MARKETING CONSUMER SPECIAL ..............Wrath of the Reviewer

Wrath of the Reviewer  Connected consumers are compelling companies to react instantly to their complaints or risk online crucifixion Hotel owners and managers around the country sweat when they  hear 27-year-old Bornav Raychaudhary has checked into their property.  The freelance photogra pher, who has posted some 400-odd reviews  on TripAdvisor, a website that provides user-generated re views and  ratings for the hospitality industry, has pum melled and praised  properties nationwide, criticising them for poor cleanliness and services,  while praising others for their location and access to public transport. While his words may have been relegated to the cramped confines of  a box full of feedback forms ear lier, the increasingly social internet  has forced compa nies and brands to take notice; he says that some  20% of his posts on TripAdvisor get responded to -especially critical  ones -and that he has been offered room upgrades and complimentary  meals when he's pointed out shortcomings. For consumer-facing businesses such as hospitality, this surge in direct  feedback can be a boon and a bane.Today, companies don't have the  luxury of consumers taking a breath before raging at perceived   shortcomings. Instead, they are on Facebook and Twitter in a flash,  venting their spleen. And to try to get themselves heard beyond an  immediate group of friends and followers, they are looking at forums  such as MouthShut (the oldest in the business), Zomato and TripAdvisor  and even startups such as Akosha to get a company's attention. Not everyone likes the attention. Just ask Faisal Farooqui of  MouthShut who has been sued literally hundreds of times (Kumar  Builders taking the cake with a `2,000-crore case) for negative reviews  posted on the site. Several company executives also claim that this forum  is a magnet for questionable complaints. Farooqui started MouthShut in 2000 as a 24-year-old when dial-up  modems were in vogue and barely 0.5% of the population were  broadband subscribers.Today, at least 15% Indians have broadband  access and by fiscal year 2018, India is expected to have over half a  billion mobile internet users, according to a Morgan Stanley study. Taking a company to the cleaners has never been easier. Many Shades of Reviewers As the feedback piles up, companies and brands seem to be taking  notice. “It is impossible to ignore this feedback; it is relentless, real  time and the negative comments always tend to get amplified,“ says   Riyaaz Amlani, chairman and managing director of Impresario  Entertainment and Hospitality, which runs restaurants such as  Salt Water Café and Smoke House Deli. Amlani tries to put a positive  spin on things. He says his firm uses these online outlets as a data  goldmine, looking for leads on which locations work, what food and drink is popular (or not) and even scout for new themes to expand.  “The challenge is to differentiate the signals of customer unhappiness  from the noise of the internet,“ adds Amlani, who is also president of  industry lobby National Restaurants Association of India. These reviewers can come in all shades.For example, some   restaurateurs complain that patrons threaten them with poor reviews  if they are not handed a freebie (ranging from free dessert to an entire  complimentary meal), while others contend that there are often vested   interests at play looking to shred a joint's reputation online. From fledgling startups to centuries-old brands, everyone's under the  microscope of these trigger-happy consumers. “Everything we do  is based on what the consumer says,“ contends Aprameya  Radhakrishna, cofounder of TaxiForSure, an online taxi aggregator.  “We actively track complaints -we respond to tweets in five minutes.“ He should know; despite a rating of 3.7 5 on Google Play, reviewers  have taken a swing at their service. “They say book a cab in 15 seconds,  I couldn't book one in 45 minutes,“ a user on Google Play, Mudit Kakaria, raged. In the last few months, Snapdeal has been accused of delivering  empty boxes, stones and waste paper instead of some of the products  ordered. And it has paid the price, as consumers have savaged the firm  for its tardiness. “I ordered a laptop from Snapdeal and got a bunch  of papers instead,“ says Shouvik (he wanted only his first name used),  a software engineer in Bengaluru. “They responded the same day after  I complained on online forums.“ Others similarly complained that  deliveries were delayed, wrong products were delivered and discounts  originally offered were later rescinded. “The feedback loop is instant today,“ says Sandeep Komaravelly,  marketing head, Snapdeal. “More people are experiencing our brand  and we have to ensure we are delivering a consistent brand experience   across users.“ For an ecommerce market place, slipups can happen  anywhere; the technology backbone can give up during a sale,  backend support can muddle packaging and thirdparty logistics may take  days to send a product across. Part of the challenge for such companies  is to not give into rogue reviewers.“We have had several cases where  people complain and demand a replacement or refund after the  mandatory 60-day period and after they have tried and disliked a  product,“ says Komaravelly. “The unfortunate truth is that people will  complain and some will even take undue advantage of their position.“ Trend Across Industries Sayali Karanjkar, founder of Outsy, which pro vides a curated listing of  online social events, knows the feeling well. As a fledgling startup, being  visible and owning a strong rating on Google Play are vital to staying  afloat and with some luck, winning financial backers. Not if unscrupulous reviewers can help. The firm, run out of her flat  in Mumbai's Ban dra suburb, was approached by the head of a small   BPO outfit seeking 300 coupons to pro vide glowing reviews and a  five-star rating for their mobile app or risk an online shredding. “We  decided to hold out against these black mailers,“ says Karanjkar.  “Our rating didn't change ... most of these people want freebies,  especially during a promotion and think it is the simplest way out is to  beat us down.“ To be sure, it isn't just the hospitality industry that is coping with  this backlash. Many other consumer-centric businesses including  banking, mobile telecom, consumer goods and auto are all dealing with  this change. “People are getting increasingly comfortable using online  channels as their first port of call, with higher expectations: quick  responses, high degree of personalisation in responses and an  expectation that the brand will have the customer's history at hand  before they respond,“ says a Vodafone spokesperson. Companies such as Vodafone have plenty to learn from aggressive  reviewers, say executives. It helps companies review products and  services on the fly and make tweaks when faced with negative reviews.   “Voda fone's approach has been to provide a resolution `on the medium'  -this al lows us to also show transparency,“ says the spokesperson. Then there's the curious case of HDFC Bank. Despite having a robust  complaint management system in ng place, nearly two thirds of   reviewiers of the bank's service give it a single-star rating on MouthShut. “There is always mixed feedback,“ says Pranesh Rao, head, quality  initiatives group at HDFC Bank. “These consumers are far more savvy  and expect almost instant response from us.“ HDFC Bank tries to  respond in an hour to these critics (most issues revolve around questions  over a product or service) and keep them updated, he says.  “This kind of feedback is much richer than the offline feedback form  with its restricted set of five or six questions,“ says Rao.  “For HDFC  Bank, this is a far more effective way of gauging  effective customer feedback.“ As consumers have got more connect ed (Facebook has some 100  million us ers in India, Twitter 22.2 million and WhatsApp 70 million),  getting the word out has become much easier and more effective.  Dedicated reviewers are flocking to other sites as well. Akosha, an online forum for consumer complaints, was founded by  lawyer Ankur Singla five years ago and has since raised funding from  Sequoia Capi tal. Akosha's growth provides some clues to how vocal   Indian consumers have become. Accord ing to Singla, Akosha's user  base has grown 233% between 2013 and 2014, as a horde of  dissatisfied consumers has swarmed the site looking for a fix to their  woes. Despite this growing consumer angst, the firm proceeds with  caution. “We have our own inter nal checks to verify the authenticity  of the complaint. If we find the consumer has unre alistic expectations  or lack requisite details, we speak to them and explain the proce dure,“  he says. Over the past six years, Nikhil Ganju has witnessed the rise of these  reviewers from his perch at TripAdvisor India, perhaps the most  popular consumer-driven travel re views portal in the business.  “The ability of consumers to provide almost instant feed back on  TripAdvisor has transformed the way people book hotels and holidays,“  says the country manager of TripAdvisor India. “With over 400 million monthly visitors half of them on the mobile  -TripAdvisor's reviewers can heavily influence opinion.“ Given the heft of TripAdvisor online, it is little surprise that the firm,  spun-off from travel portal Expedia in 2014, is thinking several  steps ahead. “We are constantly thinking of features that will foster  interaction within the community,“ says Ganju. “The level of engagement  between users doubles with so cial reviews.“ With over 500 million Indians expected to be online by 2018,  according to a recent re port by telecom gear vendor Ericsson,  companies can expect the temperature to only be turned up in the next  few years. Rahul Sachitanand ET 1FEB15