter down. I looked into several different types of companies including Restaurants, Retail stores, Services and Electronics. What interested me about the reviews, is that every customer has a different idea of what they wanted to achieve from a product or a service, which in turn meant that their level of satisfaction is also different. This to me, feels like the reviewing system is flawed. If every customer has a different level of satisfaction or need, then how can we truly understand if a product or service is right for us? 

My dad has always been a great fan of reviewing a product or service, whether it good or bad. I like this about my dad as he always like to acknowledge a business for the good work they have produced, which I know must be a great feeling for a business. As for myself, I'm not sure I have ever reviewed a product or company. Maybe once or twice max. I do read reviews, which to me is interesting that I like to read them but not to write them. When it comes to reviewing products or services, I tend to briefly look at their overall figures and then read a few good and a few bad. This gives me an idea of the type of person the reviewer is and if what they were looking for is the same as myself. However, more recently, I have felt less inclined to take note of reviews as the culture of 'the customer is always right' is being taken to the next level. One example I love to use to explain my feeling on reviews, is with a hotel or resort. For example, a hotel in Mexico might have an all inclusive buffet, however, the resort may get a 1 star from one customer as they have no French fries on the menu, yet on the other hand, a customer might give the resort a 5 star review for providing authentic Mexican cuisine. This is a prime example of how customers needs and satisfaction levels differ, which severely affect the reviews, making them hard to truly trust their ratings. Overall, with sites such as Yelp or Google, I feel the ratings are hard to justify due to differences in the consumers. 

Another more recent way of reviewing products, which I like, is through Instagram. I know a lot of small businesses, like to use Instagram to promote their services or products. In my opinion, Instagram is a much more positive place for businesses of all shapes and sizes. When I looked into reviews on Instagram, I felt like businesses could attract their target market and anyone that wasn't interested could just ignore it. I like that businesses and accounts can be tagged in live videos, or pictures to help improve their credibility and it also gives a potential customer a chance to experience the products or services before they go/buy. I see Instagram as an uplifting place for businesses, especially smaller more independent companies and I like this positive side to social media. Interestingly, if I had a business which received negative and positive feedback, I feel I would respond to every comment and thank them for their feedback as every comment could be great constructive criticism. However, I do feel if a review was unfair, then I would respond respectfully and truthfully and maybe shedding more light on the negative review. I feel it is important in this day an age that business owners are professional and respectful as one wrong comment could affect their whole future. 

As soon as I saw we needed to write a few reviews, I instantly thought of a food stall at Liberty Public Market that I ate at last week. The chicken was maybe THE BEST chicken we had ever had, so I made sure I let them know. Interestingly, all but 2 of their reviews were 5 stars which I was not surprised at and the other two were one stars saying the chicken was bland, which proves my point I made earlier on about consumer needs. I also wrote a review on a hotel we stayed at in Cabo San Lucas in the summer, Hotel Garza Blanca. I have travelled the world a lot and this was one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. A lot of the reviews were moaning about the Time share tour from reception, but to us, they asked us if we were interested, we said no and that was the end of it, again, all down to customer needs and expectations. 

Overall, the communication between business and consumer has definitely changed, its instant and its easy to do, but with all of this, I feel that 'the customer is always right' culture is now more powerful than ever before, making it harder for businesses to truly provide 100% customer satisfaction, and this is displayed across social media, meaning we need to read more individual reviews to get the true picture of a business.