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‘84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as friends, 68% of consumers will go straight to a business’s social media to read reviews before they buy.’

So, disaster has struck, you got a bad review for your business. Unfortunately, because it’s online, that review is there for all the world to see.  You need to always be aware of comments and monitor what is being said, good or bad.  Negative reviews can result in loss of business but if handled in the right way, can be turned around and used as an opportunity for more business.

1. Respond ASAP

The quicker you can get back to the person, the better.  The longer you leave it without replying, the more likely it is to get worse. Also, more of your followers will see it and notice that there hasn’t been a response.

2. Never Delete

Sometimes things can happen.   The pizza was delivered late and was cold; service in a restaurant was bad; a customer got a fly in their soup; a product never showed up, but the customer was charged; someone was rude on the phone; or a company’s service was just plain abysmal!  Never delete a bad review.  You need to reply and it needs to be – prompt, professional, polite and conciliatory.  If it’s a small, minor issue just thank them politely for their feedback and leave it at that.

3. Professional, not Personal

Dealing with valid complaints should be done in exactly the same way online as offline:

  • Be professional not personal
  • Address legitimate concerns
  • Apologise (even if you think it wasn’t your fault)
  • Present your case
  • Keep it brief. Don’t enter into long explanations or lots of backwards and forwards. The danger is it can escalate quickly and online is permanent!
  • Offer to fix the problem
  • Invite them to call you or email so you can sort it out for them.
  • Tell them you will Private Message them if you don’t hear from them.

4. Spam or Fake Reviews

Unfortunately, spam or fake reviews will bring your rating down so it’s best to get them removed if possible.  This can be difficult to do depending on the platform.

  • To report a fake review (or one that you don’t agree should be there) on Facebook, you need to go to the 3 dots in the corner of the individual review box and click on ‘report post’. Select ‘it has nothing to do with this page’ if it’s a fake review or ‘I think it shouldn’t be on Facebook’ if it’s discrimination or a personal attack etc.
  • For Google My Business you have the option to report a bad or fake review in a similar way (3 dots in the corner of the review and flag as inappropriate). Google are very slow to respond although, in all fairness, they must deal with thousands of these complaints. We just managed to get a fake review for a client removed from Google My Business by sending a tweet to @GoogleMyBiz and we had the review removed within days.  The 1-star rating and silly comment was not from a real customer.
  • Other platforms will have their own policy of dealing with spam or fake reviews but if you find it’s slow or not being dealt with, ask Dr Google on how you can get it dealt with. I’m sure you will find some great tips and advice.

Businesses and review platforms that do not remove reviews they know to be fake risk breaching the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

5. Encourage 5-Star Reviews

There’s nothing wrong with encouraging your best customers and clients to leave a great review for you.  If by any chance you have had any bad reviews, the review system works on the average review score, so you need lots of great reviews to cancel out the bad ones.  I would be doing my utmost to give the very best service or deliver great products to ensure that those poor reviews end up being negligible.   Also, if you have had 1 bad review and lots of great ones, potential customers or clients will be able to see the true picture.

 

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Bad reviews can sometimes be a wake-up call to fix something in your business that isn’t working.  You could even thank the reviewer for bringing it to your attention if it’s valid.

The best solution by far for bad reviews is not to get them!   If you have received one (or more!) maybe it’s time to look at your customer service as well as your processes. Ensure that all your staff are trained and know what’s expected when dealing with customers as well as your business processes and time lines etc.

 

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Judith Shuttleworth

Judith Shuttleworth is the owner of HotsWots Digital and a Director of Open House ID, an app for real estate agents. We have a range of expertise in all aspects of digital marketing and provide personal customer service. Your success is our motivation.

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