Are Rating Systems Skewed? Featuring Guest Martha Brooke

Shep Hyken interviews Martha Brooke. They discuss common rating systems implemented by many companies, the faults and flaws of these systems, and ways to improve the feedback process overall. In Shep’s Opening Monologue... He talks about the best ways to handle negative online reviews. The Interview with Martha Brooke:The way many ratings systems are designed makes it easy to skew results. Customers don’t give honest feedback out of fear of potential repercussions.One reason customers give positive ratings after negative experiences is because they don’t want to feel like they’re punishing someone. However, being honest is more helpful because it improves the community. That is the benefit of deep altruism versus superficial altruism.There is little tangible proof that reviews and ratings are anonymous, so customers may also fear repercussions from rated individuals or that it will be harder to do business with that company in the future.People are inundated daily with requests for feedback. It becomes easier to leave a simple 5-star review rather than a negative one or no review at all.Companies need to define what a 5-star rating means so that their customers are on the same page. People tend to look think of extremes when giving feedback, but what 5 stars means to one person may not be the same for another.The ultimate goal is to get the feedback to accurately reflect the customer experience.Quote: “Want great customer feedback? It starts with having really authentic conversations. Open ended questions are where the gold lies.” - Martha Brooke About: Martha Brooke founded Interaction Metrics in 2004 with the mission of dramatically improving the customer experience. She is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) and holds a Blackbelt in Six Sigma. Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices