Positive reviews can be a great way to attract new customers to your business. But what happens if the reviews aren’t good?
The impact a bad review would have on your business would depend on how well you deal with the issue.
Here are seven tips for dealing with negative reviews online:
1. Respond To The Reviews
The rules of the internet aren’t that different to real life. Customers behave in the same way whether they’re online or offline.
They want attention. They want to be heard. If there’s something you’d regret doing, it’s ignoring an angry customer.
Before you look at resolving the issue, make sure you take time to apologize and show that you care that they’re not getting the right value for their money.
It’s not really about your bad product or service. There’s a mind war going on and you need to win their minds. Listen so you’d understand what’s going on.
2. Contact The Review Site
If you’ve been given a negative rating by an independent review site, just asking for your business to be removed won’t work.
If you feel a review is unfair and you can prove it, you can state your case in the comments.
If it’s a flaw you know you’re guilty of, then work on it and ask the webmaster to make updates to the post.
Most review sites would be happy to share any improvements you’ve made with their readers.
3. Encourage Positive Reviews
Make sure you’re engaging with all your customers. Don’t just respond when there’s a
complaint.
Communicate with customers who’ve had a positive experience and encourage them to share. You don’t want the negative reviews to be the only thing prospects see when they’re making that buying decision.
4. Don’t Take It Personally
Your business might not be the right one for the customer. And that’s ok. You can’t please everyone, but don’t curse.
Deal with the only the issues that relate to the negative review and leave it at that.
And let’s face it. When someone criticizes your business, it can be hard not to take it personally. It’s even worse if you feel the complaint isn’t fair.
But being publicly defensive will worsen the situation. It’s best to communicate professionally with the customer.
5. Be Genuine
When a customer leaves a negative review, the last thing they want is a response that sounds like it’s come from a robot.
Make sure there’s a human feel to your response. Don’t bore them with another sales pitch.
6. Consider Taking It Off Your Page
If you can avoid a public exchange, it’s something you should do. Leave a sincere comment on the online review, and then continue to discuss the issue privately.
This means you should make it compulsory for anyone who wants to leave a comment to drop their email address.
No prospect would like the sight of all the back and forth on your site.
7. Learn From It
Learn from your reviews and use them to improve your business. If you’re receiving a lot of negative reviews or getting a lot of complaints about the same issue, then there could be a problem you’re not managing.
Now you have those negative reviews, it’s time to change things.
It’s easy to see why negative reviews make a lot of managers sad, but you now have seven ways to handle them.
