Your business has taken all measures to adapt to the development of modern society. It’s already outfitted with social media profiles, email marketing campaigns — all the bells and whistles of digital marketing.
But it turns out that when it comes to jumping into the internet age, there’s one thing you’re not ready for.
what is it? Negative online reviews.
These horrible comments on social media profiles and Yelp pages can give you a nasty shock and an emotional blow. But how do you get them right so that the occasional bad review from an unhappy customer doesn’t end up being a bad start to the day?
Read on for our 6 top tips for staying positive in the face of negative online comments!
1. Remember, you can’t please everyone
When it comes to dealing with negative customer reviews, it is absolutely necessary for you to realize that there is never a business or organization that has not gotten a negative review. You may be haunted by these negative comments, but you are far from the first to do so.
With more than 7.6 billion people on the planet, there is sure to be one person who is not doing well. There must be another person with unrealistic expectations, and another person who catches your employees on their off days.
It is unrealistic to expect to please everyone every day. A bad review doesn’t mean the end of your business — it just means someone feels they have something to say. Read it and accept the feedback, then move on!
2. Know that bad reviews are not always an indicator of your quality
Remember that moody customer we mentioned? That one had a bad day and everything went wrong and then your site was slow to load, or their order took a long time to complete and it just pushed them over the edge?
Their bad day is not always indicative of the overall quality of your business. So, don’t think it is!
Chances are, for every negative review you get, there are two, three, or ten good reviews that match it. You may have hordes of customers coming through your door or inbox completely satisfied with their experience.
They just might not be talking about it on Yelp.
Just because you get a bad review or two doesn’t mean your business is doing anything fundamentally wrong. Negative feedback is rarely, if ever, indicative of the overall quality of your business.
3. Understanding bad reviews builds credibility
Have you ever found yourself scrolling through a list of reviews for a business and found yourself skeptical about the reviews?
They’re all five stars! Will they be real? Did the business pay for fake reviews?
The occasional bad review can actually help the credibility of your business and the credibility of good reviews. It shows that your business has nothing to hide.
If you have one bad review out of every 10 good reviews, it’s easy for your client to ditch the negative review left by that distressed client.
A study conducted by Harvard actually proved that 95% of customers are more likely to trust and trust a business that has both positive and negative reviews. Your customers know that no one is perfect; they value the fact that businesses are willing to admit to themselves.
4. 4. Remember, every bad review is an opportunity to grow
Well, we’ll admit it: some bad reviews are just plain…bad.
Some customers like to complain for the sake of complaining. But, with many negative reviews, there is something to learn from and use to improve your company and its services.
When reading bad reviews, try to put your emotions aside. If you need help with this, check out this helpful site.
Look at them objectively and ask yourself if there is anything your company can do to prevent negative experiences in the future. Ask yourself how your team can implement this negative feedback to improve its overall process.
An important aspect of running any type of business is the ability to grow and adapt to changing markets. If you don’t grow and adapt, your company will fall out of favor in the blink of an eye! Think of your negative comments as a constructive tool – advice to help you grow.
5. Respond publicly to your bad reviews
There’s only one thing that can make negative reviews really impact your business. That’s when your team didn’t respond to negative reviews and didn’t make an effort to correct the situation.
However, responding publicly to the situation helps your company in many ways. It gives you the opportunity to regain the respect of customers who have made negative reviews. It also shows your commitment to doing the right thing with other clients.
If you think customers won’t pay attention to your reactions to negative situations, think again. Research shows that businesses like hotels that publicly respond to negative reviews actually see a huge increase in revenue once they establish a regular pattern of responding to negative feedback.
