How Should You Deal With Negative Online Reviews?
Who likes to be criticized? Bad reviews that are published on the net and spread quickly can damage the reputation. To avoid this, it is very important to know how to deal with bad reviews on the net.
Many companies have an inhibition threshold to present themselves on the Internet. The reason is often the fear, then to find negative comments about his company on the net and not knowing how to respond to it.
But being found on the internet is becoming more and more important.
Many consumers search the Internet and read reviews and recommendations. Therefore, one should be visible in rating portals such as Yelp , Ciao, and other business reviews websites.
But also the social networks like Facebook, Twitter & Co. are not to be underestimated.
There you will quickly comment, discuss and evaluate. Not to mention the search engine Google, which also displays reviews.
On the Internet many consumers let their displeasure run wild, because it is often anonymous possible or simply quickly feasible.
In the worst case, a so-called Shit Storm can be triggered. That sounds disturbing. But it does not have to, if you know how to handle it.
8 tips to help you deal with negative reviews on the net
How should one react now, if the contributions, comments and evaluations in the net are negative? Of course, each case is specific and individual to solve.
Nevertheless, there are some rules that should be followed:
React Quickly and Stay Calm
It’s annoying to suddenly hear something negative about yourself or your company on the net.
Do not be provoked, do not take the comments personally, but stay calm. Think carefully about how you want to react. It is always important that you react quickly.
Respond Politely
The nature of your answer is also important. You should always write politely and constructively on the matter and apologize for any inconvenience.
Do not try to justify as much as possible to avoid getting the situation worse.
Be Professional
Use comments as much as possible. Even if the remarks are provocative, it is important to remain objective and not offended. Always stay professional.
Suggest Solutions
With a simple apology, your critic is unlikely to be satisfied.
You have to offer solutions in such situations. If the situation is more difficult and you do not directly have a suitable solution, then give us a phone number or e-mail address to contact directly.
Delete Spam Negative Reviews
Only if the portal is clearly spam messages or the comment is offensive, racist, intentionally damaging to reputation or similar, may the rating or comment be deleted when the portal offers it.
On many portals or networks like Facebook, it is possible to block these critics for future comments.
If you can not perform the deletion yourself, you have the option of requesting the relevant portals to delete a contribution.
Defining Responsibilities
Responses to negative comments should always be 100% correct.
Therefore, the one who is best versed in the company with the respective topic should always answer or at least be asked.
If your business is made up of several people or departments, then you should decide who answers when and how to what on which topics. Here it makes sense to create a kind of guidelines catalog.
Take Criticisms in a Good Way
Although it is difficult to respond to negative comments, it can still be valuable to you.
On the one hand, you can show that you are taking the problems of your customers seriously, which can lead to an authentic reputation on the net. Second, you can learn from the clues.
You may not have been aware of one or the other problem, and you can improve your products and service for all your customers.
Provide Freebies
One of the great solutions to negative reviews is to provide freebies. Since you are dealing with angry customers in the internet, best to give them digital freebies like ebook, extend free product trials, etc..
This way, you can increase your customer retention rate and possibly solve the customer’s complaint.
At this point it should also be noted that you should research well in advance, in which rating platforms and in which social media you would like to be found, and which platforms make sense for you at all.
In addition, you should always think carefully about what content you put on the net. Always try to see everything you publish from the perspective of your customers.
Is the content really interesting for my customers? Does it benefit you? This approach can help you reap positive rather than negative comments.
Reviews in the net are nowadays indispensable. Therefore, you should stick to the rules. Nobody is perfect. If you know how to deal with negative criticism, you are sympathetic, authentic and serious. Criticism must not hurt your reputation.
