As time moves on, it’s almost impossible to purchase a product without reading online reviews. Almost every online store now offers customer reviews of products. These are people who have actually used your products, and care enough to say something. To all of the corporations out there, that means we don’t have to believe your pretty packing and marketing nonsense. For anybody who has read The Cluetrain Manifesto, this isn’t a new concept. For anybody that hasn’t read it, I strongly suggest you check it out.
I was thinking about getting my money in order by getting Quicken, Quickbooks or whatever I could find for my Mac. However, after stopping by Amazon and skimming through the reviews, I couldn’t find even one positive comment on any Mac financial software at all. That says a lot.
Now, I realize that not everybody is online for hours reading reviews before each purchase, but at this rate, nobody will even have to try. The reviews are right there. Any business that thinks they can survive long term by using pretty packaging and some marketing fluff has something entirely different coming to them.
You can’t fool your customers any more. That little thing called the internet is sneaking up on you, and your customers can communicate about your product thousands of times faster than you can cover them up bad press.
For now your business might only be losing out on a small audience of thorough and diligent shoppers, but what happens when that shopper can pick up your product at the store, scan it with their cell phone, read 5 reviews saying that it is complete crap, and buy your competitor’s product instead?
Additionally, not only can this harm your product’s viability, but if that product is great, people will evangelize it. What’s better than somebody wavering about buying your product and then reading a handful of great reviews right on the same page with that “Add to Cart” button?
On another note, does anybody know of any Mac financial software that makes the grade?