Online reviews are important to define the reputation of your business. When a business receives positive reviews, the entire team become happiest but what about bad online reviews. Why businesses are scared of bad online reviews?
One thing businesses need to understand is that negative reviews are equally important. If positive reviews help you in motivating your business, negative reviews help you in knowing where you are lacking.
It helps you in rectifying and offering something better than ever before. If a website is filled with positive reviews, customers may doubt that reviews are fake. So, it is okay to get two-three negative reviews.
But a business should know the right way to deal with bad online reviews. In this article, we will provide a complete guide to dealing with bad online reviews and provided tips for the same.
How to handle bad online reviews?
Whenever you get a negative, you should keep in mind that it is okay to get bad online reviews and many things can be done. Let’s know how you can deal with bad online reviews.
Step 1: Not every review is meant to be taken seriously. The first step is to judge a review whether you should react to that review or thanking them for the feedback is enough. Many times people get crazy and start writing bad reviews anywhere and everywhere which becomes a matter of concern. These reviews can impact the reputation of your business.
Your reaction to that review can be judged in three ways. If their reviews are fake, then it is better to delete them or get them removed from other sites. If their reviews are genuine and require corrective actions, thank them for giving their feedback and work on your mistake.
If their reviews are true but not very serious, keep them in your mind and try not to repeat them. Also, don’t hesitate in thanking them for presenting their feedback. Add a sentence “We will take care of it” to make them feel relieved.
Step 2: In the first step, we talked about a case where reviews are true and there is something wrong on your part. As we already said, it should be rectified but we didn’t explain how you should reply to those bad online reviews.
Do not reply to them right after seeing the notification. Instead, discuss it with your team collect some data and frame your reply with a calm mind. Your reply should look include these elements:
- Thank them for replying.
- Address the issue and tell them how you are going to resolve it and how much time it will take.
- Add your contact details so that they can get in touch with your team.
This format should be followed everywhere. Make sure are not making false promises to paint your image on different platforms.
Step 3: Replying privately is also an alternative. If you think that their problem can be solved through personal contact, then go for it. One thing you should keep in mind before calling your customer, you have to be calm. Sometimes the customer is not in a good mood and if you are cool enough to handle the matter like a level-headed person, then replying privately is a great option.
Many reviews and rating sites provide businesses with a fair chance to sort their customers’ matters privately. When you deal privately with a person do not forget to request them to update their review as this could impact the reputation of your business.
Step 4: When replying privately is not an option, you have to reply publicly. Public replies have both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes customer gets frustrated and he replies in a rude tone which doesn’t look good. Winning that argument is not your goal. You don’t have to take things personally.
You have to remain calm and talk to them in a professional tone. Eventually, it’s your business and you have to retain customers. Make sure you are not stretching it too far. Keep your conversation short, sweet and relevant.
The benefit of public replies is that new customers will appreciate that your team is concerned for customers. You don’t ignore their problems and try to give solutions.
Now let’s check out some tips to deal with bad online reviews.
Tips to deal with bad online reviews
Answers should be quick
You must be thinking that we are contradicting our statements as earlier we said you should not reply right after seeing the notification. And now we are saying replies should be quick. You should judge the review and then make your decision. And by quick replies we mean, you should reply as soon as possible, in case you have to collect data and other information.
Answers should be relevant and thoughtful
Your answers should be relevant and thoughtful. Your customer should find a solution to his problem in your answer. Your answer must include gratitude, apology and solution to your customer’s problem. You can also add your contact details to make it more effective.
Sometimes customers get irritated with your replies and the conversation take an unfriendly face. This could harm the reputation of your business. You have to be very cautious while framing your replies. As it is okay for customers to say anything in the comment section but it is not okay for you to say anything.
Your tone should be polite
The best way to deal with anyone is by staying calm. And while dealing with bad online reviews it should be extra calm. Because they are your customers and listening to their queries is your responsibility. They can afford to lose calm in case they are not getting the right service from your side.
A customer writes bad online reviews for multiple reasons. Sometimes they are not satisfied with the product while other times they are not satisfied with your services. Your goal should be to provide customer satisfaction at any cost.
A calm and composed reply fills your customers’ minds with some relief. They start trusting the authenticity of your business and wait patiently. This is why your tone while writing a reply should be sweet.
Every review requires a customised reply
Be it a negative or a positive review you should write a personalised reply. Don’t automate replies. Read your customer’s reviews, know what they are expecting, how they become happy, what is disturbing them, where you are lacking and much more.
By reading online reviews, you can understand your customer and make sure you are replying to every comment. This leaves a great impact in the minds of the existing customers as well new customers. The new customer starts trusting your brand subconsciously. And if not trust, they at least start seeing your brand as a reliable entity.
Don’t take them personally
Your customer is not a relative from your paternal family. They don’t even know who you are personally. So, please don’t take their reviews personally. They wrote bad online reviews because they were not satisfied with your product or service.
Now your must solve their query and not argue with them by taking things personally. Be a level-headed person and deal with the professional matter in its original face.
Be appreciative of their responses
Right from the beginning of the article, we said to thank them for feedback. This makes customers feel important or valuable and they won’t mind reviewing twice or thrice. Make sure you are expressing your gratitude and apology in your replies.
Go an extra mile to satiate them
Customer satisfaction should be your primary goal. If you think their problem is big enough to be taken seriously, don’t mind moving an extra mile to satiate your clients. Don’t forget if a satisfied customer can bring more customers (evangelism marketing), an annoyed one can pull others back.
Ask your satisfied customers to update their reviews.
Do not let negative reviewers go
Do not ignore people who are writing bad online reviews. Sometimes they are your competitors who are trying to spoil your reputation but sometimes they are genuine customers who are not satisfied with your services.
You have to figure them out and deal accordingly.
Compensate, if you want
Compensating to deal with people who are writing bad online reviews is not a bad idea. Sometimes their losses are meant to be compensated. This adds a lot to the reputation of your business.
Know how rating and reviewing sites work
Nowadays, rating and reviews sites are functioning for customer support. You should know how these sites are working and how they can benefit businesses. You should keep an eye on these sites and keep replying to your customers.
Conclusion
Using these tips and tricks, you can deal with bad online reviews in the right way. It is very important to deal correctly with such kinds of reviews. Because you never know from where a new customer is going to judge your business.
When you get negative reviews, keep calm and take it easy.
What are other tips to deal with bad online reviews? Drop your ideas in the comment section.
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