No matter how great your business is, eventually, it’s going to happen: someone is going to leave you a bad review.
And as much as you may want to type out an angry, expletive-filled reply (or ignore it completely), reviews do matter, and being able to respond to them can make a big difference for your business.
Did you know that:
- 89% of consumers consult reviews before making a purchasing decision.
- 45% of consumers say they’re more likely to visit a business that responds to negative reviews.
- 60% of consumers believe negative reviews are just as important as positive ones.
So, although it may feel like a punch to the gut, a negative review isn’t always a bad thing—it’s an opportunity for your business to appear authentic and invested in the customer experience. Read on to learn when, how, and why you should reply.
7 Tips for Responding to Negative Reviews & Comments
Whether it’s on your Google Business Page, social media accounts, Yelp, or another rating website, it’s easier than ever for customers to leave negative reviews or comments. But like we said, this actually can be a good thing.
As digital literacy continues to rise, consumers are becoming more wary of what they see online. Coming across a business with only five-star reviews can seem suspicious or fake. In fact, studies have found that products or businesses with at least a few negative reviews have a higher conversion rate than those without.
However, these handful of negative reviews won’t work in your favor if you don’t know how to respond to them properly. No matter what the review or comment says, it’s important to always keep your cool. If you feel like you’re going to let your emotions dictate your response, step away from the keyboard and calm down. Although you’re a person behind the screen, you’re responding as a business, and you need to be professional. Always keeping this in mind, let’s explore more best practices:
1. Respond in a Timely Manner
Even if you’re unhappy with the negative review or comment, you still want to show the reviewer that you appreciate them taking the time to voice their concerns. That means you should respond to reviews as soon as possible. 53.3% of customers expect a response within 7 days or less; we recommend you respond within 24 to 48 hours.
Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can stay on top of your incoming reviews. You can either manually check major platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp, or you can use automated tools such as Google Alerts, which is a free service that sends you notifications when a new review comes in. There are also paid services, like Birdeye and ReviewTrackers, that use a centralized dashboard to send you review notifications from multiple sites.
2. Address the Reviewer
When responding to a negative review or comment, address the reviewer directly. Avoid generic call-outs like “customer” or “guest”. According to online review statistics, 76% of reviews are either Google or Facebook reviews, which means you can usually see the name of the reviewer.
By taking the time to personalize your response and address them by name, you’re showing the reviewer that you don’t just have a copy-and-paste script. Instead, you’ll make the customer feel individually heard.
Check out this great example below:
3. Apologize & Sympathize
Remember, always to say sorry! You don’t want to appear too stubborn to own up to your mistakes. Even if you don’t think you’re in the wrong, the phrase “the customer is always right” should ring true here.
Regardless of the facts of the situation, the person is still upset, and you want to apologize for making them feel that way. This is a great opportunity to re-establish trust between your company and the unhappy customer.
Say things like:
- “We’re very sorry that we did not meet your expectations.”
- “We apologize that you had a bad experience, but we’re so glad you brought it to our attention.”
- “We always want the best for our customers, so we’re sorry to hear that this happened.”
4. Take Responsibility
Whatever you do, don’t make excuses or try to brush off their experience. Even if it was an isolated case, an unfortunate accident, or just an extremely rare instance, you want to acknowledge what happened and take responsibility for your actions.
Your customers don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to reassure them when things inevitably go wrong.
In your response, try saying things like:
- “This is on us.”
- “We missed the mark.”
- “We’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
- “We take full responsibility for what happened.”
5. See if You Can Make Things Right
While it’s important to make sure your reply is personal and sympathetic, you also want to make sure that you take the time to address their specific concerns and suggest actions to resolve the issue.
Depending on the problem, offer them things like a gift card, the replacement of a damaged item, or a discount on their next purchase. Most of the time, the customers won’t even take you up on the offer, but at least now they know you’re willing to go the extra mile to make them happy.
6. Keep it Short & Sweet
While you want to thoroughly address the customer’s concerns, you don’t want to go overboard. Long, rambling replies can cause the point of the message to get lost in translations and create opportunities for you to inadvertently upset the customer further.
We recommend you keep your responses between three and five sentences. If you feel like there is more to say, then take the issues offline. Tell the customer where they can contact you by phone or email, and encourage them to reach out if there’s more they want to discuss.
Here’s a great example of this:
7. Lastly, Don’t Forget to Say Thank You
After receiving a negative review, the last thing you probably want to do is say, “thank you.” However, taking the time to do so shows customers that your company values unsolicited feedback (even if it seems overly mean or unnecessary).
After all, you can always learn from your mistakes. In fact, you’ll probably learn more from the bad reviews than you will from the good reviews! For example, if you notice that several customers are pointing out the same malfunction with a product, you can identify the problem and improve it. View this as an opportunity to grow, and thank the reviewer accordingly for bringing it to your attention.
Try saying things like:
- “Thank you for letting us know.”
- “Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback.”
- “Thank you for explaining your experience.”
- “Thank you, we’re so glad you raised this issue.”
Need Help Managing Reviews?
Running a business while trying to manage your online presence can be a lot. Luckily, you don’t have to do it all on your own. If you want help managing, reading, and responding to your online reviews, the team at SocialSurge Marketing is here to help.
Responding to comments isn’t all we do; it’s only one part of a larger digital marketing strategy that can improve your reputation, social listening, and customer relationships. To learn more about the services we can offer your business, schedule a free, 15-minute consultation.