Strategies for Dealing with Negative Online Reviews

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Strategies for Dealing with Negative Online
Reviews
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More and more people these days rely on online
reviews before making a purchase. According to
Zendesk, 88 have been influenced by an online
customer review before making a
decision. According to a survey run by
PhoCusWright, this is especially true for the
travel and hospitality industry. More than 80
TripAdvisor users say that the sites reviews
help them plan accommodation. In fact, 50
usually or always reference TripAdvisor reviews
before selecting a restaurant.
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Peoples reliance on online reviews is
increasing every day. This makes it important for
any business to get as many positive reviews on
consumer review sites. Many businesses take a
short-cut and ask their family and friends to
publish reviews. This is not only unethical but
also illegal. You can read more about the ethics
of managing online reviews here. It is important
to understand what motivate consumers to write
reviews? Once a business understands this, it
will help them generate positive reviews.
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Why Do Consumers Write Reviews?
Majority of customers write reviews for positive
reasons. They feel good about sharing useful
information with other users. They want to
reward the customer who have provided them with a
pleasant experience. They are happy with the
service they received or the product they bought.
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They want others to feel confident about the
product or service they are buying and help them
make informed decisions. Understanding why people
write negative reviews is a bit more
complex. Just like positive reviews most people
provide negative reviews to help others. They
want to ensure that no one else goes through the
same experience that they have been through.
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The direct consequence of writing negative
review to help others is to attack and harm the
business they are writing about. People dont
write negative reviews because they have an
agenda against a business. They write negative
reviews because they are unhappy with the
experience they had. Most consumers prefer to
first provide the feedback to the business
directly. They would only publish negative
reviews online if they dont a satisfactory
resolution or if they feel that their feedback
has fallen on deaf ears.
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Some consumers write negative reviews because
they may have had an unfair or traumatic
experience. They may have been ridiculed or
belittled by the business. Writing bad review
online might help them feel heard and even forget
the experience. This is the best way for them to
cope.
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Tracking Negative Reviews For Better Online
Reputation
Nobody wants negative reviews but the matter of
fact is that they do happen. Negative reviews
can adversely affect any business. Businesses
looking to manage their online reputation must
have procedures in place to efficiently respond
to negative reviews. Proper handling a negative
review also gives you the opportunity to
retaining the customer. Here are some ways you
should deal with negative reviews.
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Be Quick to Respond
When you respond promptly to a review, it shows
to customer that you respect their feedback. It
also shows to them that you are listening to them
and you are keen to resolve their issue. This
also gives them confidence that you are aware of
the problem and you are working towards resolving
it.
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Show Empathy
As a business your first response to any
negative review is to empathise with the
reviewer. Your response should always start with
Thanking the customer for their feedback. This
should be followed by your willingness to listen
to the customers problems and resolving the
issue.
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Be Polite
Many business owners have a lot invested into
their business (emotionally and financially). It
is easier for their emotions to get better of
themselves and attack the reviewer or go
defensive. Even if the reviewer uses sarcastic
or unparliamentary language, you as a business
owner should not respond aggressively. When
faced by such a review, take a deep breath,
collect your thoughts and then respond.
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Take the Issue Offline
Your response should be to invite them to
speak with you so that you can better understand
the problem and resolve it. This will help you
take the review offline and not give undue
attention to the negative review. Many review
websites run algorithm to push reviews that have
a lot of responses and hits higher. On
successful resolution of the issue, put a brief
response to the review highlighting that an
amicable solution has been reached.
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Be Proactive
To be better placed to tackle any negative
online reputation issues, you need to make sure
that you are actively involved in managing your
reputation. Understand who your customers are
and what platforms they use.
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Monitor Your Online Presence
Before you can start responding to any
negative comments, you need to understand what
platforms your customers are using and what are
they saying about you. You need to then actively
scourge those platforms and monitor these
platforms to keep on top of any comments that are
posted about your business.
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There are a lot of Social Media tools like
Social Mention, Whos Talkin, Sprout Social and
Hootsuite can help you monitor what is being said
about you online. Sprout Social and Hootsuite can
also help you monitor social media and manage
your social media accounts. Also, you can setup
alerts on Google Alerts for your business. Google
Alerts. Google Alerts will send you email alerts
as it finds new information related to your
settings.
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Keep an eye on Review Sites
You should regularly monitor review websites
that list your business. Make it a standard
practise to visit those review sites at least
once in a day. If your business has an admin
assistant or a receptionist, make it their task
to monitor these sites. Make sure that any
response on behalf of your business is carefully
thought and vetted.
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It is also important to understand how these
review sites work. Yelp recommends reviews based
on what its algorithm thinks is going to be
useful for the community. These reviews are
ranked based on their quality, reliability and
the reviewers history on the website.
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Harness Review
The best way to offset negative reviews is
to encourage your customers to leave reviews. But
dont influence them to only provide positive
reviews. Show to them that you are sincere about
their feedback and improving your
business. Provide links to your listings on your
website, affix window stickers at your business.
Put a note on your receipt requesting reviews
from your customers.
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Educate Your Staff
Your staff is generally the face of your
business. It is important that they understand
the consequences of your actions. A large
number of complaints are service related. This is
especially true in industries like travel and
hospitality. It is important that every staff
member within your business understands their
role in provide quality customer service. They
need to understand how their actions affect the
business. The best way to help them understand is
to share both positive and negative reviews with
them.
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Always appreciate them when you receive
positive comments. But do not berate them when
you receive negative comments. Most people want
to excel in their jobs and mostly bad service
comes down to either lack of training or
processes to deal with difficult situations. It
is important to understand where your staff made
a mistake and how you can ensure that it is not
repeated in the future.
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Every Cloud Has a Sliver Lining
Not all negative reviews are bad. They give you
an opportunity to understand what is wrong with
your business and give you an opportunity to
improve. Smart Operators look at a negative
comment as an opportunity to convert a
disgruntled customer into a business
evangelist. A negative comment gives you an
opportunity to open communication with an unhappy
customer. It gives you an opportunity to correct
your mistake.
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Hills , NSW 2153 Toll Free 1300 760 363 Email
info_at_reputationcircle.com.au Website
www.reputationcircle.com.au
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