How to respond to the good, the bad, & the ugly reviews | Part 2 — the bad.
No matter how much you dread or try to avoid them, negative reviews happen. . Let’s face it, no product is perfect and not everyone’s going to love it. Mistakes can happen and not everyone’s going to let you get away with them. Welcome to the bitter side of online reviews, where customers break down how you as a company failed to meet their expectation.
This is the second installment in my trilogy of posts on how to respond to online reviews. Last week, I talked about how to handle positive reviews, which is worth checking out, in case you haven’t. In this post, I’m going to talk about how to handle the bad; negative reviews.
Negative Reviews.
Negative reviews can hurt your business but ignoring them and sweeping them under the rug will only make things worse. When unsatisfied customers leave you with empty negative ratings, it’s hard to say what disappointed them because they chose not to write about it. Hence, well written negative reviews are actually a blessing in disguise because they let you know what went wrong and where your product or service came up short.
When a customer has a negative experience with your company, that’s not the end of it. You can definitely win their trust back and retain their business with a newfound positivity. To do that, you have to start by responding to their negative reviews.
Why respond to negative reviews?
- To show that you care. Customers want to be heard and feel like their feelings matter to the company. If you don’t respond to a negative review, you’ll end up magnifying their distaste for your company.
- To let them know that you feel bad. If a customer is frustrated or disappointed with an issue, it’s important to let them know that your company feels sorry for it. When emotions are all over the review, learn to sympathize with them.
- To reassure them. If the customer incurred some loss due to a problem they had with your product/service, they need to be reassured that you will fix it or compensate them for it.
- To repair your brand name. That one-star rating will be read by everyone online and this can tarnish your hard-earned reputation. Try to minimize the damage by being responsible. Remember, you’re not talking just to the reviewer.
- To make things right. You can make them come back and change their rating. Ask them to give you another chance and do things better this time around.
How to respond to negative reviews?
Step 1: Say the magic word, “Sorry”.
There’s no time to debate whether the mistake was from their side or yours; they faced an inconvenience while using your product/service and so you need to show responsibility.
“Hey, Ben! We’re sorry to hear that the delivery was late!”
Step 2: Empathize, EMPATHIZE.
This is the crux of your response and it can go a long way in making things right. Empathize with the customer’s disappointment, loss, or anger, and let them know that you’re well aware of how they are feeling right now with a bit of compassion.
“We understand that our impunctuality has caused you a great loss.”
Step 3: Now’s a good time to remind them of your goals.
Taking responsibility is important but that should not be done at the expense of the company’s reputation. Let your customers know that whatever happened does not reflect your company’s mission and vision.
“At X, we take on-time delivery very seriously and this lapse comes as a shock.”
Step 4: Reassure.
Deliver a statement that brings them back, a subtle request for another chance. This is your shot at making things right so make sure you nail it. Let them know that you will work on making it better for them.
“We will look into this issue and make sure this does not happen again. You have our word!”
Step 5: Move the conversation offline.
Public reviews receive a lot of attention, especially if it’s negative. When you’ve done your part of responding, there cannot be further exchanges between you and the customer for the public to read. Therefore, at the end of your comment, urge the user to contact you through any of your communication channels.
“We feel personally obligated to help you recover your loss. Please leave us a message in qwerty@companyx.com and our dedicated support team will get back to you shortly!”
What to avoid?
➤ Try not to delve too much into the details of the issue and push the customer away. Keep it short and simple. Your customers are not interested in knowing about the intricacies of the problem at hand; they just want to be heard, understood, and reassured.
➤ Do not point fingers. If one employee or a team is responsible for the issue, it’s in bad taste to bring them up in your response. Speak for the company as a whole. In most cases, the user does not care but your employees do.
➤ Do not justify what happened. Even if the mistake was theirs or if an unavoidable, unforeseen external factor caused the issue, it’s customary to take responsibility for whatever happened. You can defend yourself but try to sound polite and responsible even then.
At the end of the day, even if you write a great response, it loses its meaning if you don’t take action. If you want that customer to come back and revise their rating, you must make things right and deliver on the promise you made. Writing a reply to their initial review is the first step in a long process of customer retention.
In some cases, the negativity in a review seems a bit forced and disingenuous. If this sounds familiar, then you’re facing the ugly; a trolling issue. I’ll be talking about it that in my final post of the series next week so be sure to stay around!
So, what are your thoughts on responding to negative reviews? Let us know in the comments below!
(Part 1: The Good; Part 3: The Ugly)
Written by Akilan S,
Product Marketer at Zoho Corp.
Akilan is a passionate blogger, a tech enthusiast, a small business advocate, an avid gamer and a time traveler. He’s game for a cup of coffee 24x7.
