How to Deal with Negative Online Reviews
The reviews that your company is receiving could be affecting your business negatively. According to Zendesk, a customer service software platform, 88 percent of consumers have been influenced by an online customer service review when deciding what to buy. This is why it is very important to monitor and respond to the reviews that your business is receiving.
No one wants to get negative reviews, but they sometimes happen. Here are 5 tips to deal with them correctly when they occur.
1. Monitor your Online Presence
In order to respond to reviews, you need to know where they are being posted. Customers can post reviews through several different outlets. Facebook, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google, are a few of the most commonly used.
2. Respond Quickly
Reviews are visible to the entire world, so it’s important to show that your business cares about what your customers think and say about you. By responding promptly, to both negative and positive reviews, it shows your customers and potential customers that you value them and their opinions.
3. Be Polite with your Response
After discovering a negative review about your business, you may feel the impulse to respond emotionally. However, this is not the route that you want to go. Remember to respond politely, thanking the customer for their feedback and then responding to the negative aspect of the review. If you want to know more about why the customer left the review, just ask. Learn from the feedback, and use it to make your business better.
4. Offset Negative Reviews by Encouraging Reviews
To offset the impact of a negative review, encourage customers to leave more reviews about your business. Utilize other marketing avenues such as your social media profiles, your website, print advertisements, and table toppers, to request reviews from your current customers.
5. Share the Feedback With Your Staff
Share the negative feedback and the positive feedback with your staff. Making sure that everyone in your company is aware of reviews you’ve received will help prevent similar problems in the future, and positive reviews will help remind them that their customers appreciate them.
Now go out and find those reviews, and start repairing your business’ online reputation!
