Once you go public with anything, you must expect that no matter how wonderful your products and services are, you’re going to get some bad reviews.
In fact, the more popular you are, the more likely you are to not only get bad reviews but really mean ones too.
But, you can turn things around by how you deal with and fix bad reviews.
Don’t Get Defensive
When you see a bad review, the first thing that often happens is your heart starts beating faster, and you feel flustered, embarrassed, and upset. That’s okay; let yourself feel but do not respond while you’re upset. If it helps, copy the review and paste it into a document instead of staying on the review site. Take apart the review in the document, take out any unnecessary information such as name calling and direct attacks. That way you can look at it more objectively and think about how to respond.
Sometimes Ignoring the Review Is the Best You Can Do
If it’s an especially mean review, sometimes not answering at all is the best thing you can do. Eventually, the review will be buried by other, good reviews. One bad review, especially if it seems nasty, will not ruin things for you.
Don’t Get Pulled into an Online Battle
If you do choose to answer, use your document where you took out the mean parts of the review and only answer to the things that you can fix in a positive way. You don’t want to be dragged into an online battle; that will not make you look good to anyone.
Acknowledge the Issue and Apologize
When you do see a real issue that you can address in a review, you want to acknowledge it. Being the bigger person and showing your concern about customer service is the best way to ensure that you can make a customer who is unhappy happy in the end.
Be Personal and Authentic
It’s very important that you be yourself. The main reason is that it’s impossible to be someone else authentically. It’ll show that you’re an amazing person because no one else can be you. Plus, people will find out if you’re being fake and you’ll lose trust.
Handle It Offline When Possible
One of the best things to do for serious issues is to take it offline. If you can solve the issue with the dissatisfied customer even if you can’t turn them into a raving fan, you will get respect.
