So Your Business Received a Negative Review… Now What?

You’ve just arrived at a new restaurant that your co-worker told you about. It’s been a long day at work, and you’re ready for something to eat and possibly a cocktail. When you reach the restaurant, the host says there’s an hour and a half wait. You were really excited to try this new spot, so you decide to tough it out. After all, it might not take the entire time for a table to open up. But the time ticks by, your hour and a half wait time comes and goes, and you still have not been seated at a table. Finally after two hours, you approach the host stand again and ask when your table will be ready. He says they’re getting it cleared off. You head back into the lobby area to wait, shouldn’t be long now. Another 10 minutes passes before they finally seat you at the table. By this point, you’re fuming and starving. When the waitress comes, she takes your food and drink order, since you’ve had plenty of time to review the menu while you waited. The drink arrives pretty quickly, but your food seems to be taking forever. Your waitress apologizes for the delay and says the kitchen is backed up. She’s going to check on it while you sip your martini and nibble on the complimentary bread stick. Finally, your waitress arrives with your dinner. It’s great food, great drinks, great atmosphere… but you still had to wait 2 hours to be seated, an additional 30 minutes for your food order to arrive, and the restaurant didn’t offer a courtesy mixed drink or even a discount on the food… What do you do?

If your answer is, “Write a review!”, you aren’t alone. In fact, some studies have found that 60% of restaurant goers will leave a review about their service… especially if the service was bad. That percentage goes down for other industries, but consumers still report leaving comments about their experiences, regardless of industry.

Whether we initiate it, contribute to it, or acknowledge it, there likely is a conversation about your business online., and if you aren’t a participating member in that conversation, your potential clients, customers or business partners are only seeing a one-sided view. So it’s time to join the conversation!

We can’t avoid negative comments, regardless of how hard we work, there will always be at least one person that’s going to leave a bad review. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Trustpilot.com states that their studies have found some negative reviews build trust in the business for the consumer. Consumers assume that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So don’t sweat the few reviews you get that are less than glowing. Social media gives us the opportunity to respond and build trust.

Here are a few tips for responding to negative reviews gracefully:

1. Never argue with the person who left the comment!

Whether you agree with their version of events or not, others are going to view their words as more truthful than yours, so don’t argue the point. Instead, apologize for their experience and reassure them that you have handled the situation to the best of your ability. In most cases, a simple acknowledgement of their complaint and a heartfelt apology are enough to make this disgruntled customer feel better about their experience.

This is also a great opportunity to lead the front. Respond to all comments that you receive, positive or negative! Make even those who loved their experience feel valued for sharing their experience. This not only helps create transparency and trust among potential customers, but it also helps your online metrics. Social media, or platforms like Yelp!, reward account holders who interact with their audience. Your posts may begin to reach a larger audience and sales may go up!

2. Sometimes the conversation should be taken elsewhere.

If you’ve just received a comment that is especially heated, and possibly making accusations that should be handled privately, respond to the comment with a request to speak more. Someone with legitimate concerns will most likely be happy to speak with you through email or platform messenger. I recommend responding with a short, “Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we’ll reach out shortly to resolve this issue.” Short and sweet. Follow up with the disgruntled customer more privately, and do everything you can in your power to acknowledge and/or resolve their complaint.

3. Deleting comments is okay… sometimes.

Overall, those who are leaving comments do not have ill-will toward your business, they’re simply trying to warn others so they don’t have the same experience. However, that is not every comment. You may receive the occasional comment that is inappropriate in nature or even an outright lie. In that case, I would recommend deleting or hiding the comment (if possible, some platforms won’t allow you to do this). Remember to use this tactic sparingly. Not every negative comment that you receive should be hidden, most of them are opportunities!

If any of the comment uses hate speech of any kind, names a specific employee on your staff, or is otherwise inappropriate to be read by the public, try and have it taken down. If you can’t remove the comment on your end, reach out to the platform and request the comment be taken down. These requests are often handled quickly.

4. Try to respond quickly.

The average person expects their comment or request to be answered within the hour. For many of us, especially those of us who have small businesses with employees covering a wide range of responsibilities, one hour may not be possible. In that case, try setting up automatic responses. When you receive a comment, platforms like Facebook have an option to automatically send a response to the commenter. You can let them know that you’ll be in contact soon. This buys you some time, but be aware that the customer will be expecting a full response by the next day, so don’t wait too long!

No matter the size of your business, whether or not you have a dedicated marketing team, or have even created your own online presence, your business is a part of larger community. And that community likes to talk. So ask yourself, if someone Googles my company right now, what would they see? And how will you respond?