How to Deal with Negative Online Customer Reviews
And Why They’re Good for Your Business
For every business, it is normal to have negative online customer reviews every now and then. These reviews can be helpful in giving honest feedback about a product or service. Negative online reviews can help you to know how you can improve your business to meet customer expectations. To deal with negative online customer reviews, it is important to know how to manage negative online reviews.
Negative Reviews are Good for Business
Now, you may be wondering, “what’s good about having your product or service being criticized publicly?” Well, for one thing, you are getting honest feedback from your customers. This is the best way to improve your business by taking this into consideration.
Furthermore, negative online reviews can also be used as marketing tools. You can use these reviews to convince people to try your product or service out for themselves. If you are having a hard time trying to convince people to try out your product or service, this is a great way to gain more sales in the long run.
Negative reviews also give other potential customers a glimpse of the worst-case scenario, which can be a good way to protect yourself from any potential problems.
Another reason why negative reviews are good for business is that most potential customers tend to believe in companies that have received one or two negative reviews rather than those that have received no negative reviews at all. This is because they think that companies with no negative reviews might be scams. When you have a few negative reviews, people are more likely to think that you are a trustworthy company.
Not all negative reviews are bad. The only thing that matters is the purpose of the review. Some negative reviews can be very helpful in helping companies improve their products and services to meet customer expectations. You may want to make sure that you take all of these types of reviews into consideration when trying to improve your business.
How to Deal with Negative Online Customer Reviews
If you want to deal with negative online customer reviews, here are the steps that you need to follow:
Respond to the Review
When a customer leaves a negative review on your company’s page, it is your responsibility to respond and reply to that review. You can simply reply by saying “I am sorry you feel this way” or “I would like to ask if there is anything we can do”. The most important thing here is not to overreact and apologize in order for them not to see you as someone who lacks business skills. Instead, show them that you care about their opinions and understand how they feel.
Look at the Reasons Why They Left Negative Reviews
Once you have responded to their review, look at why they left a negative review about your company. If it is because of poor customer service, make sure that you make things right by offering them some sort of discount or freebie. If it is because of a product defect, you may want to contact the manufacturer and try to resolve the issue.
Take Their Suggestions and Fix the Issue
Fixing the issue that was reported by your customers shows that you care and that you listen to them. Customers will feel that you are truly committed to improving your product or service. You can then take their suggestions and make them part of your company’s marketing strategy. Once you have fixed the issue, you can start engaging with your customers on social media to show that you are truly listening to them and to let them know that the issue has been fixed.
About the Author
I am the Founder of Cudy Technologies (www.cudy.co), a full-stack EdTech startup helping teachers and students learn better. I am also a mentor and angel investor in other Startups of my other interests (Proptech, Fintech, HRtech, Ride-hailing, C2C marketplaces, and SaaS). You can also find me on Cudy for early-stage Startup Founder mentorship and advice.
You can connect with me on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderlhk) and let me know that you are a reader of my Medium posts in your invitation message.
