Before you respond to any negative reviews, take a deep breath. It’s important to approach negative reviews in a calm and rational manner. No one likes receiving criticism. But whether or not the criticism is true, your business needs to respond in a way that protects your reputation.

Apologizing to the customer

When responding to a negative customer review, start off by apologizing for the issue. It’s important that you sympathize with the customer and acknowledge the challenges that they faced at your business. For example, a response might begin with the following statement: “We sincerely apologize for the issues that you experienced.” Taking ownership for an issue shows that you take the customer’s concerns seriously.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to apologize for an issue that your company isn’t fully responsible for. While there are certainly times when it’s appropriate to be politely defensive about an issue, it’s never okay to fight with customers or get personal. Even if the criticism is unfounded, your response should always maintain a high level of professionalism and respect.

Making things right with the customer

After apologizing for an issue, your response should demonstrate why this issue won’t happen again in the future. Customers need to know that their issues and concerns are the exception, not the rule, at your business. For example, a response might include the following: “We hold our team to the highest standards and regret that we didn’t meet those expectations.”  By highlighting company values, the response shows that the issue is not representative of the business.

A good response might also tell the reviewer that you have shared their feedback with your company or team. For example, the response could say the following: “We regret that your experience did not meet your expectations and have shared your feedback with our team.”

Again, this tactic shows that you take the customer’s concerns seriously and are taking action to improve the situation.

Continuing the conversation offline

The final thing you should do when responding to a negative review is offer to continue the conversation offline. The comments section isn’t the most appropriate place to communicate with customers, and some conversations simply aren’t meant to be conducted in public. Provide the customer with contact information (phone or email) to connect with a member of your team. A response could end with the following: “We invite you to contact [contact_name] at [contact info] to discuss your experience in more detail.”

Every review is different, and each solution won‘t look same. Still, it‘s important to directly address the issue that motivated a negative review from a customer. In other words, don‘t just pay lip service. Discuss the issue with your staff or fix the problem for the customer. Negative reviews can provide valuable feedback to improve your business.

Tip: When responding to negative reviews, never mention your business name or other keywords associated with your company. Doing so will help keep negative reviews out of your company’s search results.

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