How to Handle Negative Reviews Damaging Your Brand’s Reputation: While negative reviews might be a source of fear for business owners, they also offer room for growth and improvement. How you handle them has a great deal to do with what prospects think about your business.
In this article, we examines in detail why responding to negative reviews is important, how to find the root causes, and finally provides essential tips for responding to dissatisfied customers.
Negative Reviews Can Help Your Business
Nowadays, consumers would instead depend on the review sites to determine whether to buy your product or not. In that case, negative reviews will simply keep potential customers away from your business and they would not believe in your product or service.
There are many reasons why negative online reviews are left unresponded to. Often, negative reviews are an emotional response from customers who feel that a business has let them down in some way.
Knowing what causes negative reviews is as important as responding to them. As a matter of fact, after analyzing the review profiles of many businesses in the last ten years, I can say that it is possible to find common issues or complaints when dealing with negative reviews.
Adverse reviews, though daunting, are actually quite valuable for companies as they bring to light various issues about the product, customer service, pricing, billing, and more. Each one provides significant insight into how to make products, services, and customer experiences better.
Businesses that can critically analyze negative reviews and take effective measures will know where the problem areas are and develop ways to improve their ability to serve customers.
How to Respond to Negative Reviews
Being able to acknowledge customers’ voices and show them that they are heard really means a lot. The fact that you take their reviews seriously is one way to build trust and belief in your business.
How you respond to negative reviews may make all the difference in how potential customers could view your company.
Below, I give my top list of recommendations for responding to negative reviews:
Be Professional
Encountering a negative review that criticizes your business can provoke strong emotions, making it easy to lose your composure. Nevertheless, it remains crucial to uphold a composed, respectful, and professional tone in all your responses to negative reviews. Steer clear of any language that may come across as confrontational or defensive.
Personalize
It is essential to customize responses for each individual negative review. A frequent error businesses make is using a generic response for all negative reviews, which can give the impression of insincerity.
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Respond Promptly
Aim to reply to negative reviews within 24 hours, demonstrating your commitment to resolving issues and minimizing the negative impact of the review. Responding quickly increases the likelihood of finding a resolution with the upset customer.
Show Empathy
Validating the reviewer’s concern and taking responsibility for mistakes or problems the reviewer has encountered. Remember, future customers will be reading your response, so empathy is key, even when you think that the reviewer has got it wrong.
Solution Offering
Offer a direct solution to the reviewer’s concern, where this is possible. If that is not possible immediately, provide contact details, email, or phone number to allow them to contact you for resolution.
Highlight the Positive
Use your responses as an opportunity to emphasize the positives of your business. Reinforce its quality and value.
Follow-up
Once the review has been responded to, consider following up with the reviewer by phone or email if possible. Ensure their concerns have been satisfactorily resolved. This is a great opportunity to ask for an updated review, which often results in a higher star rating.
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Negative Review Response Templates
Consistency is a crucial element in business branding. When faced with negative reviews, it’s advisable to develop review response templates for your customer service team or those responsible for handling review responses.
These templates serve as a guide, ensuring that responses to negative reviews follow a consistent approach while treating every customer equally. However, it is essential to avoid the temptation of copying and pasting the templated responses verbatim.
To create review response templates, start by conducting a comprehensive audit of all existing negative reviews. Analyze each review, identify common trends or complaints, and categorize them accordingly. Each category should have its own set of templated responses.
When responding to negative reviews, make sure to personalize the template and address specific details related to the reviewer’s concerns. Additionally, ensure that all responses adhere to the best practices outlined above.
The following negative review response template incorporates the aforementioned best practices:
Dear [Reviewer’s Name],
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We genuinely appreciate your perspective, as it allows us to improve our services. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and want to address your concerns promptly.
We understand that [briefly summarize the main issue or complaint]. We take full responsibility for our shortcomings in this matter. Your experience does not align with the high standards we strive to maintain.
We would like to rectify the situation and ensure your satisfaction. Please allow us the opportunity to discuss this further with you. Kindly reach out to us at [contact details] so we can personally address your concerns and find a suitable resolution.
Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused, and we value your feedback as it helps us enhance our services. We hope to have the chance to regain your trust and provide you with the exceptional experience we’re known for.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Title/Position]
[Your Company]
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Remember to adapt and tailor the template to each individual review, incorporating personalized details and demonstrating your commitment to addressing the reviewer’s concerns.
What about fake negative reviews?
Dealing with fake negative reviews can be an incredibly frustrating experience, as they come in various forms:
1. It might be a case of mistaken identity, where the reviewer has confused your business with another.
2. The review could be maliciously posted by a competitor or adversary aiming to harm your reputation.
3. Review bombing, orchestrated by a disgruntled customer and others, can flood your page with fake negative reviews.
4. In more severe instances, fake negative reviews could be part of an extortion scheme.
If you suspect a review is fake, the first step is to check your customer database to verify if the reviewer’s name matches any current or previous customers. If no match is found, it is likely a fake review.
Your initial action should be attempting to have the fake review permanently removed. Most review sites offer options to flag reviews that violate their guidelines. For instance, on Google Business Profile, you can follow the guidelines in their help documentation to flag the review.
If the review site does not take action to remove the fake review, you can respond to it as follows:
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us; your input is valuable. However, after a thorough examination, we could not locate any records of your visit or interaction with our company. As a result, we suspect that this review might not be genuine or could have been posted in error.
If you believe there has been a misunderstanding or if there is a specific issue you would like to discuss, we encourage you to reach out directly to our customer service department at [contact information]. Our team is always ready to address any concerns or questions you may have, and we are committed to providing excellent service to all our customers.
You can also read: How to Increase Customer Reviews for Your Local Business
Dealing with Negative Reviews Online
In today’s business landscape, negative reviews are bound to happen, regardless of your industry.
However, mastering the art of responding to negative reviews constructively can significantly impact your online reputation and ultimately influence your ability to attract new customers.
By following the steps outlined above, you can position your business to transform a negative review into a positive opportunity.
Would you like to read more about how to handle negative reviews damaging your brand’s reputation related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
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