February 27

by Vossey

It just happened, you have a bad review, and it’s not a 3 or 2 stars but a 1 star. Now you have to learn how to respond to negative customer reviews on Google.

Be calm. Nobody wants to get a negative review.

As a business owner, when you see a negative review, your first reaction might be to take the low rating and comment as a personal insult. Afterall you have worked hard to be where you are, and even though you know you can’t please everybody, a bad review can upset you.

However, taking the review personally won’t help to handle the situation. You not only have an unhappy and dissatisfied customer but one who has put their nasty experience with your business online for everyone to see.<

Why Respond to Negative Customer Reviews On Google?

Unfortunately, you can’t ignore negative reviews and wait for them to go away, and you can’t return fire with fire. In fact, ignoring bad reviews can worsen the situation.

According to recent research by Search Engine Watch, 52 percent of your customers expect a response within seven days or less. It was also discovered that 78 percent of consumers believe that a business cares more about them when they see the management responding to their reviews.

Keep in mind that:

  • You aren’t replying to only one reviewer but to everyone who has read the review including future customers.
  • Replying to negative reviews proves to your readers that you don’t neglect feedback, and you have taken measures to ensure such problems won’t occur in future.

This video about how to respond to negative customer reviews is excellent. I suggest you watch it.

You Can’t Delete Negative Google Reviews

Unless the review is against Google’s review terms, it’s unlikely they will remove it when you flag it for removal. Actually, even if it seems to be against they terms they still won’t remove it.

It is impossible that everyone will think glowingly of your company. In fact, a few bad reviews will portray your business as legitimate. If your readers or social media users see only positive comments, they may assume that you’re deleting negative reviews or worse, faking the good.

4 Steps To Diffuse A Bad Review On Google

Apologise

Your response should be apologetic regardless of whether the customer’s concerns were unfounded.

Example: “I’m so sorry you had this experience.”

Insert some marketing in your response

You can do this by explaining what your clients often experience.

Example: “Our electricians go to great lengths to provide efficient services.”

Move the conversation offline

Provide your business contact information so that you can discuss the problem in person.

Example: “My name is [Name] the owner. Please contact me at [email or phone number] to discuss this further.

Keep your response short and simple

Don’t go into details to avoid saying something that may further upset your customer or add negative feedback from other readers. Your reply shouldn’t exceed three sentences.

Don’t include your business name or other relevant keywords to keep the review from showing up in search results

Tips on How to Make a Negative Customer Review Go Away

Tip 1: Resolve the problem with the client

If you haven’t responded to your client’s bad review, ensure you first find out what the issue is. Follow the four steps above if you need assistance with phrasing your response to the negative review. As we discussed, try and get in touch with the client offline to avoid letting readers see your dirty linen online.

Do everything possible to resolve the problem to make the client happy and even to come back again.

Tip 2: Request the client politely to update their bad review after rectifying the situation

It’s important that you have in place a remediation customer service. This can go a long way to compelling reviewers to update their negative reviews. However, this isn’t always the case, and negative reviews don’t always go away.

In case you have been able to rectify the issue, ask the customer politely to update their negative review. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to console some customers even after solving a problem. A client may not even update their bad review after solving the issue, so you’re stuck with it. All is not lost, especially if you have been able to at least recover your business.

Tip 3: Get positive reviews to push down the negative ones

Most review sites don’t allow businesses to delete negative reviews. Therefore, your next step should be to bury them with more positive reviews. You can quickly do this by using a system that reminds your clients to leave a review.

Remember that mistakes are bound to happen, and clients will sometimes get upset and complain. If you have just received a bad review, think of it as an opportunity to prove that your company listens to its customers and responds to feedback. You need to respond to negative customer reviews.

Easily gain more online reviews for your business with RepBuilder.  All savvy business owners know systems take care of things like this. Put in place a system to make it easy:

  • To ask for reviews
  • To sort out the 4-5 star reviews from the bad ones
  • For your customer to leave a review on Google or Facebook

We save your time and build your reputation.

 

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