How To Handle Negative Online Reviews 101

Let’s face it, digital media pretty much consumes our everyday life and even filters the ads, commercials, and other marketing efforts that we see online on a daily basis. Digital and social media is not only super easy to access, but it’s being used by a large majority of our population. There are over one billion users on Facebook alone. Just like with almost everything else however, the positive doesn’t come without the negative. One of the most difficult parts of working with digital and social media, is the dreaded negative online reviews.

Here’s your guide to the do’s and don’ts of handling negativity online and what you can do to prevent it, as told by a communications manager.

 1. Monitor all digital media daily

Most employers will tell you that being on your digital or social media throughout the workday is against the rules, but when you are running and operating multiple platforms for your business; this rule definitely doesn’t apply to you. Checking your social media several times throughout the day, and getting notifications to your cell phone will keep you in the loop with who is talking about your business, and why. You will never know when a problem arises, if you aren’t consistently monitoring all facets of your digital and social media. The first step in handling negative online reviews, is being aware the review exists.

2. Fully read and understand online reviews

As a business, your company relies on customers and clients to grow and build a positive reputation within the community. We all make mistakes, but how those mistakes are handled tells quite a bit about the company in which we work. Before responding to any type of negative review, you must read the complaint thoroughly and do your research as to why the client or customer is having the issue. What you find when doing your research, will then mold how your response to that individual should go.

3. Respond promptly

Negative online reviews are something that should be handled in an immediate manner. Letting this type of review sit without showing a response from your company, could sway other clients or customers away from doing business with you based on one bad review. You should always handle a negative review within hours of the original posting. If you’ve done your research like listed in the second tip, you should now know how to respond. If your company did in fact make an error, make sure you apologize to your reviewer with a respectful and polite response and give them outlets to reach out to your company offline to handle the complaint. Now, there is a limit in which a negative review can turn into a defamatory review. If this is the case, you will want to report that individual and have their review removed by the platform in which the review was placed. Remember, digital and social media are easily accessible so some negative reviews might not be relevant to your business.

4. Share the reviews with your team

If you find that the review is in fact an error on the company’s part, the next step should be sharing it with your team! Your team is the backbone to gaining success as a business, so when something goes wrong sharing it with your team will prevent the same mistakes in the future. If your team isn’t aware of the mistake that was made and how to fix it, there won’t be any preventative action for that specific mistake moving forward and the likelihood of another negative review could arise.

5. Encourage positive customer and client reviews

The best way to rebuttal negative reviews, are with positive ones. Reach out to customers and clients who you’ve had tons of success with in the past, and ask if they would be willing to write your company a positive review. Whether they love your new product, or you’ve found them a job that they’ve been working at for several years; you want those individuals to share their story! Your future customers and clientele are looking at your digital and social media platforms, so that positive review may just get your company that next big sale!

A negative review is not the end all be all of your company, but knowing how to handle it can actually change a negative viewpoint into a positive one. Just remember that complaints even when they happen online are better handled offline, and to make sure that your team is aware of any mistakes that were made on their end. You can’t ever truly prevent a negative review, but you can take preventative steps for handling them correctly.

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