No company wants to find negative online reviews regarding itself, let alone a plethora of them, but remember a few things:
- no one is perfect; mistakes or misunderstandings do happen,
- mistakes can be learned from,
- honesty goes a long way, as can an apology,
- don’t compound the complaint by dealing with it badly and communicating poorly.
- Mistakes can be a catalyst for change; the complaints may not be genuine, but you can possibly have them removed.
- No review (good or bad) is too old to respond to, although approach this with caution.
What do I do about the bad reviews online?
It is very easy to take negative reviews very personally; step away from your computer before responding if needed. It is essential that when you respond to negative online reviews, you do so in a professional manner. You can recover a client after a bad experience if managed correctly. Also, potential customers learn a lot about a company from the way they deal with and learn from complaints. The internet has changed what was once a private event (a minor customer complaint) into something of a community spectators’ sport once it goes online, be that as an actual review or a post naming you and the issues on social media.
It is extremely important (I cannot emphasise this enough) that you do not ignore bad reviews and the information about your business failings within them, your potential customers definitely won’t be ignoring it, it will impact their decisions making process when choosing who to do business with.
If you are thinking, “But my competitors all have negative reviews as well, so does it matter?” If your business philosophy is to offer yourself up as an option among a bad bunch, then I guess not! But if you would like to treat your clients with more respect and less contempt than that, then you need to keep reading and then act.
Other blogs regarding online digital reviews can be found here
