Why Don’t Ignore Negative Reviews

dont-ignore-bad-reviews

Here’s 3 Reasons Why You Can’t Ignore Negative Reviews Online

If you’ve ever been shocked to see an angry one-star review of your business online, you’re not alone. It can feel like you’ve gotten the wind knocked out of you, especially when you know you’re doing everything you can to delight your customers. But it happens! People have bad days. So, even if you feel like hiding out under your desk all day, binge watching your favorite series while you cry in your coffee—don’t.

You can’t ignore a bad review. But you also have to respond the right way. So, before your respond, take a deep breath, shake off those sad feelings and learn why you need to respond, and how to respond to negative reviews professionally, intelligently, and positively. If you understand and know how to cope, you may just turn an angry customer into a true fan.

1. One Bad Review Can Cost You 30 New Customers

That’s a lot of potential sales to lose to just one grumpy customer, and it’s not something you can afford. When a disgruntled customer posts a one-star review of your business, it’s out there for everyone to see on the internet, probably forever. So, you can’t just ignore it and do nothing because 88 percent of shoppers give considerable weight to the online reviews they see during their purchasing decision process. If you don’t have a long list of positive reviews to counter it, or you don’t respond the right way, and promptly, potential customers will make a note of this and act in what they feel is their best interests—which may not be in your business’ best interests.

It’s worth noting here that it takes about 12 positive reviews to cancel out the negative impacts of just 1 negative review. So, you need to start collecting positive reviews proactively now by using an online marketing tool like Reputation Builder.

2. At Least 92% of Your Potential Customers are Reading Your Online Reviews

Again, that’s a lot of people who will see your response, or lack of a response. So, what do you want them to see? If they see nothing, they will get the impression that you don’t care what happened to the unhappy customer, or that you’re unresponsive to your customers’ needs in general. That’s probably not the message you want to send. If you send an overly-defensive response denying anything was wrong, that will probably also be taken in a way you do not like. If you respond the right way to a negative review, potential customers will see that too. In fact, when customers see a positive response that resolves the customer’s concerns in a great way, potential customers will get the idea that you care and that you want to do your best for them. Isn’t that what you want them to think?

3. Facing a Negative Review Online Can Provide Critical Insight

The wise business owner or managers knows that there is always more to learn and improvements can always be made. Sometimes a negative review will give you the opportunity to strengthen a weak area of your business or make needed improvements that you may not have noticed before. This is valuable insight. Furthermore, you can gain valuable insight into your customers’ needs that can help you focus on other ways to improve customer experiences, products and services. The more you understand your customers’ needs and desires, the more empowered you will be to fulfill them and honestly earn more 5-star reviews. So, yes—negative reviews can hurt, but they can also provide opportunities to grow. Take them.

Here’s How to Respond to Negative Reviews Online

So now that you’ve calmed down a little after the first sting of seeing that 1-star zinger, here’s what you can do to snatch victory from the depths of ouch. This is just a quick start guide for responding to negative reviews. For more details, learn more about the process of dealing with bad reviews in depth here.

  • Respond within the first 24 hours after receiving a negative review.

  • Write a short message that’s apologetic, sympathetic and ready to take responsibility. Remember: keep is short and sweet!

  • Offer to make it right with the customer and invite them to contact you personally at a specific number.

  • Take the discussion offline from there (hence the phone number) to avoid more negative exposure or conversation if the customer is unwilling to make peace.

  • Do whatever you can to make things right with that customer and turn them into a fan.

NOTE: If the bad review came from a troll or “bad actor” who never actually visited your shop, request a review from Google Reviews, Facebook, Yelp! or whatever online venue had the review on it. Don’t let up until the review is taken down.

The Secret Sauce for Preventing Negative Reviews Online

If you’ve ever dreamed of a way to prevent negative reviews of your business from leaking out online in the first place, there is an incredible online marketing tool that can help you proactively prevent bad reviews. It’s called Reputation Builder. It contains an easy-to-use interface that enables your business to collect feedback (“Feedback First”) while your customers are still with you. This gives you the chance to interact with customers face-to-fact and solve problems they may be having immediately. When you resolve problems before the customer leaves, this turns them into a fan who loves your customer service. Then you can ask them, right in that moment, to post a quick positive 5-star review.

Get Reputation Builder today and start building your library of 5-star reviews while nipping negative ones in the bud!

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