How to Respond to Positive and Negative Reviews: Templates from Topface Media Agency

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In this article we will show you how to respond to positive and negative reviews and why it is essential for your business.

Why is it important to reply to reviews online?

Reviews are a great way to get feedback about your company. They help you identify weaknesses and highlight strengths while offering a picture of customer perceptions of your brand.

Here are some statistics:

90% of consumers look for company information online. Of these, 33% browse review sites and company directories
82% of users trust other people's reviews;
53% make purchases only from companies with a rating of at least 4 stars;
53% of consumers expect the company to reply to their comments within a few days. Without a prompt response, their confidence in your business falls and so does your profit.

Your response increases audience loyalty and gets feedback on the quality of your work. This process requires consistent attention and thorough monitoring of social networks, forums, company directories, and other similar sites where people can leave reviews and feedback.

How to respond to negative reviews?

A prompt, polite response to all reviews keeps your business looking professional and shows you can take criticism. Don't fight with the customer or negative comments or make personal attacks as that will only aggravate the situation.

Even one negative review can take the good reputation of the brand. More often than not, having poor reviews scares consumers away and they turn to other companies.

Do not ignore comments that are obviously fake or untrue. Instead, ask the author clarifying questions. If you don't get a response, you have grounds to request a site take down reviews like this as defamatory. You may discover that a competitor has made an effort to spoil the image of your business, and responding appropriately can prevent damage to your reputation.

Remember that any reviews about you left on networking sites, public forums, and review sites are accessible to thousands of readers, including potential clients. A prompt, polite response to all reviews keeps your business looking professional and shows you can take criticism. Don't fight with the customer or negative comments or make personal attacks as that will only aggravate the situation.

We recommend you develop scripts in advance to resolve the conflicts that result in bad reviews of your business. A professional community manager is invaluable in this process.

Don't reply with a form response

An impersonal, copy-and-paste answer will just frustrate a dissatisfied customer more. Below are our recommendations for how to respond to negative reviews.

Address the customer by name

Avoid general wording such as "Dear Customer" when responding to frustrated posts. Consumers love it when they are contacted in person.
Initiate a dialogue

Ask the client for a personal meeting or phone call to resolve the conflict. This will help to solve the issue more quickly than correspondence: "Please leave your contact information or use the callback form on our site so we can discuss the current situation."
Thank them for their feedback

Make the person feel that their opinion is very valuable to you, even if it is negative: "Thanks for the feedback. Your opinion is very important to us. We will try to correct this issue in the future."
Use the second chance

Write that you are ready to correct your mistakes and improve the quality of service. Your business will be better off if a dissatisfied customer contacts you again. It's a good way of responding to negative reviews online and demonstrates your customer focus.
Apologize

This is the best way to reply to poor reviews and set up a better interaction. Admit your mistakes, even if your guilt was minimal. Most often, after an apology from an official representative of the company, the customer is more likely to compromise: "We're sorry for your experience and want to discuss compensation options"
Do not overdo it

Take time to compose a response with apologies and flattering wording, but don't "lay it on" with repeated phrases. It is enough to start the post with a greeting and apologize for any inconvenience or defective goods.

Another common mistake that spoils the reputation of the business when responding to bad reviews is not proposing to solve the issue. Don't wait for a person to say what you need to do. Offer a refund for the goods or provide a service for free.

How to react to a bad comment online? Examples.

example of an answer negative feedback from a Honda official dealer

This response came from the official representative of the dealer

Consider how to respond to negative online reviews constructively and protect the reputation of your business.

Ask the person to use your services again.

Offer a discount, free shipping, or some other bonus. In this instance, after receiving a response from the company, the customer changed the poor rating to 4 stars.

example of how user's negative review changes into the 4-star rating after owner's answer

If you answer bad customer feedback or reviews on online media, you can choose a more informal style of communication. The main thing is for your response not to be over the top but appropriate to the situation.

How and why should I reply to a positive review?

The presence of positive posts help increase your rank in search engines, especially with local queries. For Google, the availability of reviews is important, but so is their frequency.

Do not ignore any good feedback from a customer. People who leave feedback want to be heard and acknowledged by company representatives.

Responding to comments during the day is best. If they feel ignored, customers will eventually stop writing positive reviews about you.

The presence of positive posts help increase your rank in search engines, especially with local queries. For Google, the availability of reviews is important, but so is their frequency.

When your customer receives a response to their post, they're encouraged to post more reviews about your business on different sites.

When compiling a response to a customer, we recommend using this method:

1

Thank the person

Take time to personalize the response so it doesn't look too "dry". Always address the customer by name or username. Add a little specificity, such as thanking them for choosing this particular product.
2

Increase brand awareness

Try to use your business name and other keywords. This will help positive reviews appear first in search results. You may say something like: "Our team at (company name) is very glad that you were satisfied. Thank you for your feedback and appreciation!"
3

Carefully advertise your other products when replying

If appropriate, you can recommend products. For instance, "Thanks for the tip. NN foundation is really our pride, and we recently expanded the range to include a concealer. In addition to great coverage, it copes with dry skin perfectly. These two remedies are a great combo." Your statements should look like a recommendation or personal advice, not an open attempt to sell.
4

Motivate the customer to contact you again

You can offer a discount on the next order or make another deal for future reviews. A response like this helps turn your audience into permanent clients and can cultivate future brand advocates, opening valuable marketing opportunities.
5

Adhere to the client's tone

Reviews full of enthusiasm warrant a more detailed response than a short "Thank you!". In some cases, even slang is appropriate if your target audience matches this tone of voice.

How to get more positive feedback?

The key to a strong brand reputation is a sufficiently large number of good reviews. To get them, build trusting relationships with your audience and motivate customers to make comments about you online.

There are 3 main ways to get more positive reviews:

Just ask. Banal advice, but for some reason many companies don't do this! Requests can be issued by e-mail or private messages on networks. Use the channels through which you engage with your audience.

Offer a small bonus in the form of a discount on the next purchase or free delivery in exchange for the comment.

Contact a reputable agency. Specialists will develop a strategy for receiving new reviews. Agencies already have a database of upgraded accounts for sowing positive posts with complete profiles subscriber lists. If necessary, new accounts are created specifically for the project to post on online networks, natively marketing the brand.

Topface Media agency will help build trusting relationships with your audience, handle poor ratings and resolve conflict situations.

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Read more about how to get a constant influx of fresh reviews in here.

Conclusion

To maintain a great online reputation, you need to reply promptly to all reviews and brand mentions.

Always answer each customer politely and correctly, and specify more details to identify fake posts. Offer a solution to the issue, such as a refund or replacement of goods. Work through each response to the good comments individually so they don't look standard. Show that the opinion of your customers is important to you and you value them.

Seek help from professionals. A reputational agency will help build trusting relationships with your audience, handle poor ratings and resolve conflict situations. They will also develop a strategy to enhance your positive online reputation.