You’ve received a negative online review. Worse yet a fake review (a topic we’ll tackle in another posting) . Now what? What should you do? Respond to it? Ignore it? Fight fire with fire? Close up shop? The correct answer is you respond. You can’t make everybody happy. Stuff happens. It’s how you handle it that truly matters.

The approach to responding to a negative online review can be summed up as follows:

1. Don’t Panic — Fans of author Douglas Adam’s satirical space jaunt, “The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy”, will no doubt recognize these iconic words. Words so important that they are displayed boldly on the cover of the THGTG. Keeping a cool head and thinking rationally are integral to dealing with negative reviews. Don’t respond when you’re flustered or angry. You’ll definitely regret it.
2. Acknowledge & Respond — Take responsibility. Own up to the mistake, design defect, lack of performance, poor customer service etc. It’s your product. It’s your company (or the company you work for). You are expected to stand behind it. Phrases like “Thanks for your review and reaching out to us with your concerns.” are a good example. Remember to speak in your own voice as well. Copying and pasting a response you found on the Internet maybe be easy but come off as insincere. Nobody wants to receive a “Dear Dissatisfied Customer” response.
3. Apologize — Love may mean never having to say you’re sorry. This ain’t love. When people feel wronged, disappointed, or not have their expectations met, they expect an apology. Keep in mind “the customer is always right” Wink. Wink. If need be, fall on your sword and apologize. That will help appease the customer and show a level of empathy on your part.
4. Explain What Happened — In my mind, this is optional. If you feel an explanation as to the cause of the problem will help resolve the situation, then by all means. However, be forewarned. A lot of customers will not care that the reason there are holes in the fry pot of their fryer is that it’s really hard to get good quality welding rods these days and Wally the Welder was sick Blah Blah Blah. Customers just want the problem addressed and fixed.
5. Respond Promptly — The old adage “Speed Kills” is generally used in the context of cars, boats, or drugs. In the world of online review responses, the lack of the speed kills. 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. Regularly check review sites and where there is a review, answer it within seven days. The quicker you respond, the better.
6. Take Action — Talk is cheap. Nobody wants lip service. Taking action can come in many forms. It can range from facilitating the return of the piece of equipment, offering a discount on their next purchase (if appropriate), arranging for, and paying for repairs etc. Important thing is that you do something to correct or deescalate the situation.
7. Humanize — Putting a name, title, address, and phone number at the end of the response again goes a long way to assuaging the customer. It’s more reassuring to the customer knowing that there is an actual person dealing with their problem as opposed to a computer.

Nobody’s perfect. Nobody really expects you to be perfect (See Do You Review? for our discussion on that topic). Stuff happens. It’s how you deal with it that truly matters. But remember, what ever you do, Don’t Panic.

Mathew Mandeltort
Co-Founder
ChefWorthy
www.chefworthy.pro

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