How to Respond to Negative Reviews Online
Approximately 22% of customers will leave a business after receiving just one negative review, whereas around three negative reviews can drive away 59% of customers.
Reviews assist consumers in making quick decisions about purchases in their research by providing a clear picture of your company. Studies show that of businesses who respond to bad reviews, 33% turn around and post a good review, and 34% delete the original negative review. Whether a review is good or bad, it makes sense to respond.
When someone leaves a negative review about your company, it can be really difficult to know how to respond. There are many ways you could handle the situation, but one of the best responses is simply asking for more information and trying to find out what went wrong.
Despite your natural feeling of frustration, make your best effort to remedy the situation. Resolve the problem by apologizing and repairing it. If you resolve the issue, many customers will be happy to change their reviews.
Below I’ll run through the steps to consider when responding to a negative online review.
1. Keep calm and take a breathIt can be hard not to take personal insults and low-star ratings as being directed at us, but it is important to remember that sometimes people are venting their frustrations about something else. A good way of responding might be to thank them for taking the time—yes, even if they didn’t like your business or service—and to ask what could have been done better in order to make things right with them.
Before responding to an angry customer, take a moment to breathe deeply and think about it. If necessary, get up and walk around the block. The best thing to do is to settle your emotions before responding, as being angry is never a good outcome.
You might find it helpful to have a list of standard responses to refer to when responding to a customer who’s had a bad experience. In writing a reply to the reviewer, you can use these “canned” responses as a starting point. Then tailor your canned responses to each reviewer’s feedback to ensure people reading your reviewers don’t see too much repetition.
Taking a moment to think about what you want to say, or the kind of response you want to use, can be incredibly helpful—especially if you’re upset.
Take the below response, for example. If emotions had been settled before responding, the responder might have delivered a better response, without the sarcasm. It would have been better to look at this situation from the perspective of asking if anything could have been done better to make things right with the reviewer.
Bad reviews actually have the power to improve conversion rates, so it would be a shame not to take this golden opportunity to respond. Taking the time to respond to a negative review can result in a 16% boost in customer advocacy.
Remember that the most effective form of marketing is word of mouth. Businesses experience a 37% decline in customer advocacy simply by the act of not responding to a negative review.
Be empathetic in your approach. Reviewers often just want to be heard. Sometimes, all it takes to make a customer happy is to show them that you have heard them and that you want to solve their problem. Customer satisfaction can be doubled by resolving a customer issue in a single contact, as you’re far more likely to get a repeat sale.
Over 70% of buying decisions are based on how a customer feels they are being treated, so do your best to make all of your customers feel valued – even the unhappy ones, as below.
There are many different types of reviews and reviewers, but there are a few categories into which most people fall. You’re guaranteed to make the response process faster and more effective if you take advantage of BrightLocal’s tips on different types of reviewers, like first-time, sharpshooters, and serial complainers, for example.
First-time reviewers: Consider whether the negative feedback is accurate. If it is, make internal changes to remedy the problem. When applicable, explain how you will prevent this issue from occurring again in the future. Also, if you disagree with the reviewer’s assertions, politely and professionally present your point of view.
Sharpshooters: When dealing with a short, confident review from an expert, keep in mind that brevity is the goal. Condense your response into clear and concise sentences rather than lengthy ones to better reflect this type of reviewer’s communication style.
Serial Complainers: The serial complainer can really hurt your business, so tread carefully. These reviewers have experience with similar businesses and know how to make them look bad in the process. To avoid this, take note of what other companies did when responding with them as well as avoiding making mistakes they made!
Top Tip: If you’re working with Google reviews, click on the reviewer’s profile and you should be able to say all the reviews they’ve left for other businesses. Looking at how other businesses have responded to these reviews (and how successful they’ve been in turning the reviewer around) will give you a great idea of how to approach their review of your business.
Sometimes customers leave reviews because they are disappointed or disgruntled, and not because of something you’ve done. If possible, try contacting them privately with a response that politely addresses their message.
Work to solve the problem with more than just a response. Discover what went wrong and why the reviewer was so dissatisfied. Search your database for their email or phone number and contact them. Instead of addressing the issue online, you’ll be able to speak directly and resolve it “in person.”
Efforts to resolve the problem show the customer (and others) you mean business. When customer trust is broken, it is critical to go the extra mile. Fixing the problem not only makes the customer happier, but other potential clients will see how important your customers are to your business, as you can see below.
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