{"id":839,"date":"2017-06-26T13:17:47","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T13:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/2017\/06\/26\/the-most-effective-ways-to-respond-to-negative-reviews\/"},"modified":"2019-08-06T08:53:13","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T08:53:13","slug":"the-most-effective-ways-to-respond-to-negative-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2017\/06\/26\/the-most-effective-ways-to-respond-to-negative-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"The most effective ways to respond to negative reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Customer reviews<\/a> are one of the most important pieces of your marketing campaign, and research has indicated<\/a> they may have significant impact on your ranking in search. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, 84% of consumers<\/a> trust an online review as much as they would a personal referral. However, not all reviews are positive. At some point throughout the history of your business, you\u2019re going to run into negative reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, this doesn\u2019t always have to be a bad thing \u2013 negative reviews<\/a> can work in your favor as a business opportunity if you know how to react. Read below to learn the most effective ways to respond to negative online reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay positive<\/h2>\n

Anyone who\u2019s ever worked customer service knows how difficult it can be when a customer is attacking you. A negative review may get you upset, and as a human being your first instinct is to go on the defense, but that doesn\u2019t mean you should\u00a0become a keyboard warrior and attack the reviewer (unless you\u2019re Wendy\u2019s, of course, who recently spouted off Twitter battles<\/a> with McDonald\u2019s and customers alike). Unless you\u2019re a multimillion-dollar fast food company, we don\u2019t advise getting snarky.<\/p>\n

Approach all negative reviews with a calm, positive attitude. Let the customer know you\u2019ve heard their concerns, but never point fingers. Even if you\u2019re not in the wrong, you shouldn\u2019t make the customer feel like the victim.<\/p>\n

It also doesn\u2019t do you any good to simply ignore the review. The general public would prefer you respond than simply ignore the situation. Responding with a positive comeback will show that your business cares about its customers.<\/p>\n

Offer a solution<\/h2>\n

Have you ever heard the phrase, \u201cSorry won\u2019t cut it\u201d? This is the case when you\u2019re responding to negative comments or reviews. Simply offering an apology to your customer won\u2019t do \u2013 a customer will want a solution to their problem. When you\u2019re responding to a negative review or comment, let the customer know how you\u2019ll fix the problem.<\/p>\n

Below is an example of a great response that offers a solution. A JetBlue customer tweeted that their in-flight TV was not working. JetBlue immediately responded with this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This response shows that JetBlue is empathetic towards their customer\u2019s concerns. Then they follow up with an immediate solution.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say this customer appreciated the time this company took to solve their problem in a timely manner. They instantly redeemed themselves and showed their customer\u2019s happiness is their priority.<\/p>\n

Reiterate your company\u2019s policies<\/h2>\n

You may fear that a negative review will make your company look bad. This is only the case should you ignore the review entirely. When you respond to a negative comment, flip the negative to a positive. Use this as an opportunity to reiterate your company\u2019s good qualities.<\/p>\n

For example, you can respond by saying, \u201cWe\u2019re sorry you had a poor experience. We\u2019ve been doing business for several years and most of our customers leave happy. We\u2019re sorry we didn\u2019t meet your expectations this time around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take the conversation offline<\/h2>\n

When you receive a negative review online, you should always respond immediately on the same platform. This not only satisfies the original poster, it\u2019s also a public place that all your potential customers will see.<\/p>\n

However, some things can\u2019t be addressed online. Issues involving a customer\u2019s personal information, for example, should be discussed in person or over the phone. When addressing these types of negative reviews, provide a direct contact for your customers.<\/p>\n

Taking the conversation offline shows that your business will go the extra mile to resolve any customer complaints or issues. However, you should only use this method for severe cases.<\/p>\n

Does your company have a customer service line? This can also be a great way to incorporate an offline conversation. In your response, give the customer the line to your customer service department to resolve any issues that can\u2019t be taken care of online.<\/p>\n

Approach the customer as a\u00a0real person<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve all experienced the nightmare that is automatic bots. Calling into a customer service line and hearing a robot on the other end is one of the most frustrating situation a customer can go through. Consider this when you\u2019re responding to your customers. Leave out all the industry jargon, and speak to them like they\u2019re a real person \u2013 because they are!<\/p>\n

When you use plain language and speak to the customer as a human being, you\u2019ll sound more genuine. Chances are, your customers will see you as a human as well, and not just as a business.<\/p>\n

Google has also taken measures to ensure that you<\/em>, the business owner, isn\u2019t dealing with automated customer reviews<\/a>. This solution is called verified customer reviews, and I’ve previously written about ways that you can use the feature to come out on top<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ask for an update<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019ve responded to the customer\u2019s review and solved the problem, don\u2019t hesitate to ask for an updated review. Often times customers will take this upon themselves and either delete or update their negative review. Here\u2019s an example of an updated review after an issue was solved:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As you can see, many review sites, like Yelp, will show that this is an updated review. Once you\u2019ve solved the customer\u2019s issue, politely ask them if they\u2019ll update the review online.<\/p>\n

Having trouble thinking of a nice way to ask? Once you\u2019ve followed up with the customer, ask them something such as, \u201cWe appreciate your feedback, and would like other customers to know how we\u2019ve solved your issue. Would you mind updating your review to reflect this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Always make sure you thank them for their feedback, regardless if they update the review or not.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/h2>\n

As soon as you see a negative review, your heart instantly sinks. But no matter how stellar your business is, you\u2019re not going to make everyone happy. A few negative reviews won\u2019t be the end of your business. Use these reviews as an opportunity to showcase your company\u2019s outstanding customer service.<\/p>\n

The sooner you rectify any issues your customers have, the sooner you\u2019ll build better rapport with your customer base.<\/p>\n

What tactics would you add to this list? Let us know the comment section below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer for\u00a0<\/em>HigherVisibility<\/a>, a full service SEO agency, and a contributor to SEW.\u00a0You can connect with Amanda at<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>AmandaDiSilvestro.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Customer reviews are important to both your search ranking and your overall brand presence, but not all customer feedback is positive. Here’s how you can deal with negative reviews in a way that maintains your reputation and leaves the customer happy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[305,811,812,340],"content_type":[27095],"class_list":["post-839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","category-social","tag-customer-reviews","tag-customer-service","tag-negative-reviews","tag-reputation-management","content_type-news"],"acf":{"tad_independentcommercial":false,"tad_content_format":false},"post_info":{"name":"idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com","title":"","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/thumbs-down-120x90.jpg","category":"SEO","timeago":"9y"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}