The more negative online reviews, comments, and mentions you get on the Web, the worse your online reputation becomes. This is an important fact since your online reputation is just one of the factors that new customers look into when making a decision where to take their business.
Although you can not "physically" change any content about your business online (unless you posted it yourself), here are a few things you should do each time you get negative reviews online:
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Connect and Talk
The number one way you can turn a negative review into a "positive" is to address the problem. If a customer has had a bad experience, you need to connect with them. Uncover what went wrong in the process, why their experience was so unpleasant, and what you can possibly do to make it better.
Imagine the classic situation when your food is too cold or the order somehow got confused and you didn't get what you ordered. What happens next?
A manager will approach you and say something like:
" Excuse me, is everything alright? Oh ... I'm SO sorry to hear that. What can we do to make things better?"
That's right. The manager (sometimes even the owner) will emerge to address the issues head-on and go above and beyond to make things right. Take their lead when it comes to improving the reputation of your own business. An interactive company will get less negative reviews over the long haul as opposed to a business that just ignores all negative reviews.
How Do You Connect To Customers?
The very best way to get in touch with a dissatisfied customer is via the method they chose to leave the negative review. If they wrote a blog post, leave a comment or contact them via their contact page. If they left a negative review in your product reviews section, contact them via the email you have on file.
If you find that they are sharing bad things about you on social media, connect in that way. Social media, especially Twitter, is a great way to keep an eye on what's being said about you online.
How Can You Improve?
Another way to make the unhappy customer believe that their concern was truly dealt with is to ask how they believe you should improve the experience for other customers. This makes them think that they are a part of the process and that their experience won't be in vain.
