How to handle negative reviews

How to handle negative reviews

How to handle negative reviews

No one likes to receive a bad review.

It means your customer is unhappy, and unhappy customers are unlikely to rush back to your business anytime soon. Negative reviews can have a big influence on first-time shoppers as well, with our research showing 94% of consumers check reviews when looking for a product or service.

It’s time to look on the bright side; negative reviews can be hugely beneficial to your business. Not only do they tell you how to improve your service and products, they also build trust with consumers. After all, who’s going to trust a company with only glowing reviews?

In this guide, we’ll cover the ins and outs of negative reviews, including how best to respond, so you can start winning over your unhappy customers and making sure everybody knows you really do care.

How to handle negative reviews

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Why do people leave negative reviews?

It’s easy to take a negative review personally, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that person is being malicious and is out to get you and your company.

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They want to warn others not to use your company If a customer has an extremely bad experience, they may feel it’s their duty to warn others about your business.

They’re just looking out for their fellow consumer!

In many cases, the opposite is true.

Here are our three main reasons why customers leave negative reviews for all the right reasons:

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They’re unhappy and want a solution Maybe the customer was too shy to complain directly, or perhaps they’ve tried to get in touch through other channels and haven’t received a response. In any case, they may have left that one-star review in a bid to get a solution from you, whether that’s financial compensation, a fix for their problem, or a simple apology and promise that it won’t happen again.

How to handle negative reviews

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They want to see your company improve Customers may feel the problem they encountered wasn’t worth complaining about directly, but it should be mentioned in an honest review. The good news is, because they’re leaving the review to make sure this problem never happens again, they’re likely to return as a loyal customer, especially if you can offer an apology and solution.

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Why are negative reviews important?

In 2017, our Consumer Report revealed that 81% of online shoppers seek out negative reviews and over half (56%) would be suspicious of a company if there were no negative reviews at all. Our 2018 report also showed that 89% of consumers are worried about fake reviews, which explains why so many shoppers want to see and read negative feedback to help reinforce trust in a brand.

Negative reviews can also help you improve your business. After all, you should be collecting feedback to find out exactly how your customers feel about your business, both good and bad, to identify what you’re doing right and where you can improve. Not everyone will complain when there’s a problem, especially if they’re not presented with an opportunity to give feedback; they will simply choose not to buy from you again.

81%

81% of online shoppers seek out negative reviews

How to handle negative reviews

56%

Responding to negative reviews, in a positive, helpful way, can help show your customers that you take their feedback onboard and have an excellent customer service team.

Snowbird is one example of a business that has turned a negative review to their advantage.

They cleverly used what was seen as a negative for one customer into a positive for the majority of their customers.

56% of online shoppers would be suspicious of a company if there were no negative reviews

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How to respond to negative reviews Responding to negative reviews is vital. Ignoring them could lead to a loss in customers and damage to your company’s reputation. So, how do you respond in a way that will win over even the grumpiest customer and persuade prospects reading that negative review to still buy from you?

Follow these tips and you can’t go wrong!

Act fast In the age of social media, consumers expect a fast response, especially when they’re unhappy. Prioritise responding to one-star and two-star reviews to avoid the issue escalating further and so anyone reading your reviews can see you reply quickly.

Have a policy in place First and foremost, if there are multiple people responding to feedback in your company, put a policy in place to ensure all replies are consistent. This doesn’t mean responses should be copied and pasted, but they should have a similar tone of voice, specific to your brand and audience.

Be polite Try to remember why the customer is leaving feedback. No matter how harsh the review, they aren’t being malicious, so focus on identifying their problem and coming up with a solution.

How to handle negative reviews

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How to respond to negative reviews Say sorry Sorry needn’t be the hardest word, and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re admitting fault. Saying sorry simply means you’re acknowledging the customer is upset and shows that you care.

Offer a solution What are you going to do to make sure this issue doesn’t arise again? How are you going to make things right?

An appropriate solution to the problem will very much depend on the review, but it could be anything from a sincere apology to a full refund.

Never tell the customer that they must contact you, as this creates additional work for the customer, which could annoy them further.

If you use Feefo, once their problem has been solved, you can send the customer a re-rate request, which will hopefully encourage them to turn their one-star review into a more positive score.

Contact the customer offline It’s important to publicly respond to a negative review, not just for the reviewer’s sake, but so any potential customers reading can see your reply. However, you don’t want to create a public back and forth with the customer, so get in touch with them offline first to see if you can get the issue resolved. If they aren’t responding to your calls or emails, mention that you’ve tried to get in touch with them in your public review response, and that you’d like to get their problem solved as quickly as possible.

How to handle negative reviews

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What if my negative reviews are fake?

Feefo is an invite-only platform, which means only genuine customers can be invited to leave feedback. However, on open review sites, anyone can write a review, which could mean your business falls victim to fake reviews.

If your reputation is being damaged by fake reviews, here’s what you can do to try and tackle them.

Find out if they’re a genuine customer or not Depending on the platform, you may be provided with limited information about the person that’s left the review.

Investigate and find out whether they could be a genuine customer or not. If they are, respond, get in touch with them and try to get to the bottom of their issue.

Reporting fake reviews If they aren’t a genuine customer, you will need to report or flag the review and request for it to be removed.

However, some reporting functions are better than others, and simply flagging a review may not be enough for it to be investigated. It may need to be flagged multiple times before it’s removed.

How to handle negative reviews

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What if I can’t remove the review?

If reporting the review doesn’t work, you should still respond to it to show other customers that you’ve acknowledged the feedback, even if you suspect it might not be genuine. Avoid making any direct claims that the review may be fake.

Here’s how you could reply to a fake negative review:

You can’t always delete fake reviews, but you can promote the genuine ones. Focus on sharing and displaying reviews from real, happy customers to draw attention away from the fakes. Here are our 5 top tips for promoting your reviews on social media

“Hi Steve, we can’t find your details on our system, so we were unable to get in touch with you to solve your issue. Are you able to provide some more details? Thanks, Amy.”

How to handle negative reviews

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Still need advice?

Negative reviews may not be the nicest thing to receive, but they should be appreciated and taken seriously.

It’s better to receive a one-star review and use it to identify and fix a problem, than to receive no review at all and your customers walk away from your business forever. Listening to negative feedback is vital for your business to improve and can help you identify underperforming staff members, stores, products and more. It also builds trust with both existing and potential customers.

If you’re struggling with negative reviews or find you’re constantly battling fake feedback, Feefo can help. Get in touch with our friendly sales team today and we’ll recommend a solution for you.

How to handle negative reviews

Want to know more? Contact sales@feefo.com

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To find out more, contact a member of our team

Email us: sales@feefo.com

Call us: 0203 362 4209

Visit us: www.feefo.com

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