In business, reputation is one of the essential brands an owner must always keep high. However, receiving bad reviews is something that can’t be prevented and can blow any owner’s confidence. Most often, it may happen because of events out of your control. Some examples are short-staffed, longer waits on the counter, and supply chain issues. Moreover, negative reviews can come from customers simply having their worst day.
The impact is usually the same once the reviews are on social media channels and websites. Most of them are published on popular websites such as Google My Business and Yelp. As a result, it can make your business more challenging to attract customers in walk-in or online. Furthermore, bad reviews can be especially harmful to small businesses trying to grow.
The good thing is that you can use the same review tools that your customers use to manage your online reputation and reduce the impact bad ratings can have on your bottom line.
Check these tips for responding to negative reviews broken into what to do and what not to do.
How to reply to a bad review
Here are three steps to take whenever you receive a bad review.
1. Always respond
It is essential to keep your engagement open to your customers because once a negative review is published online, it may become difficult to remove or control, especially if it’s shared over social media platforms and websites.
Always remember that if you don’t have the time to respond promptly, assign someone from the team because responding to bad news isn’t something that can wait.
2. Be calm and professional
Sometimes, you will lose your temper while reading those mean and harsh reviews, but make sure you always compose yourself. You must always be calm and professional when handling negative reviews. Same as the one who regularly interacts with customers.
Sometimes, you will lose your temper while reading those mean and harsh reviews, but make sure you always compose yourself. You must always be calm and professional when handling negative reviews. Same as the one who regularly interacts with customers.
3. Solve the issue
If you think you made a mistake or the service rendered is not good enough. It is proper to take responsibility and fix the problem as soon as possible. If you think the customer is at fault, still resolving the issue is the best option. It is exhausting, but the goal is not to win the battle. The aim is to protect the business and your reputation. If you are good at doing it, you will convert complaining customers into repeat buyers.
How not to handle negative reviews
Criticisms hurt, and it is normal for us humans, but here are three crucial tips for how to reply to a bad review.
1. Don’t take out your frustration on the customer
It might feel gratifying at the time, but it won’t solve if you respond to bad reviews with sarcasm, anger, or defensiveness. It will only make the problem worse at out of control. Consequently, it will result in more negative thoughts.
2. Customers are always right (even when they aren’t)
The customers can’t always be correct. But in business, solving the issue to the customer’s satisfaction is the simplest and most effective way to create customer satisfaction. It might add to your costs, but offering freebies, gifts, or perks all prices money and sometimes calm angry customers.
3. Don’t be rude or combative
This is a variation of almost every other suggestion on the list, but it’s worth repeating. Neither you nor your team members can afford to lose their cool when interfacing with customers – even if those people have already lost their temper. You might not win the battle, but politely responding to bad reviews positions you to win the larger war of protecting your reputation and growing a successful business.
At eatOS, our POS Systems come with customer feedback management capabilities to get ahead of bad reviews before they ever get published online. To learn more, contact us today.
