How to respond to negative customer reviews

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Even bad reviews can benefit a company's reputation if they are handled correctly.

If you offend a buyer in the real world, they'll complain to six of their close friends. If you offend a customer online, they will trumpet another 6,000 users.

Jeff Bezos billionaire CEO of Amazon.com, aerospace company Blue Origin and The Washington Post

What could be the reason for a negative review

Marketing company Convince & Convert conducted research on You’ve Got 24 Hours to Respond to Customers on Social Media, proving that poor service is the most critical issue.

• 60% of respondents indicated that they were forced to write in the comments by the company's deception;
• 59% will write on social networks if they are unhappy with the service;
• for 57%, the reason to publicly speak out will be the rudeness of employees;
• 45% will post a negative review if the product itself is bad.

It's easy to relieve stress on social media by noting the account of the irritant in the post. Therefore, more often users write negative reviews on the Internet, rather than gratitude.

Removing all negative comments in the business community is a wrong decision, only praise in reviews looks too suspicious. Moreover, advanced users often take a screenshot of a review and its disappearance will become a reason for a scandal. It is not always possible to erase a review in social networks: a comment can be left on the page of the user himself, and not in your business community.

With competent work with negative, it can be neutralized and even converted into loyalty.

45% of those surveyed indicated that if the company responds correctly to the complaint and resolves the problem, they will write a positive comment about it.

Types of negative reviews and how to deal with them

Reputation management experts advise to post in advance in the business community about the rules of communication in the group. It should indicate that offensive comments will be deleted and their authors will be blocked. Then the obscene, meaningless messages that have arisen in the community can be safely erased according to the group's rules.

To formulate the correct tactics for responding to criticism, analyze the negative feedback according to the following criteria:

• Who writes;
• what he writes (the type of negative and its tone, the presence or absence of specific claims);
• where the feedback was left (on the user's personal page, in the official group of the company);
• audience reaction (the number of social network users who supported the discussion, liked the post, made a repost of the record).

Based on this information, we draw up a scheme for a competent response to a comment.

Constructive criticism

Constructive criticism (even harsh) is the perfect negative comment for a business owner. The purpose of the review is to resolve the issue the author was experiencing. Therefore, the comments often contain facts: order number, date of purchase, defect in the product or service.

Since the answer will be available to all Internet users, the following dialogue scheme will be correct.

1. Apologize and, to paraphrase the comment, clarify the information about the problem that has arisen.
2. Having received the answer, take the dialogue from the public field into personal communication. When doing this, leave a polite comment: “Good afternoon, [username]. We wrote to you personally in order to quickly solve the problem. " Discuss further nuances of the conflict with the client in private messages, by mail or phone.
3. Eliminate user-specified bugs.
4. After solving the problem, tell us about the results of the work done in the comments and thank the client for understanding. You can give some kind of bonus as an excuse for the inconvenience. By telling a wider audience how the problem was solved, you show a passion for customers. This increases the credibility of the company.
5. Take a screenshot of your conversation with the client and save it.

Ekaterina Tikhonova Product Director of the Israeli Higher School of Information Technology and Security HackerU.

Negative emotional comment

If the person is disappointed in expectations, expect an expressive emotional response. Such a comment is often not very informative, without specifying the specific problem that caused the complaint.

Ask the author of the comment clarifying questions to find out if the person wants compensation or just decided to pour out his soul in the information field. A non-fake user will enter into a dialogue with a company representative. The troll will avoid specifics.

If the conversation turns into a constructive channel, proceed according to the first scenario. Transfer the dialogue from a public format to a private one, and after solving the problem, write about the result in the comments. Make sure that the controversial issue is really resolved and that such blunders do not arise in the future.

If a commentator avoids clarifying questions, builds up negativity, behaves inappropriately (for example, blacklists a company representative), then most likely this is a fake. Delete the review without a shadow of a doubt, it is not true.

Trolling

Commentary with a provocative message. The purpose of trolling is to provoke negative reactions and draw the participants in the discussion into the epicenter of the conflict. The author expects a violent reaction to a destructive, offensive comment, so he is rude, not paying attention to the arguments and excuses of the company representative.

Since the troll cannot be changed, there is no need to get involved in the discussion. You can reply to a comment once, remembering that it is not addressed to the rude person, but to other readers observing the situation. The main thing is to remain calm and stick to a professional tone of speech.

Check out the negative person's profile on social media for the severity of the content. This will give an understanding if he is a troll. If a bot trolls, report spam to the site administration and block this account.

If you are sure that you are being provoked by a living person, hiding his comment will work better. The text will remain visible to you and the author, but will not be available to other participants.

Ekaterina Tikhonova Product Director of the Israeli Higher School of Information Technology and Security HackerU.

Black PR

Fake negative reviews ordered by competitors, or the appearance of a rival in the comments. Their goal is to hit the opponent's reputation, to show their own competence. Such comments look deliberately emotional, provocative, or disguised as constructive criticism.

Marina Roshchina Director of the Steps to Success Reputation Agency, an expert in the implementation of reputation marketing technologies.

Fake reviews or negative ratings (one-star reviews) on commercial pages from unknown users also require proper feedback. In the comments to the assessment, write that you are contacting the author personally. Chat with the person in private messages or by phone and try to solve the problem. Then gently ask if the bad grade is still valid, then politely ask to change it. The main thing is to do it politely and without pressure.

Ekaterina Tikhonova Product Director of the Israeli Higher School of Information Technology and Security HackerU.

DNS CEO's post-apology for criticizing the company's video on social media

How not to react to negativity

1. Don't write rude

If you feel annoyed, take a short time out to cool down.

2. Don't use stamps in your responses

"Your call is very important to us" and the like. They only increase the level of frustration among users.

3. Do not respond to criticism with hate speech

Remember that the review does not concern you personally, but your product or service.

4. Don't delay your answer

42% of users expect You've Got 24 Hours to Respond to Customers on Social Media for a response from the company to their review within an hour after publication.

5. Don't let it catch you off guard

If you enter a large information field, you need to be prepared for criticism and negativity. For example, when a new product line is released or a company website is updated, there is often a spike in negative customer reviews. Knowing this, you can make warning posts about future updates and reduce the degree of user tension.

6. Don't leave negative comments unanswered

Respect criticism. Then you will initially look more advantageous and professional than the provocateur. By remaining a professional in conflict situations, you strengthen the company's reputation in the eyes of the audience watching the dispute.

conclusions

Negative feedback can be triggered by employee rudeness, poor service, or product defects. The reaction of a company representative should depend on the type of criticism you encounter.

Your task is to bring the dialogue into a constructive channel or remove a meaningless comment. You cannot leave negative feedback without an answer.

All the nuances and details of the conflict must be resolved in personal communication with the author of the comment. You need to answer promptly, professionally, without expression.

Handling negative reviews competently will benefit the company's reputation and increase audience loyalty.