Whether you’ve been in business for decades or just getting on your feet, a negative review can be detrimental to the health of your organization. Although it may seem unrepairable, we’ve put together a game plan to turn these negative reviews into loyal customers.

1. Get on it - respond quickly! Time is crucial here.
• Not only will a prompt response reflect positively on you, it will prevent the situation from further escalation.
• Rule of thumb: respond within 24 hours!
2. Make your response professional and open.
• Negative reviews hurt, but deleting them or ignoring them will only make the upset customer even more disappointed.
• Even if you do not agree with the customer, stay calm while responding in a neutral manner that addresses their concerns. Reversing the blame will look poorly on you and could potentially lead to an argument or additional negative reviews.
• Yes, we all make mistakes but don’t hide behind them! Make your reply public. Let your audience know that you are willing to take responsibility for the problem while offering solutions to aide the negative experience.
3. Empathize with the author of the bad review
• Try to put yourself in their shoes. Remember the last time you had a bad experience? Whether it was shipping, packaging, payment glitch etc. - you were probably frustrated and upset.
• Make the customer feel appreciated. Make the customer feel valued. Make the customer’s opinions respected!
• Address the situation you put them in. Tell them how much you value their feedback! This lets them know that you are taking the complaint seriously.
4. Sincere apology
• An apology should be the main focus when crafting your reply. Essentially, every experience between you and a customer is your responsibility. It is your responsibility whether the feedback was positive or negative. Apologize for the situation and any inconvenience you may have caused.
• Most importantly, make your apology sincere!
5. Offer solutions
• Just as they took the time to write the review, you should take the time to address their concerns. Show them that you care!
• Although they are displeased, offer immediate solutions to aide the initial discomfort.
• For example - if a customer is complaining about a shipping delay, offer them free shipping on their next order while also issuing a refund on this order. If a customer is complaining about the quality of an item or a skewed description, issue a full refund and suggest alternative products. If a customer is not happy with the processing, waive all fees on future orders.
• Even if your “solution” did not directly fix the initial problem it put the customer at ease. If anything they are now more motivated to do business with you!
• The apology/solution is the perfect opportunity to gain their trust back. You can also take advantage of this opportunity to impressing your outside audience.
6. Be proactive
• Use negative reviews to your benefit. Look at them as constructive criticism. Negative reviews aren’t always a bad thing. One negative review can help you realize an area for improvement or even notice a problem you didn’t know existed!
• These reviews might hurt at first but are really a blessing in disguise.
7. Get more positive reviews
• Make it easier for your customers to leave reviews. Try putting a link in the confirmation email or politely ask them to leave a review on Facebook.
• The customers most likely to leave positive feedback are lifelong customers who are fans of the company. Shoot them an email asking for their thoughts on your services!

There you have it! In just 7 steps, you can successfully transform that angry reviewer into a loyal, repeat customer of your business.