3 ms·

There are a few problems that I see here, but two of the big ones: 1. As a visitor to a random website, I'm skeptical of reviews I see on that site. If your br

There are a few problems that I see here, but two of the big ones: 1. As a visitor to a random website, I'm skeptical of reviews I see on that site. If your brand gets big enough that people see "Comments powered by PlusPanda" and think "Oh, ok...I can trust this", then maybe, but that seems like a pretty lofty goal to have to reach before your business model really clicks. 2. The bigger problem is self-selection bias. If I run a great business, of course I'd love more people talking me up on my site. If I run a crappy business, I'll have no reviews or reviews that I can filter, shape, and control. 3rd party review sites remove the power to have and control reviews from the business owner, and that's kind of the whole point. EDIT: I just read this and I realized that I sound really negative. Let me point out that I only bothered to go through the site, think the issue out, and write a comment because I think what you're doing is genuinely interesting and has a lot of potential. I just wanted to point out some issues I'm sure you've thought through, and I'd like to know what your view is.

mattmaroon 17y ago
I think #1 is one of those things that everyone thinks, but is generally untrue, much like "advertising has no effect on me". Carefully selected customer testimonials are a time-honored tradition, and an effective one. Oftentimes you see a major product with glowing reviews posted in its advertising. Of course on an intellectual level you know that any terrible product could probably pull that off, and that it really means nothing, but on an emotional level its still effective. So at the very worst, this service will be just as good as the hand-selected testimonials the advertising agent puts in every magazine ad. That's still a net positive. Even more likely some of the reviews won't be fully glowing endorsements which in and of itself will lend credibility.
apsurd 17y ago
Hi Ryan, yes yes I do appreciate you taking the time to highlight some concerns. 1) Yes, ideally our brand would be "trusted". But as of now I don't think it necessarily requires our brand to be well-known. I'd like to think that a "These reviews managed and verified by <link>PlusPanda</link>" would be sufficient enough as a research tool for concerned customers to be able to click on and read a short description of our program policy. 2) I agree in that a service like this entails that the customer actually commit and put in effort, in order for it to actually do its job. It's not something you necessarily set and forget. So if your business is poor, this isn't any type of remedy in and of itself. I am taking your point to be that relative to feedback, pluspanda suffers from self-selection bias. But actually the whole secret-sauce of customer reviews is actually mainly for marketing purposes, which are two fold: 1. Customers always believe 3rd party opinions over 1st party opinions. So even if they are less likely to believe in the full-validity of reviews on your site, they'd still likely believe them more than they would any first-party marketing copy on the site. And as stated by others, at worst, your reviews wouldn't be so much as "reviews" but "testimonials" (i.e. they are all praise) which tons of sites successfully employ. 2. Customer Relationship Management via email marketing. Simply put, everyone that bothers enough to leave a review, has a stake in your business, and you should be communicating with them, thanking them, giving them loyalty rewards, rectifying poor experiences, and encouraging repeat-business, and word-of-mouth etc. So customer reviews is really just a way to manage an effective email marketing campaign. It's a "platform". This is the angle from which I am basing my value proposition. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks again for your time.
- xinsight 17y ago
  I think the "self-selection" comment was referring to the businesses, not the customers. An analogy is those "customer forums" that many companies setup, thinking, "Customers can support themselves!" but then realize that it's more about "Customers can learn how crap our company is!" and they take it down. So, crappy businesses won't want your service. But even a well-run business will be cautious about letting some random internet stranger post comments to their homepage. You need to make sure that comments aren't from competitors, people don't post multiple times and most importantly: That the company can respond to criticisms.

mattmaroon 17y ago

I think #1 is one of those things that everyone thinks, but is generally untrue, much like "advertising has no effect on me". Carefully selected customer testimonials are a time-honored tradition, and an effective one. Oftentimes you see a major product with glowing reviews posted in its advertising. Of course on an intellectual level you know that any terrible product could probably pull that off, and that it really means nothing, but on an emotional level its still effective. So at the very worst, this service will be just as good as the hand-selected testimonials the advertising agent puts in every magazine ad. That's still a net positive. Even more likely some of the reviews won't be fully glowing endorsements which in and of itself will lend credibility.

apsurd 17y ago

Hi Ryan, yes yes I do appreciate you taking the time to highlight some concerns. 1) Yes, ideally our brand would be "trusted". But as of now I don't think it necessarily requires our brand to be well-known. I'd like to think that a "These reviews managed and verified by <link>PlusPanda</link>" would be sufficient enough as a research tool for concerned customers to be able to click on and read a short description of our program policy. 2) I agree in that a service like this entails that the customer actually commit and put in effort, in order for it to actually do its job. It's not something you necessarily set and forget. So if your business is poor, this isn't any type of remedy in and of itself. I am taking your point to be that relative to feedback, pluspanda suffers from self-selection bias. But actually the whole secret-sauce of customer reviews is actually mainly for marketing purposes, which are two fold: 1. Customers always believe 3rd party opinions over 1st party opinions. So even if they are less likely to believe in the full-validity of reviews on your site, they'd still likely believe them more than they would any first-party marketing copy on the site. And as stated by others, at worst, your reviews wouldn't be so much as "reviews" but "testimonials" (i.e. they are all praise) which tons of sites successfully employ. 2. Customer Relationship Management via email marketing. Simply put, everyone that bothers enough to leave a review, has a stake in your business, and you should be communicating with them, thanking them, giving them loyalty rewards, rectifying poor experiences, and encouraging repeat-business, and word-of-mouth etc. So customer reviews is really just a way to manage an effective email marketing campaign. It's a "platform". This is the angle from which I am basing my value proposition. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks again for your time.

xinsight 17y ago
I think the "self-selection" comment was referring to the businesses, not the customers. An analogy is those "customer forums" that many companies setup, thinking, "Customers can support themselves!" but then realize that it's more about "Customers can learn how crap our company is!" and they take it down. So, crappy businesses won't want your service. But even a well-run business will be cautious about letting some random internet stranger post comments to their homepage. You need to make sure that comments aren't from competitors, people don't post multiple times and most importantly: That the company can respond to criticisms.