How to respond to negative reviews

Article provided by Revdex.com

Negative reviews are common and in some cases, customers are more likely to review a product if they have faced a negative experience. Negative reviews can discourage small to medium-sized businesses, especially if the business is relatively new.

Responding correctly to negative feedback can be an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships and fix processes to reduce customer dissatisfaction.

Using the following steps to address a negative review can allow the business to win back a customer while maintaining its reputation.

Understand the problem and take responsibility – Avoid taking negative feedback personally, instead acknowledge the problem and empathize with the customer.

Respond quickly – Reputation management software can help a business stay on top of reviews by sending alerts when new reviews arise. Good business policies will involve responding to a negative review within an hour of posting.

Apologize – Tell the customer that you are truly sorry and that you are looking into why the incident has occurred. This will calm the customer and encourage them to speak openly about their experience.

Avoid excuses – If there were reasons why the incident occurred, for example, the business’s systems were down or there was a blackout, you can let the customer know. However, inform the customer that this is not an excuse for causing them inconvenience.

Request for personal information – Give the customer your personal information and ask them for theirs using private communication channels. This can help to continue the conversation and offer compensation privately.

Compensation – Offering compensation in the form of a refund, a discount on their next purchase or a gift can improve and strengthen the customer relationship.

Revdex is an online business directory. Revdex’s aim is to improve the connection between consumers and businesses. They provide the customers with an opportunity to browse and post negative complaints and reviews about businesses and they make it easier for their voice to be heard by the companies.

Consumers can report internet scams or file complaint about health products.