How to Handle Negative Online Reviews ?

If you are in some kind of business, you will easily understand that not every customer you deal with ends up being a happy customer. This in turn affects your business because now the customers have the power to write negative reviews about a product online, and these reviews discourage other new customers from buying the product.

But if these reviews are handled properly, they can help in recovering from mistakes and hence make much stronger relationship with the existing customers. The added advantage is you get to have more new customers, as this positive recovery will lead to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• If you need to manage the negative review, the first step is to be aware of them and keep a track of them using certain monitoring tools on social media platform or the websites where they are posted.

• Carefully examine the nature of feedback instead of back firing onto the customer as this will further damage the brand image and raise questions about your integrity. As it is possible that a complaint may be valid and logical. So think about the most appropriate solution and then only respond to it.

• Response to such reviews should be smart and convincing as it is a way to show your customers that their opinion matters to them. And this gesture from you will get you a second chance from the customers who have had a bad experience with your product but didn’t write a negative review as such.

If the complaint is genuine, you should accept the mistake instantly as the customer is likely to accept your honesty rather than an excuse.

• Give not just an apology; give a smart apology by highlighting the positives about your product. It should also convey that how much you appreciate such feedbacks from customers and they help you to improve upon your service and operations.

Always keep in mind that the response you provide isn’t just for the angry customer, it for the whole community as it’s visible to everyone.

• As soon as you accept the problem, be on your toes to resolve the issue too. Make sure that you have employees capable of handling such situations and know what solution to offer the customer within the limits of the company.

• Nothing covers up for the negative reviews better than the positive reviews. So, encourage the customers who are happy with your product to write positive feedback about the product by sharing their experiences. This will strengthen your brand image and improve your reputation.

• Sometimes negative reviews are just made to spoil your brand image by some competitors so if you feel that the review isn’t serious and is intended to abuse you at public platform, in such cases it is always better to delete them. If these suggestion are followed well then it won’t take much time to convert an angry customer into a loyal one.