Mikkel Drucker, VP Marketing, Trustpilot
Brand advocates and consumer trust: the secret to Mazuma Mobile’s success
The digital age has granted consumers more power than ever before, with many potential customers forming an opinion on a brand from social media or online reviews before even setting foot in a store or clicking the checkout button.
As our recent survey of 1,500 UK and US business executives has shown, most businesses are beginning to realise this, with 79 per cent of respondents agreeing that online reviews play a highly important role in influencing consumer decision making.
However, despite this understanding, businesses are still approaching online reviews with trepidation; 50 per cent of businesses expressed concerns that online reviews would result in negative exposure and almost a third choose to refrain entirely from displaying their reviews online.
Admittedly it can be daunting for businesses to open themselves up to criticism online. However, with the prevalence of open platforms such as Twitter and Facebook empowering consumers to make their voices heard regardless, it makes sense for businesses to tackle online reviews head-on and reap all the advantages they can.
Fully embracing online reviews
One company that acts as a shining example of this approach is mobile device recycling company, Mazuma Mobile. Since joining Trustpilot in 2010, Mazuma has become one of the first UK companies to receive 100,000 reviews on the site. As Mazuma Mobile relies on consumers having the confidence to send valuable mobile devices in the post in exchange for cash, trust and transparency has been integral to its business success.
By fully embracing online reviews, it has been able to build customer loyalty and advocacy online, maintaining a 5 star rating and a TrustScore of 9.8 out of 10 making it one of the most successful businesses on the Trustpilot site to date.
Mazuma uses online reviews to establish outstanding levels of trust with a large customer base. As Charlo Carabott, managing director and founder of Mazuma Mobile commented recently, online reviews provide value by “showing a potential customer how many other people have benefitted from the service”. Having realised this from the beginning, Mazuma has actively encouraged its customers to share feedback online, allowing its positive customer experiences to be converted to additional sales.
However, perhaps most importantly is the way Mazuma has dealt with any negative feedback. As our Trust Economy research has shown, 89 per cent of British consumers are influenced by negative reviews online. With an open and transparent approach, Mazuma aims to solve customer complaints publicly via the platform within 24 hours, not only ensuring negative experiences are turned into positive ones, but also enabling potential customers to see Mazuma’s proactive response to customer feedback.
Mazuma’s use of online reviews and the data they unlock about a business’ audience doesn’t stop there. One of the most impressive ways that Mazuma utilises reviews is by feeding the insights they unearth back into the business. As Charlo has commented, “negative reviews are the most useful because they continue to challenge our methods and teach us more about what our customers want”.
In fact, Mazuma uses feedback from negative reviews to highlight sections of the customer experience that need to be improved and make sure any recurring problems are factored into long-term business planning. Therefore any customer experience issues and corresponding negative reviews are minimised, resulting in greater customer satisfaction overall.
Transparent customer feedback process
With 77 per cent of consumers now consulting online reviews before making a purchase online, it is more important than ever that businesses establish a transparent customer feedback process to stay ahead of the competition. For businesses looking for inspiration, Mazuma acts as a great benchmark for others to learn from.
As the voice of the customer becomes increasingly important, businesses must act now to ensure they are prepared for its continuing growth. By listening, measuring and acting and on their customer feedback, companies will be in a great position to make the most of their customer data going forwards and build trust between a strong base of brand advocates, as Mazuma has done so successfully.
Mikkel Drucker, VP Marketing, Trustpilot