Negative Reviews Create Business Growth Potential

Negative reviews can be painful, but if you use them correctly, they can give you the information you need to make changes, meet customer needs, and provide exactly what you need to grow your business!

The Power of Negative Reviews

Negative reviews:

• Provide customer feedback
• Alert you to issues needing addressing
• Give you an opportunity to mend bridges
• Give you clues to the changing needs of your customers
• Give you a chance to show the quality of your customer service

Of course this doesn't mean that getting a negative review is fun or should be sought, but they are also not without value. 

Handling a Negative Review

Steps to take:

1. Respond to the reviewer preferably within 24 hours of the post expressing your concern and desire to mend bridges and resolve complaints. 
2. Look for any patterns or similar reviews - for example, if you see three reviews about the cranky service technician you have on staff, it's time to do some re-training of your employees to make sure they are serving with a smile. 
3. Take action - make any necessary changes to your business or practices.
4. Monitor your reviews for any new feedback.
5. Ask your happy clients to write reviews to solidify your online reputation.

Negative reviews smart, but you can be smart about them by paying attention, responding, and making any necessary changes to help your business grow. 

Web Marketing - Aren't Negative Reviews Great?!

Web marketing wouldn't be complete without addressing negative reviews...

Fortunately, most people are too polite to say what they think directly to your face, but if they are unhappy with your business, you can rest assured that they ARE saying it...somewhere. 

The best part about having negative reviews is that you will be completely aware that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. You can't fix something if you don't know it's broken!

Of course sometimes what happened to cause the upset was nothing more than a series of misunderstandings or unusual mishaps. Do your best to smooth things over with the client and assure him or her that such things do not typically happen and you will work hard to make sure their experience is a positive one. After all, it's much less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to attract a new one. 

Sometimes the reviewer is not clear in his or her review and you won't know if what they are saying is accurate or what events caused them to feel the way they do, but most of the review websites will allow you to interact with reviewers, so take the time to find out!

Replying to a negative review can be as simple as saying, "I am so sorry that you had a negative experience with us! I'd like the chance to make this right with you - would you be willing to give me a call at (555)-555-1212?" The most important thing to keep in mind is that what you write will be seen by any and everyone researching your business - BE NICE in what you post. 

Let your customers know that you paying attention to and really care about the feedback they are giving. Negative reviews can give you the power to make wise business improvement decisions - give reviews a significant portion of your web marketing attention.

#webmarketing #onlinemarketing #negativereview

www.impressionsrm.com 

Online Marketing - DON'T Ignore Your Customers

I came across an excellent infographic today at Zendesk that gives spot on information on how some negative reviews end up being posted.

The part that really caught my eye was their statistic that 96% of online complaints were a result of double disappointments meaning that something had happened to upset the consumer and then, when they tried to get the matter resolved, they were wronged again.

These things happen to even the best of companies - a series of honest errors, a day where technology fails us completely, or the customer falls prey to a weak link in our system or staffing. It is frustrating to everyone, but when the customer goes public with his or her complaint, if we are paying attention, it can give us the opportunity to right the wrong... or wrongs as the case may be!

If you've checked out my website, you know that I advocate for very careful monitoring of reviews that are posted about your business for just this kind of situation. As soon as you know a negative post has been made, take action to reach the customer and work on mending those bridges. The longer you wait, the more people will see the negative review post and the more damage it will do.

If your business is one where you know your clients and have access to their contact information, the best thing you can do is to pick up the phone and call the customer with a personal apology. Work to determine where the problem(s) originated and offer a solution or recompense.

In situations where you do not have the ability to call the customer, be sure you reach out to them as soon as possible on the public forum where they posted the negative review. Don't go into great detail in your response, but let them know that you have heard their complaint and that you'd like to try to make it right. Ask him or her to contact you and make sure you provide both an email address and a phone number that you will personally check.

Be very careful when you post publicly - remember that your audience is no longer just the person who was wronged. Your audience is now that person and everyone else who is reading along - every potential customer deciding if he or she should use your services or turn to your competitors. It is always in your best interest to be kind!

Hopefully most of this is common sense to you and you can relate to your customer having experienced the double-whammy as a consumer yourself when things just don't go right.

Keep an eye on maintaining excellent customer relations, monitor all of the major review sites closely, and be quick to make amends and you should be able to avoid a customer service fiasco!

Ann M. Pearson is the CEO of Impressions Review Managing, LLC - an online review managing and monitoring service for businesses new to review websites. If your business is needing assistance handling negative reviews or monitoring the high number of review sites, please check our website and program information at