Reputation Management: What to Do When Customers Leave Negative Reviews on Your Website

Reviews matter a lot for every online business. According to Google, customer-business interactions and positive reviews will improve organic visibility. A negative review can have a severe impact, both financially and emotionally. However, such scenarios are bound to happen in every business.

But what happens when a customer leaves a negative review? The approach you take in handling a negative review can make or break your e-commerce business on Shopify or Shoplazza. Therefore, you must know the best approach to take.

This article describes tips to follow when a customer leaves a bad review on your website.

Effective Tips for Handling Negative Reviews

Here are a few tips for dealing with a negative review on your website:

1. Reply Fast

When you get a negative review on your website, you have to respond as soon as possible to stop further damage. You don’t want the customer to keep dropping more negative reviews on your site or your social media accounts.

The primary reason why people drop bad comments is for people to hear an opinion. Replying fast tells people that you cared about your customers and heard them. The moment you begin to dialogue with them, there is a high chance they’ll stop posting negative comments.

2. Learn From It

It takes several great experiences before customers can leave good feedback, but just one bad experience can make them drop a negative review. Taking negative reviews as a way of improving instead of seeing them as a failure would help you improve your business.

Consider a negative review as free market research telling you it’s time to change something about your online store. Tell the reviewer you’re working on it while you try to look into the situation. Look for ways to prevent such occurrences from happening again. By so doing, the reviewer can become a lifelong customer.

3. Show That You Are with Them

Learning occurs when you have good listening skills. There’s more to learn from negative reviews than from positive ones. It could be that you didn’t communicate expectations clearly or made a mistake. Whatever the case may be, listen to the customers and work it out. Also, appreciate them for their time and show empathy.

4. Embrace the Customer

You have the chance to insult the person that gave you a bad review, but that will further damage your reputation. When a person leaves a bad review, it’s probably because they paid attention to every little detail and wanted you to get better. So, appreciate the customer, reach out to them, and respond to every one of their complaints.

5. Draw Attention to the Reviews

Use the negative review to launch a new service or product. First, when you spot a negative review on your e-commerce site, address it. Using a bad review to launch a new idea is very effective. This will also breed trust in your customers.

Introducing a new service or product to rectify the issues is a show of responsibility. This will earn you more recognition, and it’ll help boost your business. To top it all off, you can have the reviewer endorse the product.

Take it Offline

You want to avoid dragging yourself into online exchanges where everyone can see you. Other potential customers will be drawn away from your online store if your interactions escalate the issue.

The best way to go is to state that you are happy to help the customer resolve their issue, then ask them to contact you offline. This way, other readers will notice how responsibly you handle the situation.

Final Thoughts

Getting negative reviews is an everyday occurrence for every online business. However, how you handle it will determine if it will positively or negatively influence your business. Follow the tips discussed above to know what to do whenever a customer leaves a negative review on your website.

(Contributed by Ayotomiwa Omotosho & Hermes Fang)