Is your page getting negative reviews? Do you want to learn how to handle them best?
Most consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This behavior also applies to consumers in other age groups to some degree. That means that customer reviews have a big impact on your brand now and especially in the Home Services Industry.
In this guide, we’ll teach you how to handle negative reviews and turn them into something positive. Keep reading to learn how to make the best out of negative reviews on your Google Business page, social media profiles, or website.
1. Use It as a Customer Service Tool
Before anything, you have to look at negative reviews as an advantage to your business. They’re there to help improve your work and services. You can also use them to show that you have a solid customer service presence.
Respond with professionalism and courtesy on the platform, be it on social media or your website. As a business owner, thank them for taking the time to let them know about the issue. Then, move forward to addressing their issue and what they can expect from you.
2. Build a Reputation Management Process
When you put something out there, you have to be ready to receive negative comments about it. That’s the nature of the internet. Expect that someone will always have something negative to say about your work.
That is why you need a plan to know what they’re saying and how to reduce its effect on your reputation. Approach it as you do with customer service calls. Be courteous, build on the positives, and be delicate with the negative comments.
3. Provide Additional Information That Could Be Helpful
A good strategy for using negative reviews positively is to offer helpful information.
Try to offer troubleshooting procedures for reviewers and future readers of that review. For example, a client leaves a scathing review about the ineffectiveness of a product. You can tell them where they may have made a mistake during the setup process or usage of it.
Same goes for a complaint on the service provided, maybe they misunderstood what exactly was included in the service call that they paid for. Clarifying the deliverables can sometimes clear up any confusion that initially led them to believe they didn’t get what they bargained for.
Remember that some people don’t bother reading the product manuals or instructions. Leaving a helpful reply can also save others from having to leave similar reviews when they read it.
4. Implement the Feedback by Improving Your Products and Services
When you hear a lot of people criticize your product in the same way, it may be time to listen. For example, you get a lot of reviews about the same issues with your appointment scheduling process. Try to fix these issues that you hear a lot about from different people.
Lending your clients your ear and doing something about their complaints is a smart move. It doesn’t only improve your product or services. It also shows to your customers that you care about them and that you listen to what they have to say.
5. Build Trust With Your Customers
Trust is vital in gaining a customer base, especially in the home services industry. Customer experience is one of the most powerful builders of trust in customers. A survey found that 98% of business owners say that customer experience is vital in building loyalty.
With every action you take, you have a chance to earn loyalty and build trust. In handling negative reviews, you can build trust by listening and reacting a certain way. Customers will trust a business that focuses on customer experience and shows it.
6. Resolve Issues Before They Escalate
An apology and a promise won’t be enough to please your customers. You also have to recognize the issue and create a solution for it. Otherwise, you risk losing the trust that you worked hard to build.
Rather than sweeping a problem under the rug, attack it head-on and try to solve it as soon as you can. Your customers will know if you listened to their problems and did something about it. When they do, their trust in your company will magnify.
7. Acquire New and Positive Reviews With Paid Ads
Another way to increase the ratio of positive reviews to negative is to gain more reviews. Starting a paid ad campaign helps you out a lot here. Don’t forget to advertise the changes you made to combat negative impressions.
Paid advertising is more effective since it gives you more control over your messages. You get to choose who sees it and when. Because you get a more targeted audience, you’ll get faster results as well as success.
If setting up a paid advertising campaign sounds overwhelming, you can always partner up with a marketing agency like Optic Marketing Group who specializes in full-service marketing campaigns for HVAC businesses looking to generate more reviews.
8. Rebuild the Customer Relationship
Some customers may feel that your connection got cut when they leave a negative review. This doesn’t have to be true from your perspective. You have to show them the same perspective as well, that your relationship isn’t broken.
It may be a little strained, especially after they lost trust in your brand’s quality, but not broken.
To repair it, you can offer to fix the error for free or offer discounts on the next purchases. Be transparent and give customers the information they need to make informed decisions. You can also ask for feedback to show them that you are willing to listen to other things they may say.
9. Ask for a Review Change After Fixing the Issue
This is a bold step, and often one you’d take if you’re confident in your customer service. Don’t be afraid to ask that a customer edit their reviews on your website or Google Business page after you fix an issue. If they liked how you handled and helped solve their problems, many will oblige.
Others may even mention how accommodating and patient you’ve been with them. When other clients see reviews with edits like this, your brand will look more attractive. They’ll take it as a sign that you had handled the situation well.
10. Attract New Prospects
The last thing you can do in learning how to respond to negative reviews is to look for new prospects. You can do this by investing more in your advertising game. Try to attract prospective clients who may leave positive reviews instead.
Transform Negative Reviews Into Something Positive
Those are the ten things you can do to make good business from negative reviews. We hope you realize how impactful a negative review-turned-positive has on a brand. We also hope you learned something useful from this guide.
As a business owner, you know just how important having positive reviews are and how detrimental negative reviews can be. That is why reputation management is one of the most common services that we provide to our clients included in their full-service marketing strategy.
At Optic Marketing Group, we specialize in HVAC marketing, so we know how much reviews impact local, service-based businesses. If you need help on how to get more reviews for your business or on how to handle negative reviews, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.