March 2021 Edition

Your business just received a scathing negative review! What are you going to do now?

First, take a step back and don’t immediately react. You can’t help but feel a bit defensive and take it personally when someone critiques your products, services, or employees. But the best way to handle unfavorable reviews from your customers is to find the positive value that may lie within. 

Once you get over the initial impact, the next thing you must do is acknowledge the author’s complaint and thank them, yes thank them, for their candid feedback. Every review is important -- positive or negative. How you handle the public response is an important step toward creating a positive outcome. Graciously offer to discuss their concerns offline. If appropriate, provide a solution or offer a discount or coupon for their next visit. 

A humble and apologetic response to an upset reviewer may be enough to get them to change or update their review, or at least give your business another chance. Customers who have their issue solved in their first interaction with a business are twice as likely to purchase from that business again according to the study by BrightLocal. If you know the customer is now satisfied, you can always humbly ask them to change or update their initial review and rating. 

Next, use the negative feedback as an opportunity to learn and improve. Negative reviews can alert you to problems you weren’t aware of, so you can fix them. Customer feedback can be invaluable to your company’s growth. In some cases, you may find valuable information that can help you achieve higher ratings in the future. Our advice is to glean as much as you can from legitimate criticisms and take positive steps toward enacting improvements. You can also use negative reviews in staff training. Alert your team to the criticisms made about your business and train your employees so that they improve in those areas. 

A few more review tips:

• Stay on top of customer reviews by closely monitoring the online review sites. Don’t let any customer feedback go unanswered
• If a review is truly defamatory or untrue, there are steps you can take to have the review removed. There is no guarantee, however.
• Research shows that having a small number of reviews containing mildly negative information may lend credibility to your business. Nobody is perfect.
• Continue to encourage positive review from happy customers to diminish the overall impact of negative reviews. 

Negative reviews don’t have to be a crisis for your business. If you take the time to thoughtfully respond and take control of the situation, you can turn negative feedback into a positive outcome for your business.

Need help monitoring your company's reviews and responding to your customers?

Contact OnTarget Digital Services for professional assistance. We will respond to customer reviews on your company’s behalf to promote your brand and maintain a positive online reputation for your business. Call or Text (951) 394-1952 or visit our website for more information. 

Despite the more than 200 horror stories and mentions of chaos in important publications such as Business Insider, Haribo’s Sugar Free “Hellbears” have managed to maintain a solid rating of three stars on Amazon.

and

This product has effectively turned its negative feedback into astonishingly positive results and we know how.

Here are 15 ways to turn negative reviews into positive results. 

1. Prevention is key (think ahead)

Whether you are selling a product or offering a service, it is important to provide your customers with as much information as possible. Many negative reviews are the result of lack of information in a customer’s part and could have easily been avoided if information were easily available. How were Haribo’s customers to know about the digestive effects of lycasin in their gummy bears? What is lycasin to begin with?

2. Know it is impossible to please everyone.

Haribo’s gummy bears carry a label warning users about digestive discomfort. Still, many customers left negative reviews and this can happen to anyone. The fact of the matter is this: likes, dislikes, and the accompanying opinions are subjective. No matter how much information you provide or how smoothly you operate, someone will be unhappy. Just do your best.

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Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place carrots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a non-stick pan.
3. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
5. Toss with clean hands making sure carrots are covered with oil, salt and pepper.
6. Place in oven and set timer for 15 minutes.
7. While carrots are roasting, mix melted butter, lemon juice and honey.
8. After 15 minutes, take carrots out of oven and drizzle with butter mixture.
9. Place back in oven and roast for 8 to 10 minutes or until brown.
10. Remove from oven, sprinkle with additional salt and pepper.

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