In our last post, What Froyo Shops Need to Know About Customer Reviews, we covered the importance of reviews and discussed which review sites are the most important. In this post, we provide advice on how to manage reviews, specifically negative reviews. The good news is that by responding appropriately to a negative review, businesses can demonstrate that they care about customers and mitigate the effect of a negative review.
According to ReviewTrackers’ 2018 Online Reviews Survey, 53.5% of respondents expect a business to respond to a negative review within 7 days. A 2018 survey by Uberall found that 65% of respondents feel that businesses should respond to a review and 90% said they’d be more likely to frequent a business that responds to reviews.
So, what are the best practices for responding to negative reviews?
Public vs. Private Responses
The benefit of responding publicly to a negative review is that it gives the appearance that your business cares and is transparent about its communications. It’s fine to acknowledge that mistakes were made. People are generally understanding that businesses aren’t perfect. They also realize that not all reviews are fair.
When you respond publicly, don’t use a template or provide a canned response. The response needs to be specific to the review. Others will be able to see if you provide a canned response and it leaves a negative impression. If you choose to respond privately, be aware that anything you write could be shared publicly by the reviewer.
Keep the response short and polite. Don’t argue with the reviewer because that could antagonize him/her and reflect poorly on you. Apologize and offer your contact information if the person wishes to discuss the matter further (and in private). Include your name when responding and your position. Let them know that a real person of importance cares about the customers.
Speed Matters
The sooner the business responds, the better the impression on the reviewer and anyone who reads the review and the response. Set up review alerts to notify you of new reviews. Try to respond within 7 days, if not sooner. This gives the impression that your business cares about customer feedback.
What to Say and How to Say It
Your tone matters. Always be professional and empathetic. Never insult the reviewer because that will reflect negatively on your business.
ReviewTrackers looked at 200,000 review responses in their database to identify the best way to respond to negative, positive, and neutral reviews. For negative reviews, they recommend taking the following approach:
- Address the reviewer by first name
- Thank the reviewer for his/her feedback
- Apologize and sympathize even if it isn’t your fault
- Take responsibility and reassure the customer that your business has high standards
- Try to make things right
- Provide direct contact information to discuss the issue further
- Ask for a second chance
While all of this advice sounds overwhelming, most businesses don’t receive that many negative reviews. If you’re feeling confident, remember that people who write positive reviews also appreciate being acknowledged and that there are things you can do to try to remove negative online reviews. See How to Respond to Positive and Negative Reviews from Vendasta Marketing for additional guidance.
