It’s inevitable. You’re going to at some point receive
a negative customer review. Even if you’ve done everything by the book,
it only takes that one bad experience to ruin your flawless record of
positive feedback. Of course, you may be thinking that just because one
person has nothing better to do than nitpick, it won’t really affect
business, right? Wrong.
Just
follow the following suggestions and you will be able to perfectly
navigate your way out of those tricky negative customer reviews.
Have a Plan of Attack
Before
you can handle any negative customer reviews, you should have a plan in
motion on what to do if this happens and how to prevent customers
having a bad experience. But, that’s a vague and broad area to focus on.
Where’s a good starting point? Typically,
according to MarketingProfs, these are the areas you should be keeping tabs on:
- Dominant Search Engines - attempt to have your
brand rank highly and make sure that all information is correct; having
first page results can establish authority.
- Brand Monitoring - use tools like Google Alerts, Social Mention, Hootsuite or Spout Social to be aware of when people are talking about your brand.
- Perfect Social Media - find the social media outlet that best fits
your brand and reaches your audience effectively and maintain that
network as best as possible.
- Highlight Reviews and Recommendations - don’t be afraid to showcase both the positive and negative comments.
- Customer Service - this can make or break a business, make sure that your customer service is top notch by being timely, polite and helpful.
- Negative-PR Management - discuss with your team how
to handle every scenario possible so that you are not caught off guard;
regardless of the situation use that stellar customer service of yours
to at least acknowledge the problem or concern until it can be resolved.
- Brand Advocacy - thank your loyal customers by
asking for their feedback, inviting them to an event or offering some
sort of incentive that will make them speak highly of your brand.
Be Familiar With the Culture
Where
are your reviews or comments coming from? It may not sound like a big
deal, but each culture is different, which means your response will
vary. For example, you could have a follow-up call with a customer. This
may not work in all fields, but think about the businesses that have
followed-up with you in the past. Not only did it make them stand out,
it showed that they cared about their work and wanted to make sure that
you were satisfied. This connection can go a long way to establish trust
and a repeat customer, or at least someone who would recommend your
brand.
As for online reviews, you have to remember
that not everyone leaving a review is out to harm your business. Someone
could leave a comment on your preferred social media network because
there was a legitimate issue. In fact, this person may be a repeat
customer and was only bringing the issue to your attention. The same
could be said of someone leaving a comment on your website or blog.
Then
there’s review sites like Yelp. While a lot of people turn Yelp for
advice, you have to understand that most of the people leaving reviews
are people who enjoy making recommendations. Again, not everyone is is
out to get you. However, the reviews on Yelp may be coming from a
first-time customer who is sharing their first impression of your brand
with a dedicated community.
Understanding where the
comments are coming from, like Yelp, Trip Advisor, social media or your
blog, can help you understand the concerns of those customers and how
to handle them in the right manner.
Don’t Ignore The Negative Comments
No
matter where the comments are coming from, you just can’t ignore them.
While we’re not saying that you have to publicly respond to each
comment, you at least have to acknowledge that person, such as sending
them an email to resolve the matter if you don’t want to make this open
to the public.
When responding to comments, make sure that you take the high road. Don’t follow in the footsteps of the epic breakdown behind
Amy’s Bakery.
Be polite, apologetic (if you are at fault), share your side of the
story and figure out how to make the customer happy. While you may be
offended initially, there’s a good chance that you were wrong in the
first place, so make amends.
Of course, there
people who like to stir up trouble. You may not be able to win with
those kind of people, but others can tell if that is a troll, so don’t
keep engaging them. Regardless of the situation, however, you should at
least send out a one-time response that informs others that you are
listening and do care about customer satisfaction. And, if you make
good, that individual may go and change their comment or share an update
that places you in a more favorable light.
Here’s
one final tip when responding to negative comments; match the response
to your brand or the situation. Take Taco Bell, for example. Overall
their social media campaign is fun and lighthearted, so when people do
have a snarky remark, Taco Bell offers a witty comeback. But, when
things get serious, Taco Bell delivers the appropriate response.
Make it an Educational Moment
Sometimes
we can learn from a major mishap. It may be embarrassing or hurt
business a little, but in the end, it will make you stronger. For
example, let’s say you have a restaurant, cafe, etc. and you switch to a
new brand of seasoning and your customers have begun to leave comments
noting the difference. You notice these comments and figure out that the
new brand isn’t as good as the previous seasoning and you switch back.
What do you think will happen? We best customers will pleased that you
made the change.
Of course, there are a million
other scenarios. Perhaps the delivery service you use is unreliable.
Maybe that Groupon experiment was too much for your business to handle.
Whatever the case may be, you learned a lesson. And, most importantly,
you made the adjustment to correct the problem.
However,
you also don’t have to wait for a serious PR moment to occur. You could
learn from the experiences of others. Take some time and view examples
of what not to when handling negative comments, like the aforementioned
Amy’s Bakery. And, what some of the pros have successfully done, like
what photographer
RJ Hidson did on his Google Plus page.
Ask For Positive Reviews or Help
Instead
of sitting around and waiting to defuse any negative comments that may
come your way, be proactive and ask for your customers to leave some
positive feedback. You may even be surprised that many happy customers
will be more than willing to share their good experiences with others -
78% of customers actually.
In fact, these customers may be, or become, brand advocates who will do
what they can to help expand your brand. And, don’t be shy about
promoting those positive comments - just don’t overdo it.
Just
keep in mind that when receive positive comments that you respond as
well. A simple “Thank you for the comment and your support” will work
just fine. This keeps the conversation going and makes it visible. So,
if that customer has their friends and family see the positive comment
and conversation, that could influence their decision to give your
product or service a try. In fact, about 86% of people have their
purchasing decisions influenced by friends and family.
Finally,
if you notice that you’re being harassed by negative comments, don’t
hesitate to reach out to the review site. It may be a long process, but
at least you’re taking the issue out of your hands. If you are in
control of the comments on your website or blog, you may consider
removing comments that are hurtful, offensive or factually incorrect.
Have you gotten any negative customer reviews? If so, how did you handle the Situation
By: John Rampton
