According to the latest figures from the research report ‘Global Trust in Advertising’, 70 percent of consumers somewhat or fully trust online reviews. However, receiving negative reviews does not automatically lead to customer loss. Negative reviews can indeed lead to a positive outcome. But the way you handle negative reviews is crucial.
1. Respond quickly, positively, and personally
By engaging in conversation as soon as possible after the negative review is posted, and doing so in a positive manner, you already make a good start in resolving the issue and ensure that your company does not come under more negative scrutiny. Allow your customer service representatives to use their own name instead of speaking on behalf of your company. This makes your organization seem more accessible, reliable, and involved.
2. Show empathy for the customer who left the negative review
Let him know that you understand why he is not satisfied with the product and/or service he received through your company. Even if you don't (entirely) agree. Don't engage in a debate. Instead, let him express his grievances so he feels heard, and you gain good insight into how to resolve this specific issue with the customer.
3. Make amends; even if it's not your fault
By compensating for a mistake (in a small way) - think of offering a new product, a refund, a box of chocolates, or a bottle of wine - you can already alleviate the negative feeling for the customer. Often this is a trigger for a customer to write a new and more positive review or to edit their negative review, thereby increasing your ranking. ‘Good will goes a long way in winning repeat business.’ Even if a customer is not satisfied with a purchase, the chances are (very) high that he will still return if you have somehow made amends regarding such issues.
4. Investigate how you will better address certain issues for future purchases
Learn from negative experiences and also demonstrate how you will ensure that it does not happen again. Let them know what steps you will take to definitively resolve the issue.
5. Sometimes it's better to move the issue to ‘offline’ and/or have a personal conversation
If you know how to handle negativity effectively, solving the entire issue in public is advisable as this is also an opportunity for you to showcase your high level of service to everyone. But sometimes it's better to move the discussion offline and/or have a personal conversation via phone or email so you can gain better control over the issue.
Most Responsive Brand
Take complaints seriously and do not ignore negative messages on social media. For example, 89 percent of consumers say they will purchase from a competitor after a bad customer service experience, and 50 percent indicate that they give a company one week to respond to a question, otherwise they want ‘no further dealings’. Some companies have understood this well, according to data:
KLM, Walmart, Next Online, and Xbox all respond to customer messages on their Facebook page in less than forty minutes.
Xbox’s ‘Elite Tweet Fleet’ achieved the Guinness World Record for Most Responsive Brand on Twitter.
Instead of directing customers to a website or a general email address after they post questions on their Facebook page, employees of Next Online stay on Facebook as much as possible to resolve personal issues; for sensitive information, they switch to Facebook's private messages.
