You’ve closed the sale, got the money, and now you’re feeling like a winner.

Until you receive one angry email coupled with a one-star review. You don’t understand what went wrong: you have the amazing product, the best live customer service, and a marketing campaign to boot.

Don’t ignore the review just yet, here’s how to nip negative reviews in the bud and flourish from the experience.

Because every phoenix rises from the ashes right?

Why Should You Respond to a Negative Review?

By responding to a review, you aren’t only handling the person at hand. You’re responding to all your potential customers.

If anything your potential customers are looking heavily at your reviews to protect themselves!

It shows that you’re not shady and good at handling feedback by publicly responding to negative reviews. And also it shows that you can effectively deal with mishaps in customer service.

Overall, handling a negative review increases your customer engagement all around. You show that you’re willing to deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

Smart Tip:
With Xeno, you can respond instantly to the reviews your customers write about your business on social media, without even having to log in to your social network.

Understanding What Happened

The customer trusted you… and to them you failed.

Read between the lines of the review to understand what happened. Some examples may include:

“The product didn’t reach my standards/low quality”

Respond to this complaint by making the customer feel special… Attempt to get them on a personal call, email them back promptly, offer a free service or product promo.

And above all ask them how can you fix the situation. Communication is key in everything especially in customer service.

“Never responds to emails/posts. I’ve been left in the dark.”

It happens easily when you’re a growing brand but you can’t afford to forget the customers that fuel your business.

Focus more on increasing customer engagement on all your company’s platforms. You could have the best product in the world but making the customer feel special always takes top priority in their minds.

Kick it Off-line

While you make sure to address the complaint publicly for your onlookers, you’ll need to get at least the phone number or email of the person who had the complaint.

This goes back to making the customer feel special and not seem like you’re trying to cover your own reputation. A lot of business owners focus on the front end of customer acquisition but maintaining your customer relationships is how you build a solid brand to endure for years.

Remember: Nobody’s Perfect

Take a deep breath and count to 10 before drafting your reply. It’s hard to run a business and you’ll face some bad reviews for years to come.

And there’s nothing to control that!

But what you can control is the response to them… it’s a marker that’s far more telling than any review. So keep your spirits high and the energy will transmit to your entire business.