You’ve gotten multiple five-star reviews for your quality services, as well as your open, consistent, and positive interactions with your clients and customers. You try your absolute best every day to deliver quality services to your customers.
However, there’s no way around getting that one customer who just isn’t thrilled about their experience and has to tell everyone.
Bad reviews happen whether you anticipate them or not. And when you opt to include business reviews on your website or in your search results, there’s a chance of a bad review slipping in there.
So many questions arise when it comes to getting a bad review:
- Will this negatively impact my business?
- Will people turn away?
- Does this hurt the quality of my existing work?
- How do I fix this?
Unfortunately, there is no permanent fix for getting a bad review from that one dissatisfied customer.
Business owners must engage with customers from both ends of the spectrum, especially if something goes wrong. But there are some things you can do to mitigate the situation and be graceful in receiving negative feedback online.
1. Respond Quickly
When a customer has a bad experience, chances are that they’re going to react to that bad experience almost immediately by putting up a bad review online.
Like that dissatisfied customer, you must react quickly as well. Respond to the review as soon as possible.
The Internet doesn’t go away while you’re not working. Responding promptly will help mitigate any potential escalation or fallout from the bad review, and it will show your audience that you’re quick in dealing with business issues and making an attempt at service recovery.
2. Respond with Compassion and Tact
Yes, you will get some reviews that are rude, offensive, and just plain mean.
One of the most important aspects of maintaining your brand’s image is knowing how to maintain professionalism, even in difficult situations such as a bad online review.
Fixing a bad situation with an unhappy customer is the same online as it would be in person. Use a tone of compassion and kindness, offer an apology, and collaborate to find a way to change their view or experience.
However, do not compromise the strong points of your business in the process. Point out the areas of your business that are valuable. Frame your other services, products, or business as a whole in a different way than presented in the bad review.
(And for bonus points: responding to a bad review goes beyond a comment on an online post. Reach out to the unhappy customer personally, and ask them what they would want to see done differently. A little honest insight goes a long way.)
3. Don’t Take the Review Personally
Just like any other place or situation in life, you won’t be able to please everyone.
When you face adversity in your personal life, in many cases the automatic response is to be defensive. Retaliation is not the answer and will not look good on your business.
Rather than taking the review personally, use it as a learning experience. Take away from the review what you can, and use it to build on more positive interactions with customers in the future. That said, not every bad review is a learning lesson. Some people simply cannot be satisfied, no matter how hard you try to please them. Do your best, be kind and straightforward, and try to make it right – but if the customer/client is still not satisfied after your efforts, take it in stride and don’t react personally in that situation either.
4. Address Core Issues in the Review
Is the bad online review associated with a customer service experience or a service/product you provided? Take the time to find out?
Getting to the root of the problem is one of the most important actions you can take:
- Was the customer unhappy with the treatment they received?
- Were they dissatisfied with the product or service provided?
- What didn’t they like?
Knowing exactly what the problem is and where in your business you can improve or target change will help avoid further poor reviews while also reassuring your customers that you aren’t just ignoring the problem but are being progressive and proactive about resolving the issue at hand.
5. Drown Out the Noise
What’s the best thing you can do when something isn’t going in your favor?
Use positivity. Encourage your satisfied customers to leave positive reviews as much as possible.
There is power in numbers. The more reviews you get, the more likely it is that you can minimize the damage caused by a poor online review.
Make yourself available on review sites like Yelp or Google. Do your research on review sites and how they work. Allow your customers to review at their pace in their own way without them feeling forced to do so.
Knowing the math behind positive and negative reviews and where they end up online will help your business grow over time.
KangoMedia Has You Covered
Many businesses are wasting money on marketing and advertising, sending traffic to websites that don’t convert.
At KangoMedia, We design websites and digital marketing campaigns that convert website visitors into leads and paying customers so that you get a positive return on investment.
Clients that work with us often see dramatic results in the form of an increase in website leads, requests for quotes, service calls, and sales. Businesses choose to work with KangoMedia because of our focus on growing their business. We are more than a service provider, we are your partner in growth.
Give us a shout, and let’s talk about your business.