Anyone who wants their business to thrive knows that providing excellent customer service is essential. However, no matter how well you treat your customers or how much you care about resolving any problems they may have had while doing business with you, there’s still a chance that you’ll get a dissatisfied customer from time to time.
The reasons for their dissatisfaction may not even be entirely your fault. For example, a customer may not have read the terms of a promotional offer and was unhappy to find out they didn’t qualify for it.
Before the rise in popularity of social media, dissatisfied customers would mainly share their opinions only with people they knew personally. Some might have posted about their experience on a personal blog or some obscure discussion forum, where they might be seen by a few dozen people at best.
In today’s world, anyone can leave their comments about a business on Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp and many other online resources, such as business directories or specialized review sites. There is no limit to how many people will see these reviews.
Reviews on Google My Business are especially important, as they show up immediately whenever someone uses the world’s most popular search engine to look up a company. Understandably, this has led to many business owners wondering if there’s a way to remove bad reviews about them from Google’s service. Unfortunately, having a review removed is almost impossible. The only times Google will remove reviews is if you can prove that it was left by a competitor trying to damage your reputation or if the content of the review breaches their terms of service by including prohibited content like threats of violence or an individual’s personal information. You can read more about Google’s policies for removing reviews here.
While you can’t have bad reviews disappear, you can leave a rebuttal that will be featured right below the review. This allows you to explain your side of things and can reduce the impact a bad review has. Avoid being too confrontational, even if the customer was at fault. Instead, show that you’re sorry that they had a bad experience, underscore your commitment to quality service and invite the customer to get in touch with you to resolve the issue, if applicable. To anyone reading the reviews, this will show that you take complaints seriously and are willing to make things right if something goes wrong.
If you’ve discussed the issue with the dissatisfied customer and were able to make them happy with your business again, encourage them to leave an updated review. While reviews on Google can’t be edited after they’ve been posted, users can add an update later on. This update lets everyone know that you and your customer were able to resolve the problem in a way that left everyone happy.
Another way to reduce the negative effects a bad review can have on your business is to have lots of positive ones. Encourage your satisfied customers to share their positive experience by giving you a positive review on Google. This will show anyone who looks up your company that the majority of your customers were happy with the experience they’ve had with you. Consumers understand that it’s hard for a business to please everyone and that even the most reputable companies may get a few dissatisfied customers who end up leaving negative reviews. When most comments about you are positive, it shows that dissatisfaction among your customers is an exception and not the rule. By using whyilike, many businesses have been able to balance negative reviews with positive reviews.
Keeping an eye on reviews posted about your business is a very important part of maintaining your overall online reputation. A potential customer who would have otherwise visited your website and made a purchase right away may instead decide to go with a competitor if they’re concerned about a bad review they saw. Having a large amount of positive reviews and responding appropriately to the any negative ones can have a huge impact on the future of your business.
