A customer’s review has the power to make or break a business. Positive ones can push more customers your way but negative customer feedback can do major damage to your business if not addressed properly. According to Statista, 92 percent of consumers is less likely to use a service or trust a business with negative reviews. That’s how powerful it is.

However, no business can scape negative feedback. It can be caused by accidental circumstances or unintentional errors, which is inevitable for humans, machines, and even technology. But on another angle, reviews, even negative ones can be an opportunity to better establish and strengthen your brand. If you take ownership and address the complaint in the right way, your business can come back stronger than ever. Here’s what you can do to come back after a negative customer review.

Respond Quickly

First, respond as quickly as possible to a customer review. Whether online, public or private, a negative review should be addressed immediately and your customer should know you value their honest opinion. Keeping customers hanging and making them wait can aggravate their negative feelings and escalate the situation further.

Always respond to a negative review, even if you disagree with it or feel it is someone attempting to cause harm unprovoked. Responding faster to customer complaints give businesses a higher chance of turning an angry customer into a loyal one. Make your customer feel seen or heard right away. Keep it professional and always let them know that you respect their opinion.

Take Responsibility

Take responsibility for the negative outcomes of your business and apologize to the customer or all customers if necessary. Denying or brushing off their claims will not do your business any good.

Making excuses will not save you either. The best way to go is to be accountable and to address things professionally.

If appropriate, consider putting out a PR statement apologizing for the issue and explaining what you are doing to address it. Be specific in how you are addressing the problem and do not beat around the bush. Express how you would take action against their reported errors and make sure that this will be carried out in the future.

Protect Your Staff

Your staff may make mistakes at times and this is part of the business. What’s important is that your staff knows the company has their back and will go to bat for them when necessary. Be fair and listen to your employees if they have explanations regarding the negative feedback a customer gave. Do not take your staff to tasks in front of the customers, instead talk to them in private.

If an employee makes continuous mistakes or does something with bad intent, obviously that’s another issue. Offer training and feedback reviews for your team to help prevent such instances from happening.

Listen and Address

The act as simple as listening to your customers can propel your business to grow. Whether it’s positive or negative, or even if they are angry, upset or disappointed, listen. Be attentive to what is being said and address the issue on point. If needed, ask for more information about the negative review or reach out to other customers to get their feedback. You can also thank the customers for raising their concerns and for providing feedback.

Try to understand their sentiments and ask more about the key points that need to be addressed. For example, if they mentioned bad service, ask what part of your services need improvement, like speed, and quality. If they have negative reviews about your product, you can ask them what part of the product disappointed them, as packaging, price and materials used. Offering a logical yet simple explanation can help. If an investigation is needed to document their claims, let them know and provide updates. You can also offer a replacement, discounts and alternative compensation when you can.

Additionally, it is important to note that prevention is always better than cure. Offer your own team regular opportunities to provide feedback as well. This will help weed out issues early on and avoid negative reviews.

Improve Processes

After a negative customer review, coming back with better customer service than ever can be your best resolution. Whatever the cause of the negative feedback you received, a holistic approach to improving your customer service can help you garner positive feedback that can outdo negative ones.

Automate processes and invest in creating a stellar customer service operation that delivers a smooth journey to customers. Consider using agile project management methods to handle all customer communications more efficiently and organize customer data for optimal use. Such tools can also help you respond faster to concerns and document feedback for future references.

 Don't Let Negative Reviews Bring You Down
Feedback means you have customers and they care about your business, one way or another. Whether positive or negative, appreciate these reviews and the customers that provide them. Take the negative feedback as constructive criticism and use it as an opportunity to know where you can improve your business. This way, you’ll come back stronger, able to deliver the best products and services to all your customers in the future.