3 Ways To Deal With Bad Customer Reviews

Right and wrong ways to dealing with negative reviews

Every business and organization will make mistakes that should be rectified to the best of one’s ability. Sometimes, you will encounter a customer that will never be happy no matter what you do or have done to appease them. Inevitably, you will, for whatever reason, experience bad customer reviews on professional sites and on social media. There are right and wrong ways to dealing with such negative reviews.

Address Bad Reviews

You should always acknowledge bad reviews wherever they are. Other potential clients reading the review will realize that there are two sides to every story and expect you to respond. Apologize for the negative experience and address the specific complaints made in the review. If the bad review is unjustified, the experience exaggerated (or worse – they have outright lied), you should respond to protect your business’ reputation.

Invite Them for a Private Discussion

Less than 50% of people who leave reviews expect a response. Ideally, you should acknowledge every review you receive but pay particular attention to the negative review. It is recommended that the offending business ask the customer if they would be willing to return to have a private meeting with a senior employee. Accommodate them as much as you can in meeting at a time suitable for them. In the legal profession, this should be a practice manager or other senior authority who did not work on the case. A customer who has not already decided to take their business elsewhere would, in most cases, be willing to meet.

Nurture a Culture of Reviews

Negative reviews can reflect badly on your business. They are especially impactful when your search engine listings or social media accounts have few reviews generally. Businesses that are active on social media not only have improved outreach, there is also a higher chance of receiving reviews. This means a higher chance of positive reviews. The more positive reviews you have, the less impact negative reviews will have. Prospective clients and customers will simply ignore them. Those that do seek them out will read with an open mind and pay attention to how you addressed the problems