You’ve worked hard to build your brand. From the early days of starting your own company all the way to the present, there has been a lot of effort and hard work that has gone into making your company what it is today. When we receive positive feedback on your company’s social media posts it feels like all the hard work has paid off and we feel accomplished for making our customers satisfied. However, it is not always all positive comments and we are unfortunately bound to have a few negative comments and reviews on social media here and there. While some of these can be as small as a less than stellar review, some can be downright nasty and really harm your brand’s image and reputation. These negative comments and reviews can also discourage you and make you frustrated as a business owner. While getting these negative comments can feel like the end of the world, there are a few things you can do to make the best of this situation and reduce the damage done through reputation management. By utilizing best public relations practices with your response you can make the best approach to this situation for your business. 
One of the worst things that you can do with a negative comment is to leave it be and completely ignore it. By doing this it will allow other customers to see that you have a negative comment/review and have done nothing to address it. This may make the customer perceive that you do not care about your customers which can be detrimental to your company or brand. All comments regardless of positivity or negativity should be addressed for the best public relations practices as well as for your brand’s reputation management and image. Replying to every comment also shows that you are willing to take the time and talk to customers about their experience and that you care about how their experience was. No matter how negative the review is, addressing the situation and offering an apology or a solution to the problem will show that you have made the effort to correct a mistake.
Oftentimes we are more likely to leave a negative review instead of a positive review. This is because we expect good service at all times and often don’t express gratitude or appreciation with good service because we are used to it. However, when we receive bad service we feel emotions such as anger and frustration which leads us to express these emotions as we feel we have been wronged and don’t want other people to have an experience similar to ours. With this being said negative reviews are inevitable because we can’t always offer a perfect experience for all customers. Customers also have a different idea of good customer service depending on the person. While some people may view a mistake as a simple human error and be very forgiving, some customers will consider this an insult and be very upset with your company. How you address these negative reviews is oftentimes how your customers will view and speak about your brand.
While there are many wrong ways to address negative reviews, there are a few correct ways to do this properly. The first is to remove any negative emotions such as anger or frustration before replying. Using negative emotions to combat a negative comment will only worsen the situation and can make your company look unempathetic and unprofessional when dealing with customers. When replying make sure that your reply is sincere. Offer an apology while stating your company’s values and offer a way to fix this problem the customer experienced and offer a solution to make up for this bad experience.
However, don’t offer any promises that you can’t keep or afford. For example, if someone left a bad review at a clothing store that you own because the product was ripped or of low quality, you don’t want to offer them free clothing items for a year. This will not only be costly but will encourage more bad reviews so that customers can take advantage of your free clothing offer. Instead, offer a solution that works for both you and the customer. The best way to do this is by asking them to call or email you to tell you why they had a bad experience. That way you can hear the whole story as well as find the best solution to hopefully turn a negative experience into a positive one. This also takes the negative experience out of the open and limits the exposure it has on social media which can help your company’s image and customer service.
With your business, you want to highlight and spotlight your positive reviews while addressing your negative reviews by using a personal approach to fix them to show the customer that you care and want them to have a positive experience with your company. If you need help in reputation management or repairing it on social media, give us a call at 321-255-0900 or email us at info@theadleaf.com to schedule your reputation management consultation.
