Who infulences the reviewers

In 2013, a study of 10,000 people showed that 4 in 10 respondents (38 percent) say a single negative comment online can dissuade them from making a purchase. And that doesn't just cover Amazon or own brand sites: 51 percent of Prosumers (the smart, early adopters of the consumer world) say non-branded blogs or social media made them change their mind about a product or service they had intended to buy.

In 2016, it has become even more important that companies products and services get the best reviews as frequently as possible and when occasionally it not quite right, organisations move quickly and overdeliver to resolve the problem.

When I worked for John Lewis, we had a saying 'under promise and over deliver'. The simple phrase was taught to ever Partner when they joined. It was not about marketing; it was about the day to day operation of John Lewis shops, including Waitrose. Ensuring that we met the customers basic needs and when practical, delivering some innovation or nice to haves, like being able to collect your department store order from a Waitrose supermarket. And of course, when John Lewis do get it wrong they are renowned for overdelivering to put it right. In other words creating true delight by surprising the customer in going the extra mile.

So the question must be who in the organisation has the most opportunity to deliver the basics, provide some nice to haves and occasionally delight the customer.

While marketing is great at introducing the brand or new products to customers, it's those running the day to day operation of the business that can and must have the biggest impact on the customers and, therefore, their reviews.

I find it interesting then that a lot of organisations have chosen to make Marketing responsible for all things customer when customer reviews are such a factor in customers buying habits, are most influenced, by those responsible for the operation of a business.

In 2016, when customer reviews will continue to have a significant impact on why customers buy, reviewing who looks after the customer in the organisation must be at the top of the agenda for senior management.

Next time I will discuss how we best to resolve complaints while achieving the delighter status that is so important to a great customer experience brand.