Sep 15, 2020 | 2 minute read When customers search for your business, the last thing you want is for them to come across negative reviews. It undermines your hard-work and potentially turns away new customers. It’s important to remember, every business is bound to receive negative reviews. Even well-managed businesses with excellent customer service and fair prices.
While you cannot control customer reviews, you can choose how to respond to them. Ignoring negative reviews may seem like the best course of action. You might be weary of drawing attention to the words of disgruntled customers. But this course of action is counterintuitive. By ignoring negative reviews, you demonstrate that either don’t notice or, even worse, don’t care about customer feedback. While it may not be possible to win back every disappointed customer, you go a long way in earning back their trust when
you send them a professional, empathetic response.
Tips to keep in mind:
- Be prompt: a quick response is more effective.
- Be appreciative: thank them for their review; negative reviews give you an opportunity to improve.
- Be professional: take some time to evaluate their feedback before responding.
- Be considerate: apologize for not meeting their expectations and offer to move the conversation offline.
Sample Responses
We have provided some sample responses below to get you started.
● Hi (customer name),
Thank you for your review. We’re sorry to hear you had a poor experience. I am the (title) here at (business name) and I would love an opportunity to discuss the matter further with you. Feel free to contact me at (insert phone number or email address). Apologies again and thank you for sharing your experience.
● Dear (customer name),
We’re sorry you were not satisfied with your recent visit to (business name). I’m the (title) for (business name) and I invite you to contact me at (insert email address or phone number). I would be happy to discuss your concerns further. Thank you for your feedback and I hope to hear from you soon.
● Hello (customer name),
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Your feedback will help us do better in the future. If you have any further suggestions or comments to share, please contact us at (insert phone number or email address). Thank you for your review and we hope to see you again at (business name).
Improving your Reputation
Ignoring negative reviews does more harm than good. Don’t squander the possibility of turning the situation around. Instead, send a polite response every time you receive a review. With any luck, you’ll be able to earn back the customer’s trust and improve your reputation at the same time.
If you are managing your reviews using Visual Visitor’s Platform, you can respond to reviews right from the interface. No need to find your Google My Business or Facebook login. Just hit the respond button and start typing.
Reputation Management Made Easy
Tired of managing reviews on multiple platforms? Consider signing up for Visual Visitor. We take the heavy-lifting out of review management. With our automated system, you can request, monitor, and respond to all of your reviews on one platform. Save yourself
time and energy. Sign up for our free trial today.
