Turn a Negative Review into a Positive Experience
It happens to the best of us; a customer writes a bad review and leaves you wondering what went wrong and if you can fix it so that other customers don’t think poorly of your business. Should you delete the review or reply to the customer’s review?
If you guessed leave a reply to the review then you are correct! A bad review doesn’t necessarily mean the end of your business. In fact, a bad review can actually help your business look even better to other customers. How, you ask? Check out the benefits of a bad review and see for yourself how a bad review is a good thing for your business.
The Benefits of a Bad Review
Improve Your Business
A bad review is really a blessing in disguise as it acts as a mirror to reflect exactly what could be improved upon within your company. Was the customer unhappy with the help they received? Did they complain shipping took to long? Or maybe the product or service they received just wasn’t what they were expecting.
Time to tweak and adjust your company’s processes and offerings. Maybe you adjust how your customer representatives assist your customers or look into a new shipping service. If it was the product or service, you might even look into reworking the process or sign with a new manufacturer. Correcting the root of the problem can earn you more business in the long run. An improved service or product means happier customers and more sales.
Look Good to Other Customers
Did you know that having a perfect 5.0 rating means you run the risk of making potential customers think your business is fake and untrustworthy?
The most trusted review ratings for companies are between 4.2 – 4.5. If you’re asking why, just think, do you know anyone or any company that is perfect all the time? Even the best companies have a few bad reviews here and there, and it shows that they make mistakes and are willing to own up to them. If your customers only see a perfect rating, they’ll suspect you are deleting bad reviews, thus hiding actual experiences. They may also think you are buying positive reviews. In either case, you aren’t being honest, and your potential customers may not be willing to buy from a company they can’t trust.
Show that You Are a Trusted Company that Cares
If you take the time to improve your product or service based on your customers’ experiences then you’ll end up looking like the hero instead of the bad guy. Making improvements based on their experiences shows just how much you care about them and their experience with your company. Let your customers know you made improvements based on their encounters and watch the tides turn in your review section!
Turn the Situation into a Positive Experience
Getting a bad review is a perfect time to showcase your problem solving and customer service skills. You can have an actual conversation with an unhappy customer and show that you’re there to help in any way you can.
Apologizing for any trouble and offering a solution is usually enough to help turn a negative experience with your company into a positive one. People usually appreciate when you go the extra mile to help them and fix a problem, even if it was your company that was the cause of it in the first place. Be genuine and helpful and see how their anger subsides fairly quickly. Not many people can be mad at those trying to help and it may even cause them to go change their review. Either way, other customers will see your efforts and appreciate your help.
A bad review doesn’t necessarily mean your business is doomed. You can gain a lot of insight and show your customers your true, great side by responding positively when things don’t go the way you want. Use those bad reviews to your advantage and sell more in the long run by turning a negative review into a positive experience.
Not all bad reviews are immune from that delete button. Find out when it is okay to delete a negative review in our blog – When Negative Reviews Deserve the Boot.