When a poor review garners a lot of attention, it’s more than enough to discourage potential customers from engaging with your brand. But not all hope is gone.
Fortunately, platforms allow you to respond to customer reviews, so you don’t have to worry about your negative online reviews running their own course.
Why It Matters To Respond to Negative Online Reviews
An online presence is no longer optional today but fundamental to success. Unfortunately, having a solid online presence comes with risks as you’re exposed to receiving both good and bad reviews. So here are two reasons why you should respond to negative reviews.
Take control of the narrative. Responding to bad reviews allows you to shape your brand’s narrative, especially when dealing with defamatory feedback.
You owe it to your customers. Your customers took the time to share their thoughts and experiences with your brand, even through negative feedback.
So instead of trying to remove negative reviews, reply to them. You can turn negative feedback into a business opportunity. By responding to bad customer reviews, you demonstrate your commitment to improving and earning
Top Business Review Websites To Monitor Good and Bad Reviews
To ensure you’re on top of monitoring online reviews and responding to negative feedback timely, here are the top business review websites on which you should claim your listings. And for positive reviews found on these platforms, you can extract and highlight reviews on your own website or social media content.
Google Business Profile (GBP) dominates the top of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). When you claim your business listing on the platform, you essentially control how your brand appears on Google Maps and Search. Per Google, verified businesses on its directory are twice as likely to be regarded as reliable by consumers, facilitating customer loyalty for your brand.
Bing
Bing remains the default search engine for Internet Explorer (IE) and Microsoft Edge browsers. And while IE has been discontinued, it remains supported on certain Windows editions. To further make the case as to why you should claim your Bing Places listing, there’s a buzz surrounding it because of Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI. Microsoft confirmed that Bing runs on OpenAI’s latest tech, GPT-4.
Yelp
Many turn to Yelp when searching for a local business in their community, seeking good and bad customer reviews to inform their purchase decisions. Per a survey recognized by Yelp, 97% of consumers spend money on a business within a week of discovering it on the platform. You can manage your listing and reputation management services for free on Yelp or pay a premium for certain features.
Business pages on Facebook are crawlable by search engines like Google, so your page appears on search results. Besides managing bad or good customer reviews and recommendations on the platform, Facebook offers native tools to help your business, such as handling customer inquiries and booking appointments. Moreover, if you run an eCommerce business, you can set up shop on the platform.
Instagram, like Facebook, is where you can reach billions of potential customers. Google also indexes the website so your pages on the platform show up in search results. To be sure your page comes up on relevant searches, choose the right category upon setting up. Instagram is undeniably rich in user-generated content (UGC), so take advantage of them by reposting them into your feed or stories.
Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a non-profit organization that offers accreditation to businesses, considering a vetting procedure with high standards. Since BBB is trusted by many customers, securing your listing on the site equates to having a positive PR. When you pass the vetting process, your business gets awarded an accreditation seal which you can proudly display to aid customer loyalty and trust.
Nextdoor
The last platform you should claim to monitor both bad and good customer reviews is Nextdoor. Once you verify your business on the platform, you’re allowed two monthly posts. Such posts are known as Business Posts, and they immediately reach neighbors’ newsfeeds, the directory’s hero section, where you essentially get positive PR. Nextdoor allows your business to be discovered by your local community.
How To Respond to Negative Reviews (Tips for Handling Bad Customer Reviews)
Why remove negative reviews when you can respond to them? So to treat them as opportunities they are, here’s how to respond to negative reviews.
1. Prevention Is Key
Before anything else, remember that prevention is always better than cure. One way you can practice prevention is to establish customer expectations by providing thorough service or product information.
2. Ask Questions for Clarification
When you receive a bad review, remember to talk to key persons; this includes team members that have interacted with the customer. Ask questions to get a better picture of what happened to avoid misunderstanding.
3. Be Accountable and Apologize for Your Shortcomings
A brand should apologize for the less-than-ideal experience and demonstrate empathy and understanding when replying to a negative review without putting the blame on circumstances and people.
4. Emphasize Your Commitment to Customer Satisfaction
Without sounding harsh, reiterate that customer satisfaction is your priority and that the poor experience the customer has had is not customary. Ensure to apologize first and not make excuses.
5. Offer Clear-Cut Solutions
If there’s any actionable step you can take after receiving a negative response, do it at once. For instance, if a customer receives a faulty product, process a replacement as soon as possible.
6. Ask for a Second Chance
The secret to keeping customers is to regularly ask them how you can make their future interactions with your brand better. Customer complaints often contain insightful data that can be used to enhance your offerings.
Most of all, express your gratitude to the customer for their time writing you a review.
Response to Positive Reviews Examples
If you offer high-quality products, services and customer support, receiving good customer reviews will naturally occur. Be sure to reply with thoughtful messages like these positive reviews examples.
- Hi [customer name],
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us such wonderful feedback.
It has truly made our team’s day at [company name]. Reviews like yours serve as positive PR that tremendously help small businesses like ours. Our team is committed to delighting our customer service with attention to detail.
We look forward to serving you again in the future.
- Hi [customer name],
Hearing how much you enjoyed visiting our [location] branch has brightened our day at [company name]. Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience. And what a good choice purchasing [product]; it’s one of our top-sellers.
We hope you enjoy your purchase!
Response to Negative Reviews Examples
But even if your offerings are top-notch, receiving negative online reviews is inevitable now and then. So here are some response to negative reviews examples to give you an idea of how you should write your messages.
- Hi [customer name],
I’m [your name], the [role] at [company name]. I’m very sorry to hear about your experience. Please know that we value your feedback and would like to resolve this for you soonest. Can you email me at [contact information] to continue the conversation?
Our team is looking forward to hearing from you again.
- Hi [customer name],
We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Our team will reach out to you within 24 hours to process a replacement free of charge. We’ll pick up and deliver the product to your door 7 days after processing.
You can also call us at [contact information] for any more questions. Thank you for letting us know about your experience with our product.
Earn Back Consumer Confidence With Flexible Reputation Management Services
Negative reviews are inevitable, whether you run a small or large business. To manage them best, work with Rize Reviews’ reputation management services experts and start mending customer relationships. Our team offers white-label solutions to help out other agencies wanting to provide quality services for their own clients — know more with a free demo.
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