Post on 03-Jan-2016
They can be disheartening, annoying and quite shocking, but can also
provide honest feedback about areas of your business that you may be blind
to.
Online reviews are here to stay so it’s best to know how to handle them
correctly and how not to handle them.
One of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make is to take negative
reviews extremely personally.
While negative reviews can be hurtful, it’s important not to get swept away
into an emotional state of depression, anger, self-pity or hopelessness.
If you have a few negative reviews amidst a lot of other positive ones,
realize that these are just the opinions of a minority.
Also understand that people need to air their grievances and possibly found
the easiest way to do it was online.
By having a sober and objective view about negative publicity, you will be
able to better tackle the problem in a calm, organized and respectable
manner than if you are on an emotional rollercoaster.
One of the key weapons in dealing with negative reviews is having an
arsenal of factual information about the business transaction that resulted
in the negative publicity.
However it’s easy to get impulsive and immediately respond to a negative
review without checking your facts.
This can only lead to false assumptions and further public embarrassment as
you will come across as a business that doesn’t know what it is talking about.
Getting your facts right is also critical in knowing whether the negative
review was accurate or inaccurate.
If your facts reveal your business messed up, you will need to apologize
and rectify the situation and if the client was the problems, you can still
approach them with a mind to helping them see your side of the story.
Another big mistake is being overly defensive and seeking to pass blame
to everyone but your business.
One of the marks of being defensive is getting involved in a back and forth
online shouting match with your customers.
This is definitely not the way to go because first of all, you have an online audience witnessing your tirade and
secondly everyone expects your business to be professional and take
the high ground.
As you engage, maintain a respectful, truthful and objective approach as this will most likely win over your negative
reviewer and other online users
Every negative review is worth taking a look at and worth rectifying to the
best of your ability as a business owner.
By burying your head in the sand and ignoring what people are saying, you
are only setting up yourself for a major storm ahead.