Reviews are part of doing business nowadays. Having great reviews almost guarantees that you’ll get more attention and traffic. Negative reviews, on the other hand, could put you at a serious disadvantage against the competition. This isn’t something that can be reversed easily either, which is why it’s important to act fast on negative reviews and do everything in your power to turn things around. Let’s take a look at how to handle negative reviews on Google.
Be Honest with Yourself and Commit to Better Service
The very first thing you should do is not react to the reviews. There is no point in responding if you’re going to continue giving sub-par service. You need to look at the nature of the reviews and see where you are responsible.
If the issue is service, for instance, then you will need to make some difficult decisions. If you know who gave bad service, you will need to evaluate their work more closely, even if it means actively monitoring them. If the issue is the product, then you will need to look at competitors who are doing well and see where you can improve. That is the best and fastest way to know what works and adjust accordingly.
Respond to Review
Once you have committed to doing better, you can start responding to reviews. Try to make every response natural and unique. And accept responsibility. Being hostile and shifting blame is the worst thing you can do. Apologize for whatever they may have experienced, acknowledge the issues, and affirm your commitment to fixing them. Also, discuss some of the steps you are taking to do so. The more detailed and genuine you are in your response, the better positioned you’ll be to rebuild your reputation.
Get Positive Reviews
By now, hopefully you have done whatever you could to improve on any issues you may have had. This may be reflected in the most recent reviews you’ve received. Now, you have to make the effort to get more reviews so you can increase your ratings and get more visibility.
One of the ways that you could do this is by setting up a newsletter or loyalty program. This will give you access to your most loyal customers’ inboxes. This will be a very valuable asset in getting reviews. You will be able to directly ask them what they think about your service, survey them on some of the things you could improve, and encourage them to post a review if they haven’t already. Since these will be regulars, they are more likely to leave a good word for you.
We would also suggest that you try a tool like Signpost if you need help with Google reviews. They will allow you to generate tons of Google reviews fast through their easy-to-use interface. The program will integrate with your email marketing service and CRM to allow you to ask for reviews from your loyal customers fast. Using a tool like this will make things much easier for you and allow you to focus on improving your product or service.
If you want to deal with negative reviews, you first have to commit to your client base. You can then start addressing issues and make real changes. Hopefully, you’ll be able to rebuild your reputation and brand.
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