We’ve all received a bad review and agonized over both the contents of it and how to control its damage. But online customer complaints don’t have to be bad news for your business. A lot of times, as long as they’re handled right, negative reviews can turn out to be really helpful to your reputation.
Here are some ways your business can benefit from bad reviews.
They give your good reviews credibility. Customers get suspicious when they only see 5 stars on your business page. Wouldn’t you be, as well? 1-star rating can allay that suspicion and give more credit to the 5-star ones you have. It shows your audience that the business is real and so are its reviews.
They help qualify prospects. As Morticia Addams once eloquently put it, “What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” The things one reviewer finds negative about your brand might be something that will fit right in to what another prospect is looking for. For instance, a restaurant that is too boisterous for one diner might be exactly what a potential customer wants for a dinner party. A book that had overly detailed descriptions of a landscape might be something other readers preferred in their stories.
Also, the way you deal with the negative reviews – professionally and efficiently – will impress prospects as well as foster loyalty in your current customers.
They give you pointers for improvement. As was mentioned repeatedly in previous posts, just because negative things were said about you doesn’t mean the details on those negative things are not valid. You can’t just stomp “That’s not fair!” and pretend the complaints don’t exist. You need to see if they are part of a pattern or just an isolated incident. Either way, your business can use the insight the bad reviews provide.
There will still be haters and trolls, of course. But majority of complaints are actual complaints and can be a good opportunity for your brand to showcase competent customer service and convince disgruntled clients to give you another shot.
shunikerhiqu 