SmallBusinessNewz

Online reviews are a fixture at major Internet sites like Amazon and eBay. Reviews offer influence over the visitors who read them, with the capability to drive a sale, or push a potential customer away at high speed.

Small Business Labs cited a recent study of how people share their reviews of experiences with others online. As small business owners likely suspected, plenty of people will vent their anger over a bad customer care experience.

That study from the Society for New Communications Research also revealed 74 percent opted for companies or brands based on what others experienced. Treat a customer well today, and it could lead to another customer in time.

Treat them poorly, and you may as well blog about how badly you screwed up their experience, write it up in a press release, and send it to every media outlet in the country.

It comes down to reputation management, something we've discussed in a recent video. Some simple tools make it easy to see what people may be saying about you, and it's worth the time to get an understanding of your customers' opinions.