Have you encountered a bad review of your business online? Don’t panic. There are ways to turn this negative situation into a positive one! Every business owner will likely be faced with a negative review at some point. The key to making the most of this situation is how you respond to the dissatisfied customer. Reviews influence 93% of consumers’ purchasing decisions. Use these tips to help you deal with a negative review and maintain a good image for your business.
Craft a Thoughtful Response
Take the time to craft a response to their review. This goes a long way in showing your customers that you care. An excellent response to a bad review should include the customer’s name, a summary of their concern, and a solution. You should also provide a way for the customer to privately discuss their concerns with you, potentially via email or phone, but making the initial response public will do wonders for showing that you are listening to your customers and taking care of them.
Be Honest
Customers value honesty and transparency, and they can quickly tell when it is faked. When responding to a bad review, be honest, and own the mistakes you or your business made and offer to make it right—taking ownership for any mistakes that the business has made shows your current and potential customers that you know how you can improve and that your business is an honest and trustworthy one. Attaching your name to the review response will also help to personalize the interaction and create a more favorable image for your brand.
Negative Reviews Are Opportunities
Do not dread if you receive a negative review. Instead, think of the negative review as an opportunity to improve your business, better serve your customers, and eventually increase revenues through happier customers! When a customer leaves a bad review, they are usually pointing out areas where your business could improve; make a note of this and make the necessary changes to serve your customers better. If your business implements something new or makes a significant change because of a negative review, it would be good to have a follow-up response letting the reviewer know that your business has changed for the better due to their feedback.
Avoid a Public Conversation
After the initial review response, you should communicate with the customer via private channels such as direct message, email, or phone. Doing this will further personalize the experience between the customer and the business and avoid any more negative public comments.
Provide More Value
You should try to go above and beyond for the customer leaving your business the negative review. Your online reputation is well worth the small extra cost of making things right with your valued customers. Do more than just solve the problem. Make the customer whole again.
Correct the Problem
There was something that caused the customer to leave your business a negative review. Ensure that you fix the problem to avoid more negative reviews in the future, and let your customers know that you are fixing the problem and how you are doing it.
Remain Positive
Staying positive when responding to a negative review is critical. Having a bad attitude or a condescending tone in your review response will not help the situation and can create a worse image for your business than the bad review. When responding to negative reviews, you should always be positive and offer solutions.
Outsource Review Management
Sometimes an outside perspective can be extremely helpful; this is true when it comes to managing your reviews. Having this task outsourced is a great way to remain neutral and gain valuable insights, all while taking the burden off of your shoulders.
