Small businesses are often passionate about what they do. In addition to being meticulous and ritualistic in their processes and operations, they spend a lot of time and effort creating goods and providing services. One of the major inlets for customers for small businesses comes from online reviews and testimonials. Apart from owned reviews, third-party […]
Small businesses are often passionate about what they do. In addition to being meticulous and ritualistic in their processes and operations, they spend a lot of time and effort creating goods and providing services.
One of the major inlets for customers for small businesses comes from online reviews and testimonials. Apart from owned reviews, third-party reviews can also play a key role. Google Reviews are often considered the yardstick to measure the quality of social proof for a business. Since businesses receive all kinds of reviews, they do not welcome the negative ones. Still, they come all the same.
In this blog post, we will take a look at the reason behind people leaving poor reviews, how they impact businesses, and some tips and templates to provide the best responses to these.
First of all, if anyone knew the ultimate reason for that, he would have been the richest person on the planet! Simple enough, users leave scathing reviews on Google or any other platform when they are not satisfied with the product or services that the brand has to offer.
There are many ways to categorize negative reviews, including balanced reviews, true neutral reviews, and then there are 1-star reviews. Brands used to ignore these as if they did not exist. This resulted in customers and prospects abandoning a brand for good.
Now, brands need to respond to them professionally, and even try to make the best of the situation by weaving a narrative around it.
In most cases, brands need to improve their internal operations and address the grievances of the customers at the same time.
The internet has changed the way people interact with one another and with businesses. Now, research has shown that more than 85% of users go through customer reviews and testimonials before making a purchase. Out of these, at least 79% read four comments to gauge the quality of products, services, and customer support from the brand.
Researchers have also found out that modern shoppers consider online reviews the same as personal recommendations. They do not discriminate between the two and base their decisions on either of them. That’s why they get the feel of the brand by observing Google average ratings, the ratio of poor and good reviews, and so on.
Mishandling of negative reviews does not stop at human users because search engines also get leads from customer reviews. They do not have to be positive every time. Even negative reviews, when handled with caution and issues resolved for the users lead to better rankings in SERPs and so on.
Brands need to be vigilant in terms of review management. If you are having problems with these, TrustAnalytica is the partner you are missing. We offer a complete dashboard, push notifications, and insights from multiple locations. So, get in touch with us today for a free demo!
There is no denying that negative reviews on Google pop up at the unlikeliest times for the best brands. This is just the way things are. So, instead of panicking and looking to other lackluster measures, they need to get on top of the developments.
In this section, our focus will be on the tips and tricks that can help brands respond to negative reviews on Google without exacerbating the issue.
As mentioned in the previous sections, brands used to ignore negative feedback. There was no planning and thought at all to address the issues openly and let everyone know what the brand stands for. So, make sure that all the infrastructure and equipment are in place all the time so that negative reviews can be assessed and responded to without any unnecessary delay.
Of course, it would be different if the review was positive. But it was not and you need to handle the negative Google review with the same enthusiasm and care. The first point of contact with the users should be about acknowledging the effort. There is no need to get defensive or undermine what they have to say. Just thank them for their time and effort to write a heartfelt note.
There is a fine red line between being apologetic for something and feeling sorry for it. This is something that many professionals use interchangeably and get themselves and their brands in hot waters. Keep in mind that the brand needs to apologize if it is responsible for the inconvenience, but if the experience of the user was poor because of any other issue, you should feel sorry for him and try to soothe his anger with promises for resolution and discounts.
Things could get messy when people on both sides become charged with emotions. Instead of proceeding with the discussion in the interactive section, professionals should try to get the conversation to a private line. The best lines are phone calls and emails as they allow one on one communication.
Once the issue is resolved, you can request the user to either edit the original review or delete it altogether and post a new one with a positive message.
Many brands believe that promising the user to resolve the issue means that there was something wrong with the product or service in the first place. In reality, it is more about making amends for the users and ensuring that they do not abandon the brand for good. So, make sure you promise to resolve the issue and then fulfill your promise without any delay.
In this section, we will cover some templates for how to respond to negative reviews on a google business listing. It is tricky since prospects and customers are closely observing interactions at such sites. Still, you can turn any situation to your advantage by keeping the customer experience in mind.
Thank you for your heartfelt review. We continuously work hard to provide excellent customer experience to all of our customers but we are sorry that we missed a point there. Kindly allow us to make amends by reaching out to us at (email address). We are confident that we can use this feedback to improve our services in the future.
First of all, we are thankful that you set aside time to write a detailed review of our services. Your feedback is very important for us to improve our brand across the board. However, your poor experience is an exception and we are sorry for that. To further discuss the matter and make things right, we want to contact you personally to discuss other options. We hope you will allow us to straighten things out.
Thanks for your candid response. We are sorry that our brand fell short of your expectations. We continuously strive to ensure that all of our clients are satisfied with our products and services. Since you are an exception, we will leave no stone unturned to make it up to you. Kindly contact us at our customer support email to discuss it through.
All feedback is important to us, so we thank you for your honest opinions. We are sorry to hear that your experience with our company was less than ideal. Our management takes these kinds of things very seriously. That’s why we would like to make amends for you. Kindly connect with our customer support team at (email) and we will walk you through the process.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We are disappointed to hear that you had to wait and then receive services that were not even up to the mark. Even though we want every client to have the best experience, we missed a mark here. Would you allow us to make it up to you? Kindly contact our customer support team at (email) and we will make things right for you.
Google Reviews play a major role in the prospects’ journey of either going with a brand or leaving it for good. That’s why brands pay special attention to the chatter happening around Google Reviews. Although positive reviews are always welcome, negative reviews often pop up and mar the face of the brand. In this post, we have shared a complete strategy and some templates to help brands respond to negative feedback across the board.
There are two important things that brands and the professionals running concerned departments should keep in mind:
There is never too late to respond to negative Google reviews. Make sure that you apologize for responding late but promise to make things right for the user.
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