No one likes getting negative reviews, but as a business owner, you should expect to receive them from time to time. Negative reviews can be damaging to your business, but they don’t have to be. If you know how to handle them properly, you can actually use them to your advantage.
1. Don’t take it personally
When you get a negative review, it’s easy to take it personally, but try not to. The reviewer is not attacking you as a person, they’re just expressing their opinion about your business. It’s important to remember that not everyone is going to be a satisfied customer. The best you can do is try to please as many people as possible. If you take every negative review personally, you’re going to end up feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.
2. Be professional
It’s important to remember that you’re representing your business when you respond to a review, so you need to be professional. This doesn’t mean you have to be robotic or fake, but you should avoid sounding angry or defensive. Stick to the facts and use a professional tone.
3. Take the conversation offline
If a reviewer is angry and venting, it’s best to take the conversation offline. If you try to continue the discussion on the review site, it could escalate and get out of hand. The last thing you want is for people to see you arguing with a customer. The best way to handle an angry customer is to reach out to them and ask them to either call or email you directly. This way you can resolve the issue without anyone else seeing it.
No one likes dealing with hot-heads and angry customers, but it’s a part of doing business. Be respectful and calm and take your discussions off-line to try to handle this situation in the best way possible.
