What Can I Do About Negative Reviews?

If you have found that your business has received one or a ton of negative reviews, you may be left with a pit of doubt and dread about future clientele problems.

You cannot satisfy every customer out there. Negative reviews can be inevitable but here are some Do’s and Don’ts that can guide you on how to approach negative reviews you do get. You can learn from them and you have a rare opportunity to have them deleted or changed to a positive one! All of these can be achieved by first, responding to your negative reviews, after careful consideration of course.

You Spot a Negative Review. Now What?

It may be a good idea to not take it too personal. Unless it mentions you specifically, the review is more about your business as a whole and no one should take that too personally.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to consider:

Do take the time to respond to every review, positive or negative!

It is important to make sure that you take the time to go over reviews and to respond to each of them in kind. Ignoring bad reviews won’t make them go away. Other potential customers can see them and it may drive them away!

Don’t just copy and paste!

Take the time to personalize each response to each review, positive and negative. Take the time to recognize the customer by name, recognize the positive or negative aspects of the review, and then reiterate on how you are going to work on bettering your business!

Do ask for reviews and praise people for them, positive or negative!

You can learn from every review that you find about your business online, whether positive or negative. Each review should be looked at as a mini-lesson on how your business is perceived. The bonus is, people will almost always provide useful solutions that will benefit you and your next customer in the future.

Don’t go off the handle!

There are some really bad ways to handle negative reviews and one of these is going off the handle in return at a rude customer. While there may have been a lot of effort, work, and time put into the business, don’t let this factor goad you into showing nasty colors to your current or potential customers.

Do ask for a deletion or an amendment to a bad review!

Only do this if you manage to find a solution to make things work for both the customer and your business. Often people will oblige if their issues have been absolved and a negative review can even have the outcome of being a positive review in the end.

Conclusion

If you find that you have a negative review there are things you can do to help. Respond to all your reviews and take the time to personalize them. Don’t take things too personally and go off the handle. Remember that you can always ask a customer to change or delete their review after solutions have been made.