Do you look for the Stars?

Five Star Rating is the new trend in product/ service review/ feedback.  I am sure all of you, would have come across this five star system of rating, somewhere or other. A typical five star rating , is as under

1 Star - Poor

2 Stars - Fair

3 Stars- Average

4 Stars - Good

5 Stars – Excellent

 

In today’s scenario, how do you check the credibility of a product or service, before you buy?

Gone are the days, you needed to call some techie friend, to find out a best model of mobile phone or call a frequent traveller to find out a good hotel, in an unknown location. The world is fully wired and connected. In a touch of a button, you can have the review of almost any product or service, you are looking for. Be it doing some online shopping, planning for a movie, or booking a hotel room or anything else. We tend to check for the number of stars in these online reviews, before we can make a decision.

 

I see this as a positive trend, because it makes the product sellers and service providers, to offer the best quality, in order to get a positive review. And as we are all aware, people are quick to make a negative review than a positive review. So, the vendors too have become extremely cautious.

Let me share a personal experience. I had booked a hotel room in Coimbatore by Goibibo – a hotel booking app, under the “Pay at Hotel” mode. As I went there, to my surprise the hotel guy said, that rooms were full and he could not give me a room. When I told him, I had made a booking he said, “Yes Sir, but you have not paid any money. We tried to call you and you didn’t pick the phone, so we cancelled the booking”.  So, it was a sort of tricky situation.  I was contemplating, what can be done to resolve the problem. I said, “You cannot do this to me. You have put me in a helpless situation. If you deny me a room, then I might have to give a very poor rating for your hotel in the website. These words surprisingly acted like magic. He said, “Please wait, Sir”. He then called a few higher ups and got my problem sorted out. He gave me a room that was booked by someone else. I don’t know how he handled the next guest and that was not my problem too. But somehow he made my problem disappear.

It was then I realised that these star ratings are having such a big impact. I am not advising you to use this as black mail weapon, but if you have a genuine issue, don’t hesitate to use this. By giving appropriate rating, we can push our product sellers and service providers, to provide a higher quality of product or service.

So, the question is while you look for the stars, before deciding on buying a product or availing a service, how often do you do you do a rating or submit a review after buying a product or service?  If you haven’t done so far, please start doing it, from now on. Don’t think it is a waste of time. By doing so, you are helping others and in turn someone is helping us too. It is a win – win situation.

It is clearly evident that both the sellers and buyers are actively looking for your rating.

As a buyer, if I see a good rating, it becomes easier for me to buy a product or service.

As a seller, if I get a good rating, it becomes easy for me to sell a product.

Sellers know that, they cannot take the buyers for granted any more. People are checking for the star rating before making any purchase decision. A good review helps to sell a product or service much easier than having to spend too much of money on advertising.

So, please take the time to do a rating and submit a review, every time you buy a product or avail some service. This can help to create a quality conscious business environment, which will improve the image of our country.

D. Senthil Kannan,

 Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

 Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

 Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com