How To Respond To Negative Reviews
Daniel Flynn
-Managing Your Digital Information eBook
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It’s Not About What Happened. It’s About How You Responded
For those of you who have experienced negative reviews, I know this is probably a sore subject. However, I am here to tell you that it is alright. Although satisfying all of your customers is a noble pursuit, it is unrealistic. Negative reviews will happen. With that being said, the best thing you can do when you receive a negative review is to respond. Respond even if the complaint is unfair or untrue. In this case, the worst action is inaction. To help you manage your online reputation, the rest of this article explains how we instruct our clients to respond to negative reviews.
1. Reach out: The First & Most Important Step
Before responding to a review publicly, it is best practice to reach out to the customer directly by phone, email, or direct message. In doing so, you can see if there is anything that you can do to rectify the situation.
Depending on your industry, you may want to offer credit toward a future purchase. As explained in our previous blog post, a display of reparations, such as a gift card, goes a long way in preventing negative reviews. For a longer explanation, click here.
2. Greeting
If reaching out to the customer privately does not help the situation, it is time for you to publicly respond to the review.
Every review response should start with a greeting. Be friendly yet professional. Most importantly, be sympathetic to the customer’s concerns. At the end of the day, your business
3. Reference
Reference the customer’s complaints in the response. This is important for you as a business owner for two reasons. For one, referencing the customer’s concerns forces you to reflect on areas of improvement for your business. Secondly, referencing the customer’s concerns demonstrates that you care about your customers’ opinions.
4. Demonstrate Efforts
Explain that you have made efforts to rectify the situation or prevent it from occurring in the future. If you weren’t able to contact the customer directly, you could even make a public display of reparations in your response. Of course, you must use your best judgment in each situation.
5. Closing
Once you have drafted a greeting, reference to the situation, and demonstration of efforts, you should then end the response with a friendly closing statement. However, you should always keep your responses professional. At this point, do your best to give the customer closure.
How We Can Help
Negative reviews can be detrimental to your business. However, we are here to help.
Our reputation management system automates the review generation process. In addition, it allows you to respond to reviews from a single platform.
For more information, visit our webpage. For more articles like this one, visit our blog.
Next Step?
The worst action is inaction! Our team is ready to find your next big move. Over 20 years of experience means we have the tools to get it done in your local market.
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