Strategies for Marketers to Respond to Feedback
No matter how well crafted your product or service is, the occasional negative review can inherently arise from any customer experience. But when an unhappy customer takes to social media or writes a scathing online review of your company, it can be hard to know what to do next. As marketers, it’s our job to step in and manage the situation: taking control of both perception and response.
Adding a strategy into place that makes feedback manageable – and potentially profitable – is key if you want to continue pushing forward with success as a brand. With this blog post, we’ll discuss tips and tricks on how you can use effective strategies for responding appropriately when customers leave negative reviews online
Let’s get started!
Responding to Negative Reviews: The Do’s
- Address the negative review head-on
- Acknowledge that you may have made some mistakes and are open to criticism
- Thank the reviewer for taking the time to share their thoughts
- Explain how you plan to address the issues raised in the review
- Offer a discount or other incentive for the reviewer to give your business another chance
When you receive a negative review, it can be tempting to bury your head in the sand and hope it will go away. However, this is not an effective response – in fact, it can make things worse. A much better approach is to address the review head-on, thank the reviewer for their feedback, and explain how you plan to address the issues raised.
You may have made some mistakes and are open to criticism, but that doesn’t mean you deserve to be targeted by online trolls. If you feel that a reviewer has crossed a line, don’t hesitate to contact us for assistance.
Responding to Negative Reviews: The Don’ts
Negative reviews can be hard to deal with. They’re often personal, and they can make you feel like you’ve done something wrong. But responding to them in the wrong way can make things even worse. Here are five DON’Ts for responding to negative reviews:
DON’T attack the reviewer
This is a surefire way to make the situation worse. The reviewer is already unhappy, and attacking them will only make them more defensive and less likely to change their opinion.
DON’T ignore the review
If a customer takes the time to write a review, they deserve a response. Ignoring them only makes it look like you’re trying to hide something.
DON’T try to defend your product or service without addressing the reviewer’s concerns
If the reviewer has a valid point, defending your product without addressing their concerns won’t do anything to fix the problem. In fact, it might just make them more upset.
DON’T respond with a canned response
Customers can see through canned responses, and it will only make you look unprofessional. Take the time to write a response that addresses the reviewer’s concerns specifically.
DON’T give up on responding altogether
Even if you make a mistake in your response, it’s always better to apologize and try to fix the situation than to give up altogether.
How to handle a negative review on Social Media
Negative reviews can be tough to handle, but they’re a fact of life for businesses. The key is to have a solid social media plan in place for when and how you’ll respond.
First, it’s important to understand the psychology of negative reviews. People tend to write negative reviews when they’re angry, frustrated, or disappointed. They may also write them when they feel like they’ve been wronged in some way.
When you receive a negative review, it’s important to stay calm and professional. Don’t take the review personally – after all, it’s not about you, it’s about the customer’s experience. And don’t try to argue with the customer or defend your business. That will only make things worse.
Instead, try to understand where the customer is coming from. Thank them for taking the time to write the review, and ask them for more details about their experience. If you can identify what went wrong, you can work on fixing the issue.
Finally, always respond to negative reviews publicly. This shows other customers that you’re taking their concerns seriously and that you’re willing to address them. It also helps keep the conversation going so other customers can see both sides of the story.
Tips for turning a negative customer review into a positive outcome
Negative customer reviews can be disheartening and frustrating, but with a little bit of effort, they can also be turned into a positive outcome. Here are a few tips for turning a negative customer review into a positive one:
Respond quickly and politely
When you first see a negative review, respond as quickly as possible. Thank the customer for taking the time to write the review, and apologize for any inconvenience they may have experienced. Politely ask them to contact you directly so that you can resolve the issue.
Take the time to listen
Once you’ve contacted the customer, take the time to listen to their concerns. Make sure you understand what they’re upset about, and ask questions if you need clarification. Doing this shows that you care about their experience and are willing to work to fix the problem.
Address the issue promptly
Once you know what the issue is, address it as quickly as possible. If you need more time to fix the problem, let the customer know how long it will take and when they can expect a resolution. Keeping them updated on progress will help keep them from becoming frustrated again.
Thank them for their feedback
Once the issue has been resolved, thank the customer for their feedback. Let them know that you appreciate their input and that you’ll use it to improve your business in the future.
The importance of managing online feedback for business owner
No business can survive without customer feedback. It is essential to understand what the public wants, what services they need, and how you can improve your product or service to better meet their needs. Gathering customer feedback can be done in a variety of ways, but online feedback management is one of the most efficient and effective methods.
Online feedback management is the process of collecting and managing customer feedback from online sources such as social media, review websites, and digital communication channels.
By monitoring and responding to customer feedback on these channels, businesses can build trust with customers, resolve complaints quickly, and gain valuable insight into what customers like and don’t like about their product or service.
Online feedback management has become increasingly important in recent years as more and more people turn to the internet for information and reviews.
In fact, a study by BrightLocal found that 88% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. This means that if your business isn’t actively managing its online feedback, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with potential customers and improve your bottom line.
So how can businesses get started with online feedback management? The first step is to create a system for tracking and responding to customer feedback.
There are a number of different software programs that can help with this, but most businesses will also need a team of dedicated employees who are responsible for monitoring the feedback and responding to customers.
The second step is to set up some type of notification system so that you can quickly respond to negative comments before they have a chance to spiral out of control.
Many businesses use social media monitoring tools such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social to track all mentions of their brand online. These tools will send an alert when someone posts something about your business so that you can quickly respond.
The third step is to develop a process for responding to customer feedback. This process should include guidelines for how employees should respond to positive and negative comments, as well as procedures for escalating serious complaints.
It’s also important to have a system in place for recording customer feedback so that you can track trends over time and identify areas where your business needs improvement.
By following these steps, businesses can create a successful online feedback management strategy that will help them connect with customers, resolve complaints quickly, and improve their bottom line.
It is essential that companies know how to respond to negative reviews left by unhappy customers. There are some Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to responding which include acknowledging the customer, taking responsibility, empathizing with the customer, and suggesting a resolution.
On social media, it is important to be proactive in addressing negative feedback and use positive language. It is also crucial to turn a negative review into a positive outcome whenever possible.
Lastly, managing feedback is key to having a successful business. What tips do you have for responding to negative reviews? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
