Believe it or not, the same premise applies to bad review responses as it does to good reviews. How you respond to a bad review impacts not only the reviewer, but all the sets of eyes that come later. Seeing a business handle a particularly difficult review online suggests that management is proud of their business, and willing to go above and beyond to preserve their reputation!

Make potential customers see the light with these four steps: apologize, promote, get offline, keep it simple.

How to reply to unfavorable reviews

1. Apologize and sympathize

The first step towards resolving a problem is acknowledging that one occurred. Regardless of what happened, a simple apology and sympathy for your customer's experience goes a long way.

2. Promote

So the famous crab cakes weren't up to par the day this specific customer visited. If they're what you are known for, why not reiterate that? "Our crab cakes are usually a hit, we're sorry to hear that they weren't up to par when you visited!"

3. Move the discussion offline

Don't open a can of worms. Keep the lid on tight by offering the reviewer the opportunity to reach out by phone, email or both.

4. Keep it simple

Avoid specifics and do not ask questions. Those conversations are far better served in a space away from the prying public.

One last professional tip: leave your business name, location and category out of this. You do not want your negative reviews appearing in search!

Now that wasn't so bad, was it? You can utilize software to pull your reviews from across the internet so you can reply quickly. And if you don't have time, seek out our Digital Agency services to do it for you. Not only do we promise expertise, we promise it quickly: we respond to reviews as soon as our software draws them in!

‍