Continuing from last week’s episode “The impact of reviews on your sales”, Imogen joins us again to discuss what you need to do when you get bad reviews.

Reviews are an essential part of building your brand online. According to the latest data finds, 55% of all Aussies will not make a decision without reading a review online, but not everyone will sing you praises.

Luckily, not all bad reviews are… bad. We can get so worked up over a negative comment or mention, that we forget to take a step back and think about it. After all, it hurts. But remember that reviews aren’t a new phenomenon. Customers always talk about businesses in the form of word of mouth, it’s just that this time, anyone can see it.

#1 Drop your ego

The first thing you need to do when you get a bad review is to drop your ego. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how sassy the customer is, no matter how disruptive they are, or rude, you have to drop your ego in that moment and get rid of it. Because make one wrong comment and it can destroy your brand – it only takes a few seconds to make a screenshot.

#2 Be responsive

A common pitfall is to just leave the bad review hanging there and not doing anything to resolve it. That is a major no-no. It sends a message to your other customers that you don’t care about them because you don’t respond to their complaints.

#3 Show you care

Let them know that you appreciate their feedback, good or bad. The earlier and the faster that you resolve the comment and get to the bottom of the problem, the better your customer will feel. Chances are, they might even retract the bad review.

Plus, it can elevate your brand and let your other customers see that you care.

#4 Assess the issue

This one goes back to the first step, and that is to drop your ego. Don’t argue with your customer and try to prove that you’re right. Because let's face it, the reason someone will complain is because they're unhappy with your service and they wanted fix if you fix it for them, they're going to turn them around. It's that simple.