There’s no such thing as NOT responding to a bad review online — no response IS
a response, and it’s a bad way to go.
Find much better ways to deal with negative online PR — inside the video.
Hey guys, it’s Chia from Brand24, and today I want to talk about a really important aspect of
negative online PR — specifically, how to respond to bad reviews online.
So, if you run a company, own a business or if you’re building a personal brand, you’re just
bound to run into some poor reviews online — and if you haven’t yet, it’s only
a matter of time, because
even if you do everything by the book, you just can’t please everyone.
So, today, we’re going to look at a few different types of negative reviews, the best
ways to respond to them, and how, sometimes, they can even be GOOD for your business.
Now, there are at least 5 major types of bad reviews that customers and clients can leave
for you online, so that includes: emotional reviews, passive reviews, biased reviews, uninformative
reviews, and dishonest reviews.
Now, scathingly bad reviews tend to be emotionally charged, which makes them very tricky to handle.
A customer who’s driven to leave an emotional rant online is focused on how something made
them feel, and not necessarily in fixing a problem.
So, the best way to deal with bad online reviews that are ruled by emotions, is by apologizing
and showing empathy for the reviewer’s situation.
Even if it feels like one big overreaction, the fact is that somebody feels hurt, and
that needs to be addressed.
So, a key thing to remember when you engage with an emotional client, is that it’s not about
trying to change their mind — and no matter how sympathetic you are, you might just receive
another emotional rant in response.
And that’s okay; everyone is entitled to their feelings.
The critical thing is to respond.
Silence at this point just makes your company look irresponsible, like it’s trying to
ghost a dissatisfied customer.
Now, passive bad reviews are my favorite because they're
the most helpful kind, even if they're negative.
That’s because: A) they provide you with information about the problem, so you have
a better idea of how to fix it and B) they aren’t emotionally-driven, which makes them
much easier to respond to.
Now, the best way to respond to a passive yet negative review is with a quick apology — one that
also tells the pragmatic reviewer how you’re going to fix the problem and prevent it from happening
again.
Now, biased reviews are simultaneously annoying and helpful, because they’re based on really subjective
opinions.
It’s like when someone tries red wine for the first time, and gives it a poor review
because they’re used to white wine — it's annoying, because the bad review is just based
on their opinion; but it's also helpful, because having a few bad reviews just gives your company credibility in general.
If all of your reviews are 5-star raves, that can start to look suspicious, even if you’ve earned
them.
It’s actually good to have a few neutral or bad reviews online, and the ones based
on personal bias are by far the least destructive!
So, there are a few different ways to handle biased reviews, depending on how bad they
are.
If the review they gave you was pretty neutral, like, say, 3 out of 5 stars, you could grin and
bear it with a standard “thank you” message, knowing that at least your readers will be
assured that your online reviews are authentic.
If, however, they gave you an unreasonable 1-star rating, you could point
out their personal bias.
Just make sure that YOU don’t get emotional when you respond!
And the last method might not be the way to go for every brand, but this creative ski
resort even went so far as to turn a 1-star review into a beautiful 2-page ad layout.
And uninformative bad reviews are just a huge nuisance.
They criticise without adding anything constructive.
It’s like having a customer leave a 1-word review for your restaurant that just says
“awful”.
You don’t know if it’s referring to the service, the freshness of the food, the cleanliness
of the location, or the amount of salt used — so you don’t really know how to fix it.
Now, the best way to respond to such a brief yet highly undetailed review is with a quick apology
and question.
A polite, “we’re sorry to hear that, could you please tell us what the problem was?”
will show anybody who’s going through your reviews that you care about your customer experience
— and if they respond, you’ll get some helpful insight into how to improve your business.
Now, finally, dishonest bad reviews are just the absolute worst.
They come from toxic customers trying to take advantage of you, random Internet trolls,
and even competing businesses out to slander your reputation.
The only way to deal with unwarranted bad reviews is to defend your business.
If the review includes false information, point that out.
And if there are holes in the story, point that out too.
Now, if it gives you a low rating without providing any details, just treat it like those uninformative
bad reviews we just mentioned, and ask what the problem was.
You might not get a response, but other people reading the reviews will see that you’re
doing everything you can to find a solution.
That’s it for this week!
If you have any questions about negative online PR or how to respond to bad reviews online,
just let me know in the Comments section below!
And if you’ve found this video helpful, feel free to Like, Share and Subscribe to
our YouTube channel, where I’ll be sharing tips on how you can do EVEN MORE in social
media and digital marketing each week.
Thanks so much for watching, I hope you learned something new, and I'll see you next time. Bye!