It happened – your first negative review. It can feel crushing to your spirit and your business when it happens. A recent survey found that two-thirds of potential customers form their opinions of a company based on an average of four reviews.
Let us be the first to turn this on its’ head and congratulate you for putting you and your business out there. You have probably heard that being an entrepreneur takes a thick skin; getting a negative review is one of the biggest ways your skin will toughen up.
Not everyone likes what you have to offer, but there is a way around a negative review that is going to change the tide in how your customers feel about you. Here are some tactical tips for dealing with a negative review and moving forward with your business.
Skim The Review
The first thing to do is look over the review quickly. Don’t take the words to heart, just skim the words and find what stands out. Look for words that are repeated within the review itself, or words that you’ve seen in past negative reviews. A pattern may emerge that these clients are trying to tell you. From there, it will actually become clear what the problem is – whether it’s a customer service issue or an issue with a specific method in your business model.
From there, the real work can begin on shifting the attitude in your business model to make room for change.
Respond With Tact
It’s been proven that customers who leave a negative review want companies to respond as quickly as possible. This does put pressure on you as the business owner, however you have the capability to be careful with your words, which is a great advantage over an angry reviewer.
Responding back to the negative review (making sure that other potential clients can see it) is a sign of strength, especially if you use tact. Apologizing goes a long way, as does being thoughtful, respectful, and offering a discount or freebie to the offended party. If you need some inspiration, JetBlue does a great job of making sure their angry customers are taken care of.
After you write your response, make sure someone in your organization, or someone you trust, reads it before you post.
Put A System In Place for Next Time
It’s likely that you won’t just have one bad review in the life of your company, and again, that’s not a bad thing! However, putting a system in place for the next time it happens, will make sure that your customers know what to expect and it will keep the stress level for your organization to a minimum as well.
It’s every business person’s nightmare to get a negative review, but how you respond in your business model as well as to your customer base seeing the review makes all the difference. Your strategy is important, and we can help! Call us at 860-916-4561 or visit us at https://tind-allcreativemarketing.com/.
