At Reevoo we split customer reviews into two distinct sections; product reviews and customer experience reviews. We treat them very differently.
We often get asked what the difference is and why it’s important to separate them.
Well, in this new video series we’re calling Pool Table Wisdom, I’ll tell you.
Don’t wanna watch? Keep reading, I’ll explain!
It all starts with that initial spark – “I want to buy something”.
People go through lots of different modes when they’re on a buying journey.
To help them navigate that journey, you have to answer two key questions:
- What am I going to buy; and
- Who am I going to buy it from?
One of those questions is about trust. To choose you as the brand I’m going to buy from, I have to trust you with my money. Not always an easy sell.
But to decide what I want to buy, I need more detail.
The questions I want answering are a lot different depending on whether I’m choosing a brand/store or a product.
So it makes sense to ask different questions and display the answers to those questions in different ways.
The different reviewing modes
Just as there are different buying modes, there are different reviewing modes too.
In our extensive experience collecting these reviews, we’ve worked out how to get the best content from people in those different modes.
When you’re trying to measure trust (like, when you’re comparing retailers, or car dealers), the only way to get the real answer is with a simple yes or no. That’s why we ask people:
And then compile it into a simple percentage score that’s easy to understand. Like this:
For products, it’s a completely different kettle of fish. Buyers need more detail and owners want to express exactly how they’re feeling about each aspect of their new product.
That’s why we collect things we call ‘facet scores’ and we ask people about the pros and cons of the product (plus an overall score, of course).
So what’s the difference in scores?
I’ll forgive you for thinking the average for both of these scores would be pretty similar, but in actuality, they’re quite different.
Last year the average customer experience score was 95% (would buy again), and the average product score was 8.6 (out of 10).
The fact that they’re different shows you the different modes and moods people are in when they talk about the products they buy and the places they buy them from.
Where can you use this content now that you have it?
Again – the different types of reviews have different uses.
Customer Experience reviews
You could build brand awareness by putting your percentage score on a billboard…
Or try to seal the deal on your ecommerce journey – think about people getting to your checkout page. A big, bold percentage score encourages people to take that leap with you at the moment of truth by building trust.
Product reviews
When it comes to the product reviews, you need to think about a few different situations.
Imagine you’re a car salesman, and you can show a customer a 9.5 fuel economy rating based on 8000 genuine, verified driver reviews.
Maybe you’re an internal product team for a whitegoods manufacturer trying to work out why people aren’t buying more of your washing machines.
Well – turns out it’s rated 6.7 for noise. It’s too loud. But now you know what the problem is and how to fix it.
So there you go. Now you know the difference between product and customer experience reviews, and why we treat them so differently.
