There it is. An unsatisfied or frustrated customer decided to vent publicly, in a not so flattering review online. Are you fully aware of the impact this could have on your business? More than half the customers who read online reviews pay more attention to negative reviews when making their decision. You simply can’t just ignore them. Not responding to a bad review is responding. It’s telling everyone that sees the bad review that you don’t care about customer feedback or experience. Handling a bad review properly is quite important. After all reviews do matter.
These things do happen however. Following the steps below can get your started in turning this around and helping your online reputation.
Don’t respond in the heat of the moment. Take a breath and compose your thoughts. Remember your business’s online reputation is on the line. Take a moment to cool down (if handling a bad review gets you worked up), collect information about the complaint and get your thoughts together.
Take some time to recall the situation and get input from others involved. Make sure that you’ve compiled all of the details before reaching out. Sometimes handling a bad review actually exposes weaknesses which you never realized existed on your team. This can be a good thing in the long run for your business if you approach the situation properly.
Responding to, and resolving the issue quickly (in one transaction) is important. This is known as the “first contact resolution”. Customers who receive a successful first-contact problem resolution are twice as likely to buy from you again. Perhaps even more importantly it sends a message that you take customer satisfaction seriously. You don’t want this to be a lengthy, drawn out battle, which is why gathering all the pertinent information in the 1st step is so crucial.
While each online review is different, there are some best practices that you should remember when tackling online reputation management. Remember the goal here is not to win an argument with a frustrated customer. Your goal here is to come to a solution that satisfies the complaint, remedies your online reputation and doesn’t lash out at the reviewer. In your response remember to:
It is important that you don’t just respond to the bad review, but you fix the problem too. In some cases, depending on the situation, it may mean asking the customer to contact you by phone or to stop by your place of business so you can discuss the issue/problem in person. Consumer trust in online reviews is high, going the extra mile is very important. Not only does fixing the issue make that customer happier, but other potential customers will see how important satisfying your customers is to your business.
If you get a bad review about your business, you want to try and get a few more positive reviews to help “push down” that negative review. Reviews are often times chronological. Generating positive reviews you help you “bury” the negative. 5starRocket is literally built to help you gain more high ranking reviews, while educating you on how users feel about your business. You are in luck!
One negative review holds more “weight” on customer purchasing decisions than one positive review. A bad review is also more likely to escalate online and become permanent. Creating a 5starRocket account provides a unique opportunity to get ahead of negative reviews before they become public, giving you the opportunity to resolve any issues before being posted online. At the same time, our proactive review approach allows you to also get way more positive online reviews at the same time. Online reputation management doesn’t have to be rocket science.
