How To Respond to Positive and Negative Online Reviews
93% of surveyed shoppers make buying decisions based on online reviews. That's a huge percentage! If you own a business, your reviews are vital to your success.
You may think that your exceptional products or services will earn only positive feedback - but neglecting to monitor your reviews is risky. In reality, knowing how to track and how to respond to online reviews is a must. One negative review can make a huge impact and harm your reputation.
Develop a proactive reputation-management plan in place so you're ready for both praise and criticism. Curious how? Read on to learn how to respond to all online reviews.
Why Is It Important to Respond to Reviews?
There are many reasons every business owner should be responding to both positive and negative reviews - even positive feedback deserves a reply!
Early on, acknowledging positive reviews highlights your responsiveness and customer care. Over time, addressing negative feedback demonstrates your commitment to improvement and builds trust.
Here are a few reasons why it's so important for business owners to respond to all online reviews.
It Improves and Solidifies Your Online Reputation
Your online reputation is everything - great products or services won't matter if customers see negative feedback. Public opinion drives purchase decisions and is a driving factor behind your success.
Let's say you're not paying a lot of attention to your reviews, and they're starting to lean negatively. Your star rating has gone down, potential buyers may think your business isn't reliable.
Responding to negative feedback shows you're committed to improvement and lets you address concerns. Even if there's nothing to fix, your reply shows transparency and care.
Replying to positive reviews lets customers know you value their input. Both practices strengthen your online reputation and reinforce your brand's credibility.
You'll Build Trust and Relationships
Part of owning a business is building relationships and trust with your customers. Responding to reviews (both negative and positive) is a great way to do that.
When you respond to someone upset with your products or services, you're showing them that you want to make it right (or at the very least, explain the situation). A thoughtful response can turn a frustrated customer into a loyal advocate and restore confidence in your brand.
You'll Give Yourself an Opportunity to Grow and Learn
Consider every online review a gift - negative feedback included - as each offers a chance to grow. They may feel like personal attacks (and in some rare cases, they may be), but they're valuable learning opportunities.
When you actively engage with a negative review, you're inviting customer feedback that can enhance your products or services. At the very least, you're learning an important lesson in politely and respectfully communicating with others.
Some Tips on How to Respond to Online Reviews
Responding to online reviews is challenging. There are infinite possible responses you can give, you need to craft thoughtful replies to make a positive impact.
Keep in mind you're the face of your brand. Your response will determine how customers see you, and it can influence whether they choose your business.
Here are a few helpful tips that can improve your responses to online reviews.
1. Respond Quickly
It's important to respond promptly - but thoughtfully - to every review. Letting negative feedback linger reduces your credibility and allows more viewers to have a bad impression.
Busy entrepreneurs can easily overlook reviews. Respond quickly, ideally within 24 - 48 hours - but don't rush into a careless reply. Take a brief amount of time to decide how you're going to respond. While you should respond quickly, don't let yourself be careless. Give yourself time to cool off (if the review was inflammatory) and decide what the best response would be.
Ignoring bad reviews won't make them disappear, especially if you don't have many reviews to start with. Even if you're feeling anxious, responding within a few days (if not a single day) is a good move. It demonstrates attentiveness and protects your reputation.
2. Learn From Your Reviews
When you get a review, try to take something from it. If the review is positive, identify what you're doing well and make a note to continue doing it (or even expand upon it).
If the review is negative, determine areas of improvement. Avoid assuming it's someone else's fault; evaluate the feedback objectively and identify what you can change to boost customer satisfaction.
3. Be Polite
Politeness is key when you're responding to online reviews, even to harsh or inappropriate comments. You need to stay as professional as possible and resist the urge to respond in a negative tone.
Your response is public, so it's best to take the high road. Doing so not only preserves your reputation but can also calm upset customers.
Often, people who leave negative reviews simply want to be heard, and responding with kindness diffuses conflict and opens the door for constructive communication.
Some brands can get away with "sass" in their responses, but this is a risky move, and the style must align with a well-defined brand voice and carefully crafted - not an impulsive remark.
4. Keep It Brief
For both positive and negative reviews, it's best to be brief (while still being thorough).
For positive reviews, a quick "thanks!" and perhaps a CTA of some sort (such as asking the customer to tell their friends or check your shop later for new products) is more than enough to make an impact. Most people don't expect responses to positive reviews at all, so you will stand out.
For negative reviews, you will need to go into more detail, but not too much. Make sure you address the problem, apologize, and give your customer steps to take.
It's often best to save the longer conversations for private messages or emails, so you don't draw too much attention to the review, but you still pay enough attention to the customer.
If you are defending your business against a troll comment, just offer enough information to clear the air. Remember that most people won't sit and read long comments, so keep public responses short and impactful.
5. If It's Negative: Make It Right
If someone leaves a legitimate negative review, you have the opportunity to win them back. How will you make it right?
Again, it's often best to take this conversation into private messages or emails to make sure you can tailor your solution to their needs.
Sometimes being heard is enough, and the customer won't want anything else. Telling them that you're going to make changes to ensure the problem never happens again can be comforting.
In other cases, you may want to offer a coupon, replacement item, or service (depending on what it is your business offers). While discounts, replacements, or "freebies" may seem costly, they're investments in reputation and customer loyalty - turning unhappy buyers into brand advocates.
6. Be Genuine and Empathetic
Customers value honesty and authenticity. While you should be professional in all of your responses, let your genuine voice come through. Many customers respond negatively to overly "corporate" replies, because they seem insincere.
By having authentic, empathetic responses, you form stronger connections and gain their trust.
Why Responding to Online Reviews is Essential for Your Business
Learning how to respond to online reviews takes practice - it's a trial-and-error process. As you progress, you'll discover the best ways to communicate with both happy and unhappy customers while maintaining your professionalism, reputation, and brand image.
Are you in need of a reputation management strategy? We want to help. Learn more about our services so we can start working together today.
You may think that your exceptional products or services will earn only positive feedback - but neglecting to monitor your reviews is risky. In reality, knowing how to track and how to respond to online reviews is a must. One negative review can make a huge impact and harm your reputation.
Develop a proactive reputation-management plan in place so you're ready for both praise and criticism. Curious how? Read on to learn how to respond to all online reviews.
Why Is It Important to Respond to Reviews?
There are many reasons every business owner should be responding to both positive and negative reviews - even positive feedback deserves a reply!
Early on, acknowledging positive reviews highlights your responsiveness and customer care. Over time, addressing negative feedback demonstrates your commitment to improvement and builds trust.
Here are a few reasons why it's so important for business owners to respond to all online reviews.
It Improves and Solidifies Your Online Reputation
Your online reputation is everything - great products or services won't matter if customers see negative feedback. Public opinion drives purchase decisions and is a driving factor behind your success.
Let's say you're not paying a lot of attention to your reviews, and they're starting to lean negatively. Your star rating has gone down, potential buyers may think your business isn't reliable.
Responding to negative feedback shows you're committed to improvement and lets you address concerns. Even if there's nothing to fix, your reply shows transparency and care.
Replying to positive reviews lets customers know you value their input. Both practices strengthen your online reputation and reinforce your brand's credibility.
You'll Build Trust and Relationships
Part of owning a business is building relationships and trust with your customers. Responding to reviews (both negative and positive) is a great way to do that.
When you respond to someone upset with your products or services, you're showing them that you want to make it right (or at the very least, explain the situation). A thoughtful response can turn a frustrated customer into a loyal advocate and restore confidence in your brand.
You'll Give Yourself an Opportunity to Grow and Learn
Consider every online review a gift - negative feedback included - as each offers a chance to grow. They may feel like personal attacks (and in some rare cases, they may be), but they're valuable learning opportunities.
When you actively engage with a negative review, you're inviting customer feedback that can enhance your products or services. At the very least, you're learning an important lesson in politely and respectfully communicating with others.
Some Tips on How to Respond to Online Reviews
Responding to online reviews is challenging. There are infinite possible responses you can give, you need to craft thoughtful replies to make a positive impact.
Keep in mind you're the face of your brand. Your response will determine how customers see you, and it can influence whether they choose your business.
Here are a few helpful tips that can improve your responses to online reviews.
1. Respond Quickly
It's important to respond promptly - but thoughtfully - to every review. Letting negative feedback linger reduces your credibility and allows more viewers to have a bad impression.
Busy entrepreneurs can easily overlook reviews. Respond quickly, ideally within 24 - 48 hours - but don't rush into a careless reply. Take a brief amount of time to decide how you're going to respond. While you should respond quickly, don't let yourself be careless. Give yourself time to cool off (if the review was inflammatory) and decide what the best response would be.
Ignoring bad reviews won't make them disappear, especially if you don't have many reviews to start with. Even if you're feeling anxious, responding within a few days (if not a single day) is a good move. It demonstrates attentiveness and protects your reputation.
2. Learn From Your Reviews
When you get a review, try to take something from it. If the review is positive, identify what you're doing well and make a note to continue doing it (or even expand upon it).
If the review is negative, determine areas of improvement. Avoid assuming it's someone else's fault; evaluate the feedback objectively and identify what you can change to boost customer satisfaction.
3. Be Polite
Politeness is key when you're responding to online reviews, even to harsh or inappropriate comments. You need to stay as professional as possible and resist the urge to respond in a negative tone.
Your response is public, so it's best to take the high road. Doing so not only preserves your reputation but can also calm upset customers.
Often, people who leave negative reviews simply want to be heard, and responding with kindness diffuses conflict and opens the door for constructive communication.
Some brands can get away with "sass" in their responses, but this is a risky move, and the style must align with a well-defined brand voice and carefully crafted - not an impulsive remark.
4. Keep It Brief
For both positive and negative reviews, it's best to be brief (while still being thorough).
For positive reviews, a quick "thanks!" and perhaps a CTA of some sort (such as asking the customer to tell their friends or check your shop later for new products) is more than enough to make an impact. Most people don't expect responses to positive reviews at all, so you will stand out.
For negative reviews, you will need to go into more detail, but not too much. Make sure you address the problem, apologize, and give your customer steps to take.
It's often best to save the longer conversations for private messages or emails, so you don't draw too much attention to the review, but you still pay enough attention to the customer.
If you are defending your business against a troll comment, just offer enough information to clear the air. Remember that most people won't sit and read long comments, so keep public responses short and impactful.
5. If It's Negative: Make It Right
If someone leaves a legitimate negative review, you have the opportunity to win them back. How will you make it right?
Again, it's often best to take this conversation into private messages or emails to make sure you can tailor your solution to their needs.
Sometimes being heard is enough, and the customer won't want anything else. Telling them that you're going to make changes to ensure the problem never happens again can be comforting.
In other cases, you may want to offer a coupon, replacement item, or service (depending on what it is your business offers). While discounts, replacements, or "freebies" may seem costly, they're investments in reputation and customer loyalty - turning unhappy buyers into brand advocates.
6. Be Genuine and Empathetic
Customers value honesty and authenticity. While you should be professional in all of your responses, let your genuine voice come through. Many customers respond negatively to overly "corporate" replies, because they seem insincere.
By having authentic, empathetic responses, you form stronger connections and gain their trust.
Why Responding to Online Reviews is Essential for Your Business
Learning how to respond to online reviews takes practice - it's a trial-and-error process. As you progress, you'll discover the best ways to communicate with both happy and unhappy customers while maintaining your professionalism, reputation, and brand image.
Are you in need of a reputation management strategy? We want to help. Learn more about our services so we can start working together today.