Business owners spend good money on advertising, media relations and other promotional materials to increase brand awareness and control conversations surrounding their business. Although these tactics are effective, one of the biggest factors that sway consumers’ opinions are feedback from others. Don’t let a bad review be the death of your business.
Here are a four tips for responding to bad reviews to improve your reputation management strategy:
1. Respond Appropriately.
Reading a negative comment about your business, your employees, or your products or services can make you want to justify yourself and claim that the commenter is just plain wrong, misinformed or simply off-the-mark. While these are natural reactions, they won’t help your brand or your online presence. Whatever you do, don’t say that the problem is a result of something the commenter has done, even if it’s true. Also don’t blame the commenter for a false or misleading comment. Never take a comment personally and write something emotional or accusatory in return. Instead, pay attention to what’s been said, then respond in a balanced, appropriate and professional way.
2. Be Brief.
You don’t want to reveal too much in your response to a negative comment. Social media is a public space, and airing dirty laundry isn’t going to help your business or your customers. In some cases, revealing too much can have serious consequences, particularly with personal or medical information. Keeping it brief will help avoid problems down the line, and it will also encourage the customer to contact you directly to resolve the problem.
3. Everyone’s Reading Your Responses.
Probably the most important reason to respond to comments – both negative and positive – is that everyone else is reading them. Although many people won’t comment themselves, they’ll read the comments of others, and they’ll pay close attention to how you respond.
4. Make It an Advantage.
Keep a record of comments as you respond to them, and make a note of any suggestions, tips, question or problems people mention. After all, your customers might be giving you some valuable information that you’d normally not receive.
We all know how the saying goes – Opinions are like…. well you know. Though we can’t control what people will say about our business, we can control how we respond to comments. Just remember to be positive and to turn a bad review into an advantage for your business. For more reputation management tips contact the team at Midwest Marketing.
