5 Simple Tips on How to Respond to a Negative Online Review About Your Business

No matter how well a business is run, mistakes will inevitably happen. We’re all human, afterall.

And when these mess-ups occur, there is always the chance of an unhappy customer (either justified or not) venting their anger onto the Internet by leaving a negative online review.

How well you respond to this negative online review can have a huge impact both on the reviewer and your business (as well everyone that comes across the review in the future).

By that same token, when you see a business turn a particularly challenging negative online review into a positive situation for all, this suggests that management is both proud of their business and willing to go the extra mile to maintain their company’s reputation.

The ripple effect of this solution to a challenge can have immense beneficial consequences both online and off. You can help both current and future customers see the light by following these five simple steps when responding to a negative online review:

1. Evaluate
2. Apologize & Sympathize
3. Promote
4. Move Offline
5. Simplify

 

How to Respond to a Negative Online Review About Your Business: 5 Simple Tips

 

1. Evaluate the Feedback Internally

When you first spot a negative online review about your business, your first course of action is to assess the situation.

Rather than formulating a hasty knee-jerk quick response to the negative online review, take a bit of time to first evaluate what went wrong and conduct your due diligence into your business procedures.

Remember, customers have a lot of power online. From social media to blogs and videos, there are many opportunities to get the word out about your business, both good and bad.

If you initially react to a negative review without thinking it through all the way, the result may be like throwing gas on the fire and fueling the ire of your angry customer, resulting in further irreversible damage.

If the person who left the negative online review truly cares enough about getting the intended reaction they want from you (however true it may actually be), they can succeed in spreading their negativity and smearing your reputation online.

Worse yet, other people reading the negative online review will likely believe every word of it, unless they see something that makes them think otherwise. But by then, it will likely be too late. The damage is done.

That’s why as a business owner responding to negative online reviews, you must not allow yourself to get emotional when responding.

Have a logical procedure in place before hitting reply and formulating your response.

2. Apologize & Sympathize

After collecting your thoughts and doublechecking any procedures or steps that might’ve been missed (and should be fixed ASAP), it is right to acknowledge the problem that may have occurred.

You’d be surprised how far a genuine apology and sympathy for your customer’s experience can go in smoothing things over and letting everyone move forward with improvements preventing a repeat episode.

3. Promote

If the situation calls for it, you may even have an opportunity to actually highlight what typically might be your company’s flagship product or service you are known and valued for.

Of course, this might not always be the case, so proceed with caution and use your good judgment on this step.

But depending on the situation, it could be a powerful opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

Let’s say you’re a restaurant known for your New England clam chowder. If appropriate, you may formulate a response that reiterates this fact to readers and the reviewer.

It’s very possible that the chowder simply was not up to par the day this particular customer visited, or was not what they were expecting due to their own taste preferences.

A possible response like this can be used:

“Our chowder is usually a hit, we’re sorry to hear it wasn’t up to par when you visited.”

Again, depending on the nature of the complaint, this might not always work, but it is something to keep in mind as a potential useful tool to mitigate any further backlash from the negative online review.

4. Move the Conversation Offline

Here’s a critical step that can set you apart from other business owners responding to negative online reviews.

Instead of opening a can of worms and having a nasty comment war back and forth with the reviewer, you can keep the lid on tight by offering them an opportunity to reach out to you via phone, email or both.

We’re all adults here and the complaint could in fact be an invaluable opportunity to fix an unseen problem that ultimately will help your business grow.

5. Keep It Simple

Lastly, you’ll want to avoid any specifics such as asking pointed questions in any online response to a negative review.

Those types of conversations should be reserved for a private one-on-one conversation away from the prying public.

Conclusion

If you run any sort of business, eventually someone somewhere may have a difficult experience and will want to leave a negative online review about your organization.

By following these five simple yet effective steps in addressing the situation, you will demonstrate your ability to not only maintain professionalism in your dealings with the public, but you’ll also uncover any potential blind spots and opportunities for improvement you were not aware of previously.

Another way to maintain control and oversight over negative online reviews is by actively keeping close tabs on your online reputation and customer reviews.

At my digital marketing agency, we offer a useful free tool for business owners looking to maintain better control over what current and potential customers are finding out about their business online.

You can get a free business visibility report that includes free access to a useful online review management tool by clicking here.