HOW TO MANAGE NEGATIVE ONLINE REVIEWS?

As a business, receiving a negative online review is inevitable, the impact of those negative reviews will on the business will be great if there were not managed positively.

“ReviewTrackers survey unveils that 94% of consumers admit that a negative online review can turn them off choosing a particular business.”

Managing your negative online reviews requires a plan especially if those negative reviews are showing up on the first pages of Google and social media sites. You need to start looking at the following:

• Google My Business
• Online Review Sites
• Social Media Sites

Once you have a complete view of your negative reviews, take a look at the following steps to start dealing and managing those reviews.

Managing Online Negative Reviews

Managing online negative reviews requires a plan as we’ve mentioned above and part of this plan is to start analyzing those negative reviews to start responding to those negative reviews accordingly.

The key factor in managing online negative reviews is not ignoring any of those reviews. Responding to such reviews will help in resolving the situation and it will help calm the situation and help in reaching a satisfactory solution for both parties and may help in removing such negative review and change it to a positive one.

How do you respond to negative online reviews?

Respond Immediately

Negative reviews are extremely time-sensitive, the sooner you address those negative reviews, the less impactful it will be on your reputation. Responding to those reviews should be studied and carefully crafted. The response to the negative reviews should not be based on an employee state of mind and should be based on a structured strategy all responsible employees of such task be trained on the consequences of such responses.

Empathy and Courtesy

When responding to negative reviews, you should try to calm the situation down by being polite, courteous and being empathetic with their situation. This will help calm the situation and will make them more open to listen to you and calm their nerves down. This situation will make you as a business owner look more professional and will help with your positive online presence.

Apologize

Should your business be at fault, apologies should be in order to calm the situation down and to help move the situation to a positive state.

You may ask them to engage in your suggested solution and provide an advice in your designed solutions. One thing you have to be careful here is to have a structured apology that will not get you in trouble by admitting to faults that may get you in legal trouble.

Reach out Publicly and Privately

Responding to negative reviews publicly will help show your positive side of the story and will show you in a different light and your efforts in helping resolve the negative situation. Some situation may require public response but may move into some other private communications channels that may help resolve the negative situation much faster.

Monitory Compensation

In some cases a negative situation may require some monitory compensation whether in a discount or a completely refunded transaction. This strategy should be the final act in your strategy after you’ve exhausted all of other solutions within your plans, especially if the issue was related to your products or services. Such activities should happen in a private compensation as this situation may have others start similar negative posts without any real issue but just to gain monitory compensation.

Products and Services Improvements

Sometimes a negative review could be the start of a positive situation and an enhancement to your products or services that were not visible to you beforehand. Work on a plan to keep people posted on your planned remedies to avoid future complaints and negative reviews that you’ll not be able to control in the future.

In conclusion, managing your negative online reviews should follow a studied and structured strategy that takes in consideration your employees and your clients. Always remember negative reviews and positive reviews can come from anyone interacts with your company or brand.