When you get a bad review
It’s happened to all of us.
Checking your email in the morning. Junk, more junk. What’s that? A new review on my Google Biz page.
1 STAR???!!!
You can feel the blood start to rush into your cheeks. “I can’t believe he said that! After how much we went out of our way to make him happy.” You’re pissed and you might have a good reason to be.
STOP HERE.
Take a big breath because what you do next can affect your business for years to come.
We wanted to give some quick tips on how to handle a bad review. Whether you deserved it or have never heard their name before, this is the path you should take moving forward.
Start with a public response to their review:
- Empathize & Apologize
Here’s the truth: it doesn’t matter who’s right and who’s wrong, this customer feels they weren’t given good service. Meet them where they are.
Ex. “I’m so sorry about your experience with __! I would feel the same way if I were in your shoes.” - Communicate Values
Take them from where they are and paint a picture of your values and how they align with what they hoped to experience.
Ex. “This is not who we are and it’s way below the standard we hold ourselves to.” - Ask for Forgiveness
Not much explanation needed here.
Ex. “We hope you can forgive our mistake” - Offer Resolution
Give them a way that you’ll make it right.
Ex. “Please allow us to fix this for you.” - Show Authenticity
Make it clear that you are a real person who works in the business.
Ex. “Would you call our office at 123-4567 and ask for Mike? I’d love to help in any way I can.”
No matter the response or the outcome, you can know that you’ve done what you can to give resolution to that customer. Some may accept, some may refuse.
You can’t control how others respond–you can only control how you respond.
Never forget that you’re dealing with a human. If this becomes an equation, you’ll lose your authenticity.
The final step in this process is: Bury it.
Get serious about asking for reviews from every happy customer possible and cover that 1-star with a pile of 5s!
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