Being in business isn’t for the faint of heart. While you may sometimes get positive reviews from satisfied customers, occasionally, you’ll get a negative review despite doing your best to provide excellent customer service.
Getting online reviews can feel like riding a roller coaster. The good reviews are easy to get through, but the bad reviews will make you toss and turn all night. How do you deal with a negative review? While your first reaction may be to ignore it, you really should make sure to address it and do so quickly.
Here are five tips on how to deal with a bad review online.
1. Respond Quickly
It is important to note that nearly 90% of customers choose your business because of reading an online review. This means it is important to address any negative comments your business gets online. You should always remember to respond to online reviews, whether positive or negative, just like you would if it happened in a face-to-face interaction.
Remember to be gracious and humble, no matter how angry the review’s language is. You should start by thanking them for sharing their thoughts. Always show respect and appreciation for their experience. Remember that professional businesses respond to feedback and value the opportunity to improve.
2. Go Offline with Conversations
When you have a particularly poor review or see multiple critiques, it is a good idea to respond by asking for contact information, so you can speak to them personally. Taking the conversation off a public forum will help you keep the interaction more personal and provide a better customer journey. You can also learn about their experience better when not you’re not worried about your brand’s image.
3. Listen Effectively
In many cases, when a customer provides negative feedback, what they want is to make sure you hear them. You really need to hone your listening skills if you want to effectively manage a negative interaction. You need to hear what the review is saying, even when you don’t agree with it.
Reviews are a fantastic way of getting feedback that tells you how your business and employees are doing and how your performance is received. Listening to the reviewer allows you to get a better idea of where they’re coming from and gives you the context you need to respond appropriately. Listening effectively also allows you to be more sincere when you respond to the review.
4. Remain Professional
Remember that you always need to be professional. It is hard to make sure your business exceeds expectations every day, which is why it sometimes hurts to hear someone wasn’t happy with the service they received. You must avoid taking criticism personally and use it as a learning tool instead.
Keep in mind that anything you say in a response reflects on your business for years to come. This fact should help you remain calm and professional and set emotions aside.
Look at the negative review as giving you something to learn from. Your business becomes more ready for success when it is constantly growing and moving forward, and this is reflected in how you deal with both positive and negative feedback.
5. Share Resolutions
You must also remember that your customers and leads want to see how you respond to reviews. Responding to negative reviews or feedback doesn’t stop at providing a response. Your response must also include a resolution, and you must follow through with this solution. Let your customer know what your next steps are for fixing the issue and ensuring it never happens again.
This shows your potential clients you are committed to the work and the business. It also tends to satisfy the person who posted the bad review. Often, a customer who left a negative review will return to your business as a devoted customer if their issues are heard and fixed readily.
Conclusion
When you consider a negative review as a learning opportunity, it’s easier to take the feedback less personally. Remember to respond quickly and professionally, and take the conversation offline if needed. It’s also crucial to listen to what the customer says and to follow through with a resolution.
When you respond to reviews with professionalism, you learn how to improve your business and gain experience with customer service that is irreplaceable.
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