Online customer reviews now exist practically for all commodities, from consumer apps and products to ride-sharing and delivery services. They come in all types, too: There are positive, helpful and constructive reviews. Others can be humorous or unrelated to the product or service. But there’s one kind that can easily harm your online reputation, whether you’ve made a mistake that warrants it or you’ve fallen victim to fake complaints – harsh, negative comments.
Nowadays, people go online to sound off about a recent purchase or transaction that has disappointed them. Unfortunately, angry customers tend not to hold back and will say things that can damage a company’s reputation in an instant. To make matters worse, 94 percent of consumers say they’ve been persuaded to avoid a business after reading a bad review.
It’s thus imperative for brands and businesses to consider the impact and importance of online reviews when it comes to their revenue. Specifically, they should be prepared to handle negative feedback proactively and professionally.
In this blog, we will explore the option of working with reputation management experts to ensure efficient online reputation management (ORM). Why is it critical when encountering negative reviews is becoming the norm for your potential and existing consumers? We also touch on:
- How to rebuild trust and improve customer satisfaction
- How to respond to negative reviews
Review Monitoring and Response: How To Rebuild Trust and Improve Customer Satisfaction
Given the sway of reviews on consumers, knowing how to respond to negative reviews should be a part of any business’s ORM kit. Those who can navigate the current landscape with a game plan can regain customer trust while avoiding costly mistakes, such as getting too political or responding with intense emotions.
With so many moving parts to master, working with professionals – that is, online reputation management companies or consultants – is the ultimate option for brands and businesses requiring proven strategies, a shallow learning curve and immediate online reputation repair.
Here are a few advantages to having experts, specifically Rize Reviews, show you how to rebuild trust and handle negative reviews the right way:
Better Investment Returns
Let’s talk money for a moment. Negative online customer reviews can hurt you by way of lost revenue. As we’ve said, people will think twice before engaging your business simply because of bad reviews. Of course, it depends on your target market and industry. But it just takes two bad reviews for 28 percent of consumers in the 45 to 54 age group and 33 percent in the 55 to 64 to stay away from a business. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds are deterred by two negative comments.
Reallocating a portion of your budget to expert services is wiser if you consider how these will soon pay for themselves. For example, an eCommerce or brick-and-mortar store can see an 18 percent sales increase with product reviews. So imagine the results you can get with an agency that consistently generates more good reviews for you.
Sustainable Review Monitoring and Response
Speaking of results, you need to set up a sustainable ORM plan to rebuild customer trust, increase your online reviews and improve your revenue. Our reliable online reputation repair team helps you set your goals and build an online review management strategy based on them. This strategy can include:
- Review monitoring: This process allows you to track brand mentions and monitor customer feedback across multiple review sites, including bad ones. By checking negative comments as they come, you can take measures to prevent them from getting out of hand.
- Review response: Businesses should not only acknowledge the importance of online reviews but also go out of their way to implement review response tactics. Those who respond to negative feedback strategically may turn things around, winning customers back and building customer relationships or, at least, showing potential customers they value people’s thoughts and feelings.
Complementing these services is review generation, which can be automated using our online reputation management software. Through this solution, we have helped a multi-location restaurant client generate up to more than 15,000 reviews in five months. Keep in mind that companies showcasing more reviews – with a good proportion of positive and negative – can effectively boost their sales.
Finding the Sweet Spot
Dealing with negative online customer reviews is an art. Businesses need to balance their approach and avoid being too defensive or too self-deprecating in their responses. But to find the sweet spot can be challenging if you’re already too busy handling day-to-day operations, marketing, customer service and more.
This is why the Rize Reviews reputation repair team exists. Our ORM consultants and specialists know how to steer your brand away from polarizing responses in this day and age. We have the resources and experience to craft replies that de-escalate the situation, speak to legitimate concerns and prevent a bad review from staining your reputation forever on the internet.
How To Respond to Negative Reviews
A cardinal rule when handling negative comments is staying calm when you encounter trolls, but we understand why sometimes it’s easier said than done. In this section, we provide you with quick tips on how to handle bad reviews, whether you’re an online business or a brick-and-mortar store:
- Acknowledge the customer’s effort to leave a review. Then, apologize and assure them you will take responsibility. But keep everything short and sweet. At this stage, you might ask if you can carry on with the conversation offline. Businesses showing sympathy and accountability can improve customer satisfaction, an opportunity you can’t afford to lose.
- Speak to the underlying problem. Sometimes, you’re better off staying silent. But if you’re receiving backlash because of a critical issue, address it appropriately. And if mistakes were made on your part, send the message that you’re committed to doing better.
- Do not leave reviews unattended. This tactic entails tracking your brand mentions and online reviews in real-time, so you won’t be caught off-guard by negative comments. Take note that this task can be automated using an online reputation management tool like the one provided by Rize Reviews. With our software, you can save time, energy and money on review monitoring while being able to focus on what you do best.
- Respond promptly. Think of prompt response as an extension of your customer service for its role in helping you earn customer trust. Consumers want to be heard. In fact, more than 50 percent of them expect businesses to respond to their negative reviews within a week. Your reply can reassure them you’re listening, so don’t keep them waiting.
- Keep things neutral. Building customer relationships can be tricky since many people now want to see their favorite brands take a stand. However, we still recommend staying away from getting too political when responding to negative reviews. Focus on the issue that is preventing you from winning people’s favor and building customer relationships.
Stay on Top of Negative Online Reviews
We’ve just discussed the importance of online reviews in building customer relationships. We’ve also learned that businesses of all sizes are vulnerable to negative reviews. No one, not even the most established brand, is spared.
But with Rize Reviews on your side, you can be equipped with the right language, tools and approach to handle reviews of all kinds and rebuild trust among customers. Our online reputation management software enables you to monitor any negative feedback that might arise. Plus, our team is here to strategically generate reviews for your business or craft a response to bad reviews.
Whether you’re a purely online business or a brick-and-mortar store, you can count on our reputation management experts to devise a suitable ORM game plan for you. Further, you can leverage our all-in-one online reputation management tool to save time, effort, money and other resources.
Partner with us to simplify your review monitoring, generation and response processes while creating your desired results. Not all online reputation management companies deliver an integrated solution like we do.
Drop us a message to find out where we can start with your negative review management objectives and more.
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