Soliciting comments from customers might seem scary, but it's less risky than ignoring their need to speak up. RatePoint's CEO explains how to proactively manage the process.

Today's social networking technologies and Web 2.0 initiatives enable the dissemination of user-generated content about businesses, products and services across the web. One of the most common pieces of user-generated content on the web is the customer review. According to a recent study by Forrester, 71 percent of online shoppers read reviews, making this type of content the most widely read of consumer-generated content.

The benefit of customer reviews is obvious, and has proven to be an effective means to boost sales and strengthen customer relationships. According to a study conducted by eVoc Insights, a customer experience consulting firm, 47 percent of consumers need to consult reviews before making an online purchase. And 63 percent of shoppers are more likely to purchase from a site if it has ratings and reviews.

But while many businesses are aware of the power of customer feedback and reviews, the thought of implementing a proactive mechanism to gather customer feedback can be daunting to others, particularly small to medium-sized businesses. Business owners find themselves asking, "Is it worth it?"

The answer is yes. By doing so, you'll likely improve your business, learn something new from your customers and quite possibly even turn a negative experience into a positive one. So what are the keys to getting valuable customer feedback?

Proactively solicit it
It's impossible to track everything that's being said about a business or product online. Even businesses without a web presence -- the local pizza shop or hardware store -- find themselves being talked about on review sites like Yelp, Angie's list or Chowhound.

Businesses should proactively solicit feedback from customers at every opportunity and be timely about it, while the experience is still fresh. While it may come as a surprise to many businesses, the majority of feedback that is proactively solicited is positive. A study by Jupiter Research concludes that 60 percent of online shoppers provide feedback about a shopping experience, and are more likely to give feedback about a positive experience than a negative one. What business doesn't want to hear good things said about it?

Don't be afraid of negative feedback
To know what customers are thinking, businesses have to ask. One of the many fears of companies is often negative feedback, but failing to recognize and fix negative customer experiences can harm a company, its reputation and its future sales. If a business is not proactively soliciting feedback from customers, its reputation may be at risk.

Make it easy to collect feedback
Offering a suggestion box isn't enough to improve customer satisfaction and service. A suggestion box or a survey doesn't provide a mechanism for dialogue between a customer and a retailer, nor does it fix a problem that may have just happened.

Customer feedback and the power of reviews can be extended beyond just online business. Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses can also leverage new technologies to collect and show customer feedback and reviews. Customer feedback mechanisms can be employed not only on websites, but also on receipts, invoices, emails and at point-of-purchase.

Do something with the feedback you get
It's easy to talk about negative and positive reviews, and there is a lot of data about the effects of reviews on sales and consumer confidence. The real key, however, is figuring out what this feedback means to you as a business.

Consider Hair Sisters, a Chicago-based hair supply company that has more than 70,000 visits to its website each week. The company considered posting real testimonials from customers, but decided that it looked too controlled and fake to customers. Instead, it hired my company, RatePoint, to provide its site with a customer feedback platform to proactively gather feedback and interact with customers. The company realized it really wasn't about the positive or negative reviews, but about understanding customers' needs and continuously improving business offerings.

Share customer feedback throughout the organization
Responsibility for customer feedback extends beyond the marketing department. When everyone in a company -- from owner, to customer service, to sales (and they may all be the same person) -- knows what customers are thinking, business decisions will be better informed. In many businesses, the employee receiving the feedback will not move critical feedback up the management chain due to the possible repercussions. Establishing top-down responsibility will encourage employees to share feedback that could be crucial to improving your business. Another key is to keep customers in the loop about how their feedback was used and to thank them for it, whether it was positive or negative.

The bottom line: To know what your customers are thinking you have to ask. The opposite approach -- waiting for feedback to arrive on its own after a negative experience or on an anonymous review website -- can be risky.

Neal Creighton is CEO, RatePoint. Read full bio.