How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews
Every so often a business will receive a stinker of a review online. If it's in a high profile, high-stakes spot such as Google My Business, not only does it affect overall ratings, it also has the ability to negatively affect brand perception by potential customers.
If people read a bad review about your business, it could send them to a competitor.
Treat a bad review as an opportunity:
To learn about your business’s shortcomings in the eyes of the customer
To transform an experience into good customer service
Should I Even Care About Online Reviews?
Always care—negative reviews are read (even sought out) by potential customers.
They go after the good reviews, but want to know the bad bits too. I personally always read negative reviews before deciding on a service or product, and while I factor in other criteria at the same time, every consumer has a different threshold and process.
Studies have shown that over 80% of consumers read the business’s response to the negative review. This is where a business has the opportunity to state its case and ideally change the opinion of the potential customer.
Your prospects want to see how you handle feedback, and for many it becomes a buying indicator for them.
5 Tips on How to Respond to Reviews
It’s understandable to panic when your business gets hit with a negative review. Follow these tips for a less stressful and a more successful experience.
1 / Don’t allow your emotions to take over.
Lashing back defensively at the reviewer, no matter how unfounded their comments may seem, will do your business more harm than good.
One of the cardinal rules of the web is that once something is posted online, it may never go away: Even if you edit or delete what you originally posted, someone may have taken a screenshot of the original reaction. And possibly shared it.
While responding within 24 hours of a negative review is ideal, write a draft response first. Then return to edit it after you’ve cooled down and followed the other steps below.
How not to respond to a review. Adding “please” at the end doesn’t soften the response (or encourage the reviewer to call the business to discuss the matter).
2 / Look into the issue.
Act quickly to find out more detail about what happened from the staff involved.
If you’re able to determine who the customer is, and the bigger picture around their experience, it’ll help you craft a more effective response. It also demonstrates to the customer that you care enough about their experience to look into the situation.
If you’re unable to figure out who the reviewer is, and have reasons to believe the review is a fraud (or a mistake), be sure to read the paragraph below on handling “Wrongful Negative Reviews.”
3 / Contact the customer directly
Call them. This is a very important step for professional services businesses where there’s a direct relationship with the customer and can easily access their phone number.
If you don’t have a phone number, try emailing and asking them to call you or the manager (by name). Be sure to tell them the easiest time or way to reach you.
Keep as neutral as possible in your conversation. Tell them that you read their review, looked into the incident and want to speak with them about it. Encourage them to share any other feedback, and apologize for their experience (see #4 below).
Why take the time to contact them?
It shows the customer that you care.
It may alter their opinion of your business and encourage them to return.
They may share the positive experience of your response with friends or family, rather than the negative one.
They may alter, retract or add an update to their review. However, do not expect or ask them to do this!
In this Yelp review the original one-star rating and review was updated.
Another example: After I posted a 3-star review about a rocky restaurant experience, the manager tracked down my phone number and called me to find out more detail. He apologized for the experience and asked if he could send me a gift card so that I’d consider a return.
That 10-minute conversation not only helped change my opinion about the business, but also led me to tell others about the surprise phone call and the nice outcome.
What if you can’t reach the customer by phone or email?
If you tried to connect and were unsuccessful, let them (and readers) know that you made this effort in your written response to their review.
4 / Apologize and tell them how you’ll take action
Be empathetic. The customer wrote the review because their specific expectations were not met.
Apologize - not because it's in your DNA as a Canadian - but because it’s a recommended customer service approach in North America.
Note: an apology is not necessarily an admission of wrongdoing. Instead, you’re recognizing that the customer was left disappointed (whether you agree with the details or not). You’re saying, “I’m sorry your visit/meal/experience failed to meet your expectations.”
In this Google review, the restaurant apologizes and asks the reviewer to contact them.
Tell them how you’re going to fix the issue in the future. In a professional services office it might be, “We appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention. We’ll review telephone etiquette with all staff to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Invite the customer to return, in order to demonstrate that you value their business and that their experience was unusual.
5 / Review your response before posting
If you followed #1 and drafted a response, review and edit it before posting. It sometimes helps to have a second set of eyes go over your response too.
If you spoke to the customer on the phone, be sure to mention that in the review.
Keep your response professional, polite, and brief—don’t be tempted to respond to every point in the review (it can come across as defensive).
Wrongful Negative Reviews
It’s rare, but false or mistaken reviews are a possibility. In 10+ years of assisting clients respond to online reviews, I’ve seen only three of these.
The bad news: It’s very difficult to have these reviews removed. The good news: Your response can put out the flames of their fire.
Follow the same steps as above (you still can’t insult or accuse the reviewer). I recommend leaving the door open to the possibility that the review is actually not wrongful.
Different scenarios to consider:
Mistaken company - if your business name is similar to a competitor
Mistaken industry - same business name, wrong industry
Third person mix-up of facts - when a family member or friend posts on behalf of someone else
Employee mistakes
Incorrect information
Misunderstanding on behalf of the client
Each of these situations require a different approach. Then invite the reviewer to contact you to resolve the issue.
Even if you feel certain that the review is intended to be malicious and authored by a competitor, take the high road.
Meanwhile, be sure to drown out any negative reviews through a steady stream of positive reviews.