No business wants to see negative reviews or negative customer feedback about their organization. They can be painful both emotionally and economically. Whether it is positive or negative, feedbacks are part and parcel of any business. The fact is that we don’t live in the perfect world and no matter how hard you try to please your customer. There is no way around it and bad reviews happen.
Getting negative reviews can make many businesses nervous because 84% of the people go through reviews online and trust them as much as they trust personal recommendation.
Also, customers who have had a bad experience are 3 times more likely to post a review online, than those who have had a great experience. Here, your response to handle the situation would turn things your way.
When you receive a bad review, rude comment or an angry tweet, try to find the solution that would solve your customer’s problem and protect your online reputation. Responding to a negative review is an emotional process, you may even have to play a role of the digital marketing therapist.
Negative reviews empower you to be a wise marketer, the response process makes you feel heard, professional and also gives you an opportunity to fix the solution.
Dealing with negative reviews is not simple, they are too easy to turn into a disaster, here are 15 tips on how to deal with a negative review on social media:
1. Never Take It Personal:
Off course, the business is your, and that makes it personal to you. But in reality, the reviewer is open to respond to their experiences with your businesses like the way they would with any other company. The key here is to wear your business cap on and distance your emotional self, accept negative feedback with negative feedback, openness, and gratitude.
2. Always Respond:
Every business whether big or small wants to be #1 in a particular area. This is an opportunity for you to win your customer back when he/she has had a negative experience. Feedback is a gift, and negative feedback, in particular, can be valuable as it allows you to monitor your business and alerts the critical changes that you need to make. First respond public and then take it private if required.
If it’s a positive one, leave a genuine thanks, if it’s negative give a brief apology and offer the fix.
3. Work Towards Resolving The Problem:
Your response to your angry customers will speak a lot about you and your business than the positive reviews that you receive. Irrespective of whether your customer is right or wrong, resolve the issue in a way that your customer feels satisfied.
If you are in e-commerce offer refund and returns with no questions asked, if it was a dining experience, return their cheque. Resolve your customer’s problem, even if it costs you.
4. Be Objective, Polite & Constructive:
Yes, it’s hard to accept the criticism, and nobody likes a defensive CEO. As a marketer, it is always your responsibility to be open-minded and show your willingness to change. Your objective response, in the long run, would make you look good in the long term.
It’s how you respond to the flippant remark by maintaining your company voice and standards matter, makes you unique. Your politeness and constructive suggestions, recommendations and advice will allow others to see you engage with an issue and how seriously you take it.
5. Implement The Technique Called EASE:
Many times negative feedbacks come to your advantage. The more you are engaged in solving a mistake, the more genuine you appear. This will generate growth as well as builds trust and brand appreciation.
In sort, to make the best of the bad, you need a strategy called EASE. To empathize, acknowledge, solve and evaluate.
6. Listen Carefully:
As a marketer, you need to understand that customers are always waiting to be heard. They want you to listen to them when they are angry, though they won’t ever speak to you directly. It is the foundation and one of the most effective tools available to turn a negative experience into the positive one. Show empathy and be keen to resolve & fix the problem. Active listening keeps the focus on customer experience and reduces the instances of miscommunication.
7. Monitor Conversations On Social Media:
Social media is an excellent platform of discussion to reach people with your message, and it’s also a place to monitor conversations while allowing your customers to talk about your brand from anywhere on the web.
There are lot many tools like Talkwalker Alerts and Mention that allow you to monitor web and send you an alert anytime. Your reply will let your customers and someone else who is listening to your conversation that you care and prevent negative publicity from spreading.
8. Be Ready With An Outstanding Script For Some Common Complaints:
Some complaints are common, and when you are in business, you will exactly know what to say to an angry customer. Some issues can quite be fixed, and some may need a workaround.
So, its always safe to be ready with your scripts as it helps you save time and work on something different.
For example, in e-commerce business, shipping can either be delayed or may reach early by one or 2 days, so having a quick script that you can send to customer will save your time and keeps your customer informed.
9. Empathize On Personalized Communication:
Everything about your websites constitutes your connection. The first impression is the best, and the tone that you set up with your customers will tell if the relationship will continue or not. So, when you are on social media, it is always advisable to reply to your customer’s feedback using their names. It is also faster and easier to communicate that way especially when you have lot many customers whom you may have to address.
Using their names makes them feel validated and special, which will make it more likely that they will like you back.
10. Apologize Quickly & Sincerely:
A sincere apology as a business owner is always meaningful. It shows how much you care about your relationship with them. At times you may also want to offer an apology when you are not wrong, as offering an apology is a powerful way to build relationships and resolve a negative situation.
Also remember not to over apologize, apologize once when it is necessary, sincerely and maturely.
11. Be Quick To Respond & Resolve:
Nobody wants to wait, whether it is your customer or anybody else. And in business, it is crucial. When they write something or call a customer service rep, they expect a faster response.
A quick response is a sign of showing appreciation towards the partnership of your business. It implies that your company pays attention to customers queries and hence are ready to resolve customer queries.
12. Keep Calm & Take A Breath:
When you are doing business, you will see angry customers throwing out their anger when they have had a bad experience. So when you see a bad review coming, the first thing to do is to stop, take a breath and think. Resist responding if you are not in a good mood or upset. Offer an apology if required, but avoid getting into a debate with your customer.
13. Follow-Up & Provide A Fix:
According to the Harvard Business Review, the complaints that customers face is the poor follow up.
It’s always important to provide a fix to the problems that your customers face. Follow up encourages your customers to leave a positive review even if he had faced any difficulties. It is essential to have an experienced and best-performing team to resolve cases.
14. Be Creative To Handle Inappropriate Reviews:
Getting negative reviews in any business is common, and your first thought would be to get rid of the review. So find ways to be creative and deal with it.
It could be as simple as this. If your customers are not happy to pay the delivery charges, offer free delivery when they spend a certain amount on their website. This partnership deal will encourage them to buy more and also make them feel happy.
15. Be Honest:
Don’t be afraid to correct your clients or customers when they are wrong. If your customer has made an incorrect comment on social platform, be polite and respond in a way that it doesn’t hurt you or your customer.
For example, If your customer wants to return a product after 30 days and you offer a 30-day return policy. You could politely refuse while being polite.
Bonus Tip:
Take Your Stand And Respond To The Positive Reviews:
Customers are only loyal as you are, whether the value is monetary or not, showing them that you care for their feedback is a way to keep yourself going a long way. Always take time of your busy schedule and acknowledge their experience. Whether it is positive or negative, engaging will pay off for your ratings and your customer loyalty.
