Responding to Negative Reviews the Right Way
Protect Your Online Reputation from the Effects of Negative Reviews
Finding a negative review of your business can be distressing. The reflex reaction is to ignore the review and move on. This is a mistake that will backfire once you search your business and seepages dedicated to results that show reviews like these:
- Don’t trust Business X. It’s a scam!
- How Disappointing Business X Is!
Damage control can get worse if you don’t take action after seeing even one bad review. To avoid this scenario, entrepreneurs should create accounts in all review sites where they’re mentioned. This will allow them to monitor the positive and negative comments about their company. Close tracking will allow you to immediately reply whenever a negative review is posted.
Make your profile look well-appointed, as customers are likely to check your profile to see the reviews about your products and services. A well-designed profile can enhance your online image and increase consumer trust.
Many consumers now check for product reviews before transacting with a business. They want to make sure they’re spending their hard-earned money on high-quality goods that will be useful for a reasonable amount of time. This makes it imperative for entrepreneurs to ensure customer satisfaction while guarding their online reputation.
Letting one bad review fester can tarnish your pristine business image. Make sure to take action with diplomatic reactions that are prompt and properly phrased. There are review sites that allow a business to reply back to comments. Use this feature to answer destructive comments that can hit your enterprise hard. It is important, however, to be careful on how to phrase your answer. You want your business to be seen as solicitous and open-minded enough to make reparations, not defensive and bitter.
A terrible review can make you feel disheartened. Accept it and handle it objectively. Create a personalized response will would humbly convey your apologies, explain your side on the matter and make compensations, if necessary. You can offer to exchange the product for more satisfactory items or refund the offended customer for the trouble.
Always remember that a negative review shows you how things can be better improved. You might have scored a little low on customer service. Why not provide trainings and refresher courses for your staff? Customer passed from one staff to another? Maybe there’s something wrong with the workflow. Complains about a defective product? Ask the customer if they want a replacement or refund.
Proper communication is the key to improve your relations with your reviewers. There are some cases, however, of inaccurate reviews and black propaganda arranged by your competitors. In this case, you have to find evidence that the transaction is completely untrue. Approach the review site administrators with your proof and ask them if they could take down the libelous reviews. On the occasion that the bad reviews are not taken down, ask satisfied customers to post reviews on the sites you’ve been blackballed. A stream of good reviews will help neutralize the effects of those bad comments against your business.
Do not ask people to post positive reviews in exchange for cash. That tactic is not only prohibited by the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission, but also flies against ethical business practices. No amount of money can erase a reputation further blackened with the scandal of ‘pay-per-review.’ This will just continue to make you look bad in front of customers.
Bad online reviews cannot spell doom for your online marketing campaigns unless they’re very pervasive and cannot be controlled anymore. What you must do is to strive to defuse the damage with good reviews requested from customers who liked and loved your service.
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