Bad Reviews and Why You May Want A Few
Getting Bad Reviews
We all know how you feel. There is a burning sensation under your skin and pressure behind your eyes. You imagine the customer that left it and wanting to wring their neck. Your mind cycles questions like:
- How can they lie like that?
- How can they get away with saying such things?
- Doesn't Google or other review sites have policies against bad reviews like this?
- Why didn't they call first? We would have taken care of them!
And all of this sprinkled with some anxiety and fear.
Anyone can state their policies in text with no accountability. But bad reviews offer a deeper glimpse of who we are really dealing with. How you respond to a customer when things go bad is a tell tale sign of character. Users will judge you by the character you portray, not the details of the issue you are responding to.
But your body is heating up with anger and you are ready to respond to the review and put this person in their place. Hang on... before you do that...
Step 1: Don't Respond. Yet.
The number one thing to understand initially is your reaction is normal. Notice I said reaction, NOT response. This reaction means the human animal half of you is working perfectly. Don't let this reaction get you down, or upset you beyond how upset you already are. This is a normal physiological reaction. It is especially strong with business owners who give their heart and soul to their customers, products and services. It is paramount however that you not respond - yet. While you may get lucky and find the right combination of vocabulary words for the correct response, it will still be through clouded judgement.
Anything less than perfect will be detected by other users. Being the one who loves your business and the reputation bad reviews threaten, you want it to be perfect. Now that you are not going to respond it is time to freak out.
Step 2: Freak Out!
That's right. Go ahead and freak out. Scream into a pillow. Sweat for a little bit. Think about how angry that customer made you. Get it all to the surface and just freak it out of your soul. The reason is because you are going to anyway. Again, you are experiencing an involuntary physiological response. You have no more control over this than you do getting scared at a haunted house.
If you think about it, a haunted house is a weird thing. People actually schedule when they will experience fear. You can't just decide not to be afraid, and all the people coming out the exit door is proof. That is why they are fun, they offer a safe place to experience an involuntary response that otherwise is considered stressful. Since there is no real danger, some people call it a thrill.
But a bad review isn't a thrill. It hurts, and makes you angry, and just like the haunted house, a little time and focus will cause this sensation to go away. In your freak out stage do this on purpose and alone. This step is where most make a mistake. They take the anger of their freak out phase and go online with it. As hard as it is to resist, you must not do anything that resembles a response during this time. To be clear, your freak out phase should equal you sitting on your hands in a chair mad as hell. Like a child in time-out, do this until the natural reaction of your human nature subsides. If the review strikes very sensitive nerves it may be more than you can handle. That is okay as well, and there is zero shame in seeking help to respond.
Step 3: Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Circling back to step 1, it is important not to respond, because that response would be reactive. It is reactive because you are in the heat of emotion and your response will reflect that fact. This difference will be detected by all who read your reply and you will be negatively judged by it. Your response (not reaction) needs to be deliberate and in the absence of emotion. You may try asking yourself questions like, what would a chess computer do? What is the best possible move that minimizes loss and maximizes gains?
In order to have a proper chance at being proactive you must be absent the emotions that would cause a negative response to your bad review. This is easier said than done. It helps to put such an event into context.
Things to keep in mind:
- Unlike what many fear, a negative review isn't going to 'end' your business.
- Most consumers care about how complaints gets handled, versus what the details.
- Whether the customer wronged you, is telling the truth, or maybe got the wrong company - you have an opportunity!
If you leave a response in anyway that explains how the customer is wrong, or how the customer mistreated you, or how the customer is a liar you have failed! In fact if you talk about the customer at all, I would argue you have failed in your response. In all of these cases, which are not exhaustive, you are attacking the customer. Their measure of deserving it is irrelevant. By attacking the customer you have painted a picture in the mind of future customers. You are telling them: "If you have an issue with me I'll attack you!". Is that a company you'd do business with? Is that the type of company you want to portray? You think that type of company gets many referrals?
Again, the accuracy of the customer and their review, and words spoken are NOT IMPORTANT, at least to extent you can control it. But you can control 100% your response, which you will be 100% judged for. Be proactive, not reactive.
Step 4: Realize You Have an Opportunity on Your Hands
This isn't wishy washy positive thinking. A real opportunity exists for you to convey to all who read your reply the type of business you are. Such a reply doesn't make sense on positive feedback. So the fact you have 1 or 2 negative reviews, actually gives you an opportunity to show a special side of your business and your character.
BEWARE: While there is opportunity with bad reviews, there is also risk. Saying the wrong thing will only amplify the issue you are so upset about.
Step 5: Respond to the Audience, Not the Customer
Your reply is going to paint a picture about your character and your methods. A big and common mistake is responding to the user and their specific issue. While this may sound like the obvious thing do, who you really are responding to is the invisible audience of everyone watching you respond. Every review from every source is deserving of a response, whether the review is good or bad. On bad review, regardless of fault or fact, always start with saying you are sorry.
Example Response Regardless of Complaint
"We greatly value your feedback and sincerely apologize you had an experience with us you felt was negative. Our passion for our customers and the quality of our product are paramount. Naturally, your feedback has us concerned. We work very hard to ensure every customer experience with us is positive and fun, and pledge to do what we can to make that happen. Please reach out to us personally if we can assist or work with you further."
Let's observe what this does:
- Demonstrates your customer service policy in action.
- Doesn't validate the details of the issue, only concern to fix it.
- It takes responsibility without admission to wrong doing or guilt.
- There is no attacking anyone or anything, only affirmation that as a company you are standing by to help.
- Tells the world watching that if they have an issue with you, you'll address it head on politely and with legitimate concern.
A proactive and thoughtful response paints is the picture of a company customers want to do business with. Because you can't fully paint this picture without bad reviews, is why you may want a few.
Do You Need Help with Your Bad Reviews?
Even though you may follow these steps when responding to your own business' bad reviews, you may not have enough time to monitor every single review on every social media platform. That's where we can come in!
Perfectly Optimized can monitor all of your reviews and help you answer in a way that shows your professionalism and excellent customer service. Call us today at (405) 373-6870 to learn more about our services!