While nobody enjoys getting a negative review — whether it’s justified or not — not all negative reviews are bad. In fact, negative reviews can provide insight into areas where your business needs to improve. Responding properly to reviews can also turn negative reviews positive in a variety of ways.
Reviews are powerful. More than 99% of customers say they read reviews when they are shopping online or considering a purchase. Negative reviews stand out in particular. 96% of customers say they seek out negative reviews to find potential problems and see how companies respond.
Customers don’t expect to see all perfect reviews. They understand that every company has issues from time to time, so if you only have a perfect rating, your reputation may be suspect. Since consumers actively look for poor reviews, how you respond to negative reviews is as important as getting positive reviews.
It can be tempting to filter out negative reviews, but leaving them there can add a layer of authenticity to reviews that help consumers form opinions. Consumers also know when bad reviews are over the top. Responding politely, even to absurd claims, can mitigate them.
Why Respond to Negative Reviews?
When you respond to negative reviews, it demonstrates to buyers that you take any concerns seriously and are willing to resolve issues. One study even showed that 70% of consumers will change their minds about a company when they respond.
When asked about the impact of a brand’s response to online reviews, here’s how people said it impacted their impression:
- 41% – Shows the company cares about its customers
- 35% – Demonstrates superior customer service
- 22% – Increases trustworthiness
- 14% – Shows that companies care about quality
So, replying to negative reviews can generate positive results — as long as you respond appropriately. First, let’s discuss what not to do.
What Not to Do When Responding to Negative Reviews
Start by not ignoring poor reviews. They’ll get seen, so you want to use them as a chance to showcase your business in a more favorable light. Research from Google shows that businesses that respond are seen as 1.7X more trustworthy than businesses that ignore reviews. Other studies show that when you respond to reviews that are favorable or unfavorable, you also encourage more reviews. When people know someone is reading and responding, they are much more likely to contribute.
However, responses can be damaging if you don’t handle them properly. So, here are some things you want to avoid:
- Arguing with customers or being defensive
- Delaying responses
- Responding but failing to acknowledge the issue
- Posting the same response to every review
- Using a response to advertise or market your services
- Leaving customers without telling them what you are doing to address their concerns
Another common mistake businesses make is to only respond to negative reviews. This can actually encourage people to leave more critical reviews just to get your attention. Loyal and happy customers deserve the same attention — a simple response and expression of gratitude can make a positive impression.
How to Respond to Negative Reviews
On the other hand, here are some best practices for responding to negative reviews:
- Provide timely responses
- Thank customers for their feedback
- Personalize the response
- Be authentic and avoid corporate-speak
- Acknowledge the issue
- Apologize and sympathize
- Explain any steps you plan to take to resolve an issue
- Follow up publicly to let them know when issues are resolved
If someone wants to argue or push back, ask them to take it offline so that you can talk to them directly. This avoids airing any additional negative comments and also makes it more personal. It’s easy to write a review when you’re anonymous (even if your name or online identity is associated with it). It’s tougher to be as critical when you’re talking to a real person one-on-one.
You should also be aware of the cumulative impact of your reviews and comments. For example, telling every person that you take their complaints seriously and apologizing without taking action to resolve issues may be seen as disingenuous. It’s like when you call customer support and the message starts by saying “your call is important to us, please stay on the line”— and then you wait for 15 minutes. Obviously, the call isn’t that important or they would have the appropriate staff on hand to help.
Responding to negative reviews properly requires a genuine reply and follow-through. Make sure to track your reviews, follow up in a timely manner, address the issue(s), and communicate any action taken to your reviewers.
Gaining Business Insights
When customers take the time to write negative reviews, it can also help you surface problems or see trends that you weren’t aware of. Many reviews provide specific insight into issues. By putting aside any emotional reactions and listening to customer feedback, you can find ways to improve.
Poor reviews can help you pinpoint root causes. For example, if you have a B2B website that sells services and you find there are many people that get to the final stages of checkout but abandon their purchases, you know something is stopping them from purchasing. By analyzing negative reviews, you might be able to determine the underlying reason. Perhaps you don’t offer the payment options they want or there is a technical problem that prevents completion. This type of information is essential to serving customers better.
When you respond to customer frustrations or suggestions, it also shows you are willing to change things and improve the customer experience. This can help your reputation beyond any one customer. Letting a reviewer know that you’ve added their preferred payment option or streamlined the checkout process eliminates any residual impact from the negative review. It can also attract new customers with similar concerns or complaints.
A Step-by-Step Process for Leveraging Poor Reviews
Let’s take a deeper dive. With this five-step process, you can utilize strategies for responding to negative reviews and leveraging insights to improve products and services.
In this example, we’ll use a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. Its project management tool receives a poor review. In this case, the review mentions a confusing interface and difficulty in customization.
Step One: Acknowledge and Investigate
Reach out to the customer and find out specifics so you can validate the claim. You would also want to find out if the customer had initiated any support tickets or reached out to your support before posting a negative review.
Step Two: Isolate the Root Cause
Assuming the complaint is valid, identify the underlying cause. Perhaps the user interface is poorly designed or cluttered, or key functionality is hidden in layered menus. You might find that the user onboard training is insufficient or that your tool lacks the customization options that users require. Finding out the root cause can help you resolve the issue, but may also give you a significant competitive advantage to attract other customers.
Step Three: Develop the Solution
The root cause helps you isolate the problem. In this example, each of the three things we mentioned has different fixes, whether it’s onboarding, lack of features, or poor user interface (UI). Once you get to the underlying issue, you can develop a solution to address it. A poor UI may require a redesign and more UI testing. Improving customization may require the development of new features and functionality. Enhancing onboarding may require overhauling customer training or better platform documentation.
Step Four: Implement the Solution
Once you decide on a solution(s), implement and test it. You may want to reach out directly to any customers that left poor reviews or submitted support tickets and ask them to help you test your solutions. This can help take unhappy customers and turn them into supporters.
Step Five: Follow Up Publicly
Go back to any negative reviews, let them know you listened to their concerns, and list the steps you took to correct their problem or improve your product. This shows prospective customers that you’re dedicated to resolving issues and work hard to create satisfied customers.
Turn Negatives into Positives
When you get negative reviews, it can be frustrating. You work hard and provide a good product or service, and you know you can’t please everyone. However, poor reviews can also provide valuable insight that you otherwise might never get. If one person is complaining about a poor interface or problems during checkout, there are likely plenty of others that feel the same way.
If you’re just paying lip service to customers when they post negative reviews, it’s not going to help. However, genuinely taking complaints seriously and helping customers solve problems can boost your brand.
While you can’t satisfy every customer, you can demonstrate to others that you are willing to try.
So, negative reviews are nothing to be afraid of. Instead, embrace them as part of your reputation management strategy and use them to improve products or services. You’ll turn around unhappy customers — and take huge steps in generating loyalty and enhancing trust in your company.
