Any successful business owner will tell you that your customers’ perception of your brand is key to success. If you appear as a trustworthy company with values that resonate with them, then they will patronize your product or service. But there will always be one or two unsatisfied customers that will dislike your product or service. When they feel strongly about it, they’ll state their dissatisfaction online or on your page if one of your website design features is a testimonials page.
Consumer Testimonials, from Newspaper to Website Design Features
In the old days, it’s hard for individuals to know about the public’s perception of a brand right away as mostly, reviews were either given by professional critics published in newspapers or word of mouth, from one close acquaintance to another.
Nowadays, people can post their reviews for everyone to see, even without being a professional critic. Companies have design features wherein consumers can post their testimonials on the company’s website.
Everyone’s a critic, which can be beneficial for consumers and a double-edged sword for companies.
So, what if your company got its first bad review? Out of five really good reviews, there’s one speck of dust that’s tainting your good reputation on the Internet. How do you respond?
No Response Is a Response
If you wait around to respond to your displeased customer’s bad review, then it will affect your potential client or customer’s perception of your company. Here are other reasons why you should never ignore a complaint or bad review:
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Other People Will See Your Inability to Address Your Errors
Consumers want a company they can trust, and if your company is unable to admit an error, then they won’t see you as trustworthy. Everyone commits mistakes, but if you don’t acknowledge it, then how are you going to remedy it or build better relations with your customers?
Don’t let a bad review sit for too long. Like an untouched meal for weeks and months, it’s going to stink up your fridge (in this case, your company). Address the review promptly and with a clear head, so other customers can see that you are accommodating and willing to listen to them.
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Customers Check for Negative Reviews
Often, consumers check negative reviews to manage their expectations with a company. At the same time, they want to see how you handle any kind of bad review, whether it’s the constructive ones or downright vulgar ones. If they see no response, it just means that you don’t care about them and their concerns, which will put them off from patronizing your products and services.
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You’re Ignoring What Could Be Fixed in Your System
There is always room for improvement in any business. And what way to know what you should improve on than to get insight on customer feedback. You build your own business to solve a problem for your target consumer. And if you don’t take in feedback from them about how you can improve the systems or elements in your product, it all boils down to “is the product really for them or you?”
If you want to have a successful business, your company needs to evolve from feedback and apply it to improve customer service.
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You’re Ignoring What Your Customer Wants from You or Your Business
As mentioned before, your business aims to solve a specific problem for a specific group of people. And if your product or service is only 30 or 40% effective to accommodate their needs, then how are they going to be satisfied?
You want to be able to achieve customer satisfaction. And with that, you need to take in specific helpful points from their complaints and use them to make your product, service, or even business better.
Everyone will have one or two unsatisfied customers. When you’ve established your business and expanded your reach, you’re going to get a couple more. But how you respond to criticism will make or break your business.
Still, Don’t Delete Negative Reviews
Although some website features in review sites will allow you to delete any negative reviews, we discourage you from doing so. As we said before, no response is a response itself. And if you delete your negative reviews, it only sends the message that you don’t want to be held accountable for your mistakes.
Just like any movie or story, consumers want to see a redemption arc. They want to see positive growth in a company because it’s something they can relate to. It’s something they also want to see in themselves. So, again, address the situation. Don’t run from it.
How to Respond to Negative Feedback
Now, this is the tricky part. When responding to negative feedback, you’ll need to keep your emotions in check, so it does not come off as either passive-aggressive or too formal. When it sounds passive-aggressive, this will show your customer that you’re not apologetic at all and that you are not open to any type of criticism about your service. On the other hand, when it’s too formal, almost like a template, it just shows that you don’t care about your customer or their concerns.
Overall, you need to be more personable and open to them. This will allow them to change their perception of you, and see you as a company that really listens to them and their plight. But how do you come off as such? Here’s how:
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Address the Customer by Name and Apologize to Them
When you address them by name, it will feel more personal rather than a mere template. It will make them feel that they’re actually talking to someone that will take care of their problem. After that, apologize to them for their bad experience. Even if you disagree with them, knowing more about their concerns allows you to see that perhaps there is something you can take from it and apply to your service.
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State How You Can Solve the Problem
Tell them how you can remedy the situation and talk about reaching out to resolve the problem. When you take action to appease your customer’s concerns, other potential customers will see it as you being accountable for the bad experience and caring about your customers. This will, in turn, minimize the impact of the negative review in the long run.
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Accept That You Can’t Please Everyone
Sometimes, there may be no remedy to a bad review. Whether your customer just did not resonate with the branding of your business, the style, or the whole concept, some aspects of their dislike may be out of your control (most probably because they were not the people you were targeting to begin with). And that’s okay. Stick to continuously improving without losing the essence and values of your business, and care for the customers you set out to cater to.
In Conclusion
Responding to reviews can be a daunting task, especially if you encountered customers with very strong negative comments about your business. But at the end of the day, we work to always improve our services through the feedback we have been given. Success comes from continuous growth and transformation to cater to our always evolving consumers.
So, when you come across a negative review, respond to it with a clear head, be personable about it, and see it as a learning experience for you and your business.
How Proweaver Can Help You
Our team at Proweaver has worked with numerous businesses in their online marketing ventures. We’ve created plenty of websites for companies, ranging from healthcare to e-commerce. You can expect high-converting website design features that will help increase your traffic and ultimately, your conversions.
We have a collective of marketing experts, website designers, developers, and content writers, ready to help you build your online presence, and solidify your company’s reputation to your target consumers.
If you want to know more about our services, feel free to contact us at +1 (877) 300-6564.
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