We’re all human (allegedly). That means we’re prone to making mistakes within our businesses which will inevitably lead to a bad review on occasion.
How you respond to negative reviews will make an immense difference on how it affects the opinion of prospective customers who read them. And they DO read them.
Trust me, I know how badly you want to just crack your knuckles and let ’em have it for attacking your life’s work.
Woah, woah, woah! Slow down B-Rabbit! Going scorched earth isn’t the answer.
Take a little time and assess the situation with your staff first. Was the feedback fair? Is there something you need to correct?
While you get the facts, try to cool down a little so you don’t react emotionally.
Now, let’s take a look at what it’s like to take the high road and how responding to negative reviews in this way softens the blow it may have on the public reading the interaction.
How to respond to bad reviews
When you are responding to a negative review you need to apologize and offer a channel of communication that gets the discussion offline.
Remember: this conversation is public and your reply is putting your customer service on full display. The public will believe how you respond to the negative review will be the way you respond to them should they have an issue.
So, yes, apologize even if you think the person who posted the bad review is lying or inaccurately portraying the actual events that took place. Then, offer a way to contact you offline.
Here’s an example:
What they did right:
- Apologized for the bad experience
- Gave them a way to contact management
- Was specific about who they would have a conversation with
- Kept it brief
- Took the conversation offline
A couple of those points we’ve already touched on, but let’s explain some of the other ones.
This reply threw in a number and told the reviewer to ask for a specific manager. That’s a nice touch and shows everyone who stumbles across this reply that management is taking this concern seriously.
Another good practice they added was keeping the reply brief.
Don’t ask questions or try to explain what happened. This could fan the flames and start an argument that stays in front of the public.
Again, even if the review is wrong, you believe its untrue, or whatever your issue with it is, attacking it is not a good look. Have you ever had someone say, “If it’s not true, why are you getting so defensive?” Think of it kind of like that.
I responded like you said. Now what?
Great! Now, anyone who finds your reply will know you took the matter seriously and can maintain professionalism under duress.
If the person takes you up on your offer to reach out, do whatever you can to resolve the matter. You’ve likely been in this situation before so you probably know what to do.
Should you actually resolve the matter and they are truly satisfied, don’t forget to ask them to update their review! Should you get them to do it and talk about how you resolved their issue, that would look fantastic to prospective customers.
If you don’t like us now, maybe you’ll learn to love us!
If you can’t do it, we can!
2oddballs social media management doesn’t just provide content and comment services, we also manage your reviews across all platforms. We’ll respond to both positive and negative reviews in ways that will have prospective customers pull the trigger on your products or services.
Just fill out our form on this page or give us a call at 417-986-6332.
