Q: How do I deal with a negative google review?
As a business owner, it’s hard not to take negative reviews personally. You’ve poured your heart into your business and it can feel intensely unfair to have someone trash your products or services with a click of a button. Check out my tips on handling the complaint in a way that allows you to let it go and reinforce your brand and company culture.
Take some time. If you’re heated, do not respond immediately. Take some time to cool off and recognize that people leave negative reviews for several reasons - including things that you can’t control (they had a bad day, the product just wasn’t right for them, pricing, etc.) and things you can (a real issue with the product).
Examine the review. Once you’re feeling less attacked, reread the review and see if there is anything you can learn from it. Is it possible that there is really an issue here or do you feel that it was an unfair review? Be honest with yourself and take any valuable information and let everything else go.
Remember who your audience really is. Remember that you shouldn’t respond if you’re still feeling angry. I cannot emphasize this enough! Your audience is not only the person who wrote it, but the hundreds of current or potential customers that are going to read the review, so this is a great opportunity to reinforce your business culture and policies.
Respond. First off, thank them for their honest feedback and apologize for their negative experience, regardless of the issue and whether you agree with it. (This is called taking the higher road!) If you feel that you could benefit from additional details, you can recommend they send you an email with additional details so that you can help shape the product or services going forward. Otherwise you can say that you appreciate when customers offer feedback so that you have the opportunity to look at your systems and products and continually improve.
By being gracious, you have accomplished several things: (1) you can feel good about your response, (2) you can learn more information that can either help you improve your business or do what you can to prevent similar reviews, (3) you’ve reinforced your business culture, (4) you’ve shown hundreds of potential customers that you run your business with integrity, and (5) you may build a stronger relationship with the reviewer (who may have just wanted to be heard). It’s one of the hardest parts of running a business, but it’s also an opportunity to turn it into a positive situation and win a customer over!
-Valerie
P.S. Do you have a business question? Email me!