I was pretty giddy to learn Smartsheet was recently awarded a 5 Star rating in the Project Management software category at Reviews.com. It’s always satisfying when our product outranks other tools, but online reviews bring up many questions for readers. Are they accurate? fair? unbiased? legitimate?
I ask myself the same questions (yes, even when they give Smartsheet the highest ratings!).
There are plenty of sites that are not transparent about their methodology, who’s really doing the review, checks and balances, and so on. And believe me, it’s good to be skeptical. Some sites request payment from the vendor before reviews are posted. How can it ever be a good idea to mix in money when seeking fair and balanced reviews? Short answer: Never.
So when I learned of the 5 star ranking, I wanted to dig in and learn more about Reviews.com’s methodology. Here are a few of the things I found that differentiates their review service from others:
1. Always identify the reviewer. AND, provide contact information and full LinkedIn profiles. If you’re wondering who reviewed your product, you have everything you need. In our case, Raymond Althof reviewed Smartsheet. He’s a PM expert, with 15+ years managing strategic IT and business projects at various Global 2000 businesses like Phillips and 
ASML, the world’s leading provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry. The guy’s been in the trenches.
2. Add multiple layers of validation. Even with an industry expert doing the bulk of the review, it’s not just simply one person’s perspective. Reviews.com researches key features that are important to the consumer and then determines whether or not each product has those features. A product that has many of the most important features will score very well, while a product that doesn't offer certain key features will rank lower.
3. Deny involvement by the vendor. Reviews.com doesn’t allow the vendor to intercept the review, to guide the data collection process, to spin a capability in a certain way. The reviewer gathers everything he/she needs to write from actually working with the product. (I didn’t even know they were reviewing Smartsheet until it was published.) Yes, there may be content that’s a little “off” here or there, but shoot…who can argue with the strategy of actually using the product to write the review? Certainly not me. It’s a review, not an advertisement.
4. Keep it fresh. Reviews.com refreshes the reviews every 4-5 weeks, so new capabilities can be layered in and product updates accounted for, giving the reader the confidence that the information is current. They offer the ability to compare products and it is imperative that users are accessing the most current information. Posting outdated information could result in users incorrectly crossing the ideal solution off their vendor list.
Graham Sumioka, head of marketing at Reviews.com, confirmed the above findings and added: “It’s a very time-intensive process to do tiered research like this, but it’s exactly what readers need to make informed decisions. We take it very seriously and it’s at the very core of the value we offer.”
Overall, I think Reviews.com is on to something. Bringing transparency and honesty is something that is much needed in the review space - for solution providers and buyers alike. So for that, I give the team at Reviews.com 5 Stars.
-Jodi