How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews in a Positive Way

Most businesses, no matter the industry, will see at least one bad customer review in their lifetime. Your company can fall into this category, too, often without major fault on your part. With a home remodeling company, for example, an appliance could have been incorrectly ordered, or the client may be unhappy that their remodel took slightly longer than expected. Although these things happen and are quite normal when dealing with a service-based business, customers often forget that and take out their frustration on the only outlet they know: The Internet.

The reactions many business owners have when they see a negative online review involve getting upset, finding someone (either the client or an employee) to blame for the situation and hoping potential customers don’t see the review. But rather than let a bad review get to you, there’s an easy—and smart—way to turn that negative online review into a marketing asset for your business.

Without a doubt, online reviews are one of the single most important tools you can utilize for your business. With review sites like Yelp, Google and Facebook within everyone’s fingertips, consumers often use these to share their personal experience with a company. And although anyone can leave a review about his or her experience, people typically write reviews if they had either a really great experience or a really bad one.

The bottom line is that all reviews, good and bad, matter to your business. Even one or two bad-to-okay reviews aren’t the end of the world, because they make other online reviews seem more credible (as opposed to having all 5-star reviews, which many people find suspicious). But when it comes to negative reviews, the most important thing you can do is turn them into a public customer service experience. If done correctly, this can drastically change how potential clients view your business.

The key to changing the effect of a negative review is communication. Whether the problem was a mistake in the order, sub-par service or just overall customer dissatisfaction, immediately respond with an apology for their unhappiness. Many people just want their voice to be heard by someone, so reaching out to them online to apologize for the poor experience can immediately change their opinion of your business. It shows that you care.

When a negative review of your business pops up online, don’t panic. Instead, remember that you can use this review to your advantage. As soon as you see a less than positive review, you should respond to the client as quickly as possible. That’s why it’s important to closely monitor your online reviews, so that you can reach out to the reviewer shortly after they post.

Depending on the situation, offer to do what you can to fix the problem. That might mean going out of your way to follow up on the service or simply telling them you will work to fix the problem in the future. Alternatively, offer an explanation as to why something happened the way it did, making sure you keep an understanding and respectful tone. Even if you are not able to change something, offering to make up for it goes a long way in customer service.

The goal of offering a solution is to try to win them back as a customer, whether that means they will personally use your service again or recommend you to a friend. If you can get back into your customer’s good graces after a negative review, you’ve provided excellent customer service.

Another key to responding to online reviews is to have that conversation on the platform the original post is on. Whether it’s Yelp, Google or Facebook, it’s important to post your response under their review rather than emailing or messaging them separately. This way, people will see that you made an effort to resolve the issue, something they can’t see if the comment is not public.

In the end, there is only so much you can do to change someone’s perception of your business. In many cases, people who believe that their complaint was eventually resolved, or at least attempted to be resolved, will change their original review. If they don’t, you still have the advantage of potential clients seeing that you care enough to take time out of your busy day to solve the problem.

Negative online reviews can be frustrating. But as long as you know how to handle the situation and learn from customer feedback, your business will have the upper hand.

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