Let’s face it, no matter how hard you try, you cannot please everybody, and not everyone is going to love your business. While several clients may leave tonnes of positive feedback, it only takes one harsh review to scare off potential customers.
Having said this, it’s important to understand that negative reviews are not always bad for your business. In fact, if you manage them right, they are more useful for your online reputation management than a business having only positive reviews.
How can negative reviews help your business?
- Bad reviews show the customers the worst-case scenario and help them understand how much it can really matter to them.
- If all your reviews are positive then many shoppers may think that you have fake reviews or you have bought them up. Negative reviews create a healthy balance and your business reviews sound more authentic.
- Bad reviews do not always put the customers off, it's the ratio of bad and good feedback. Many positive reviews weigh more than a few negative ones, while representing the reviews more truthfully.
- Critical reviews help you understand where your business needs to improve.
As specialists in digital marketing, we’ve faced a fair number of negative reviews, but instead of letting them drag us down, we turned them into a positive outcome by addressing them quickly and professionally. To give you the same ability, we’re going to talk about how to deal with negative reviews on social media.
1. “I’ve received a negative review, what should I do?”
It’s every business’ worst nightmare - the negative online review that is turning away customers. Negative reviews can drastically hurt your business, and surveys show that almost two-thirds of customers form an opinion of a business after reading just about four reviews.
However, how you respond to a negative review will make all the difference. When you receive a less than favorable review, here’s what you must do:
a. Listen carefully for feedback.
Stopping a problem in its tracks and building lasting relationships with customers starts with social listening.
Unfortunately, an angry customer won’t always speak directly to your business. To ensure you don’t miss valuable feedback, you should track all mentions of your brand, branded hashtags, and branded URLs shared on social networks - whether they include an @ mention or not.
Once you find the feedback, with a calm mind, understand what the client is saying, why it is being said, and what led the client to address it publicly instead of coming directly to you.
b. Respond quickly.
Responding to the review comment as soon as possible shows that you are interested in solving the problem that the reviewer has.
When responding, don’t let anger and frustration take over. Apologize, if needed, and explain how this is unusual in your business. Consider offering a special deal or a discount on the purchase, if applicable.
Responding to negative reviews will not only work to appease a disgruntled customer, but it may also help grow your business and present it in a new light.
While replying, it’s essential that you do not use canned responses. You must humanize your response, maintain transparency, and not be negative. It’s important that people see that you respond to every inquiry and you’re interested in your customers’ opinions.
At Webware.io, one of the critical components of our digital marketing toolkit is online reputation management (ORM). We understand how vital addressing online reviews are for small and medium-sized business owners, especially if they are negative reviews. Our experts understand how to deal with negative reviews efficiently that not only satisfy the customers raising the concern but also, represent the "customer first" approach of your brand.
2. “Should I hide a negative review?”
Never remove or hide negative comments! If customers take their time to post about you once, they will post again. If you remove a real comment, you can be sure they will come back: louder, angrier and more frustrated. Secondly, negative comments show that you’re a genuine, honest brand.
Think about it this way: customers enter your profile and see only good opinions, which could make them think that you’ve made all these comments up. They probably will start digging for other opinions on forums and review sites. Sooner or later, they’ll find negative feedback, and they might choose your competitor because they feel you’re not honest.
3. Don’t forget to follow up!
Once you address a complaint, don’t forget to follow up and ensure that they are satisfied with the product or service. If they are dissatisfied with the solution or the fix you provided, they are likely to post a second negative review, which is more harmful.
4. Make the client feel valued!
People like to see that businesses care about their opinions. The best way to put out the fire of negativity is by handling the customer and the situation in a professional manner. As a business owner, you can take control of the situation by responding helpfully and genuinely. Never respond negatively or defensively.
Ensure your customer feels listened to, and don’t be afraid to apologize for any inconvenience or a less-than-stellar experience to help diffuse a negative situation.
As a business, you’re likely to receive a negative online review sooner or later, but with these tips, you can use the negative review to make your online business reputation stronger. If you know how to respond to negative reviews on your social media, that’s the best reputation management strategy.
As experts in digital marketing, at Webware.io, we offer an array of digital marketing services to ensure your online presence is well-marketed and leveraged to find customers, keep customers, and earn referrals. Our key digital marketing services include email campaign management, newsletter communications, SEO, Google AdWords, social media advertisements, content marketing, lead generation, online reputation management, and more.
To learn more about our services and complete digital marketing tool kit, please click here. If you have any questions about how we can help with your digital marketing needs, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our experts here.
