Paul Dughi

How to Turn Negative Online Reviews into Positive Ones It takes a bit of work to clear out negative reviews, but there’s a three-step process that’s effective at dealing with even some of your harshest critics. 1. First, address every negative comment online, but take the conversation offline. 2. Come to a resolution with the customer. 3. Ask them to remove the negative comment, or to edit it in a positive light. Addressing A Negative Comment Time is of the essence here. The longer a negative comment sits out there, the more people will tend to believe it. When there’s no response from the company, people can start to believe the company doesn’t care enough to try to make things right. Before you respond, take a breath and make sure you cast off any anger. Even if the review is totally out of line, you won’t win friends by fighting back. The fact of the matter is that the customer isn’t always right, but don’t win the battle and lose the war. A best practice is to express sympathy for the reviewer and ask if you can contact them offline to resolve the situation. The reason you want to do it offline is that some people are just plain mean! They’ll be happy to have a public debate with you and trash your company over and over. Showing you care enough to have a personal conversation shows other visitors you’re willing to go the extra step to make things right. Another reason to take it offline is to avoid people writing negative reviews purposely thinking they can get free stuff. Come To A Resolution You won’t always be able to change someone’s mind, but you might be surprised someone that fires off a quick nasty note can be turned around when they talk to a real person. Sometimes they just want an apology. Other times, your business made mistakes and it’s your opportunity to make it right. Listen, and make the necessary changes. Whether they accept your apology or not, you can report back online that you talked to the person and apologized. If you’re wrong, admit it. Fix the problem and you may just have a loyal customer. Ask Them To Update Their Review Imagine the power of a potential customer seeing a negative review posted about your company, then reading your personal response, and seeing that the original reviewer is now a happy customer! That builds trust that even if something doesn’t work out for them, you will do right by them. Turning A Negative Into A Positive Even if you can’t get the negative comment removed, addressing it in a material way can turn a negative into a positive. Dealing with a negative review in the right way can actually boost confidence: 15% of online shoppers surveyed report they are MORE likely to do business with a company which responded to a negative review and dealt with it successfully, according to a study done by the Trust Economy Report. You’re not only responding to a negative review to make the reviewer happy. You’re responding to show anyone that reads the review that you’re a honest company that values your customers. Customers Value Transparency If there are no negative reviews at all, consumers may be suspicious that someone’s been deleting the bad ones. Businesses that deal effectively with criticism – quickly and openly – can turn a negative review into a positive experience. The mark of a great business is not that it never makes mistakes. A great business is judged by how it deals with its mistakes and makes things right.