SPECIAL THURSDAY EDITION... Protect Your Business from Cancel Culture!

As a small business owner, you are always one bad review away from disaster. It's important to be prepared for when the unexpected happens, and that means having a plan in place for how to respond to negative feedback. In this blog post, we will discuss some strategies for responding to negative reviews that will help keep your business afloat.

The first step is to take a deep breath and remain calm. It can be difficult to read negative things about your business, but it's important to remember that not everyone will have the same opinion. Keep an open mind and see the feedback for what it is:

An opportunity to improve your business.

Next, you'll want to reach out to the customer who left the review and attempt to resolve the issue. This shows that you are willing to listen to feedback and make changes based on what your customers want. It's also a good way to build customer relationships and create loyalty.

Here are some things you can say to a negative review that other readers will appreciate.

"I'm sorry to hear that you had a negative experience. We strive to provide the best possible service, and we're sorry that we didn't meet your expectations. Let's connect by phone or email and I will do my best to help get this issue resolved"

Another example:

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're always looking for ways to improve, and we appreciate your feedback. Can you please send our team an email or give us a call so we can correct the situation?"

And a similar take:

"We're sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your purchase. Can you please let us know what we can do to make it right? We want all of our customers to be satisfied with their purchases. Please give us a call or send us an email. We want to make things right!"

As you can see, taking the conversation off the review source is almost always a good idea.  This allows you to build a relationship with the customer and work together to resolve the issue without any more public "airing of the dirty laundry". Putting the first part on the review itself as a response, shows reads of those negative reviews, you care about them and your company, so don't be shy about the apology! You are talking to new people who are going to be swayed to do business with you, or your competitor!

Finally, if you're still struggling with how to respond to negative feedback, consider hiring a reputation management company like Actuated Marketing™. Companies like ours and those specialize in helping businesses manage their online reputation. A Good Reputation Management Company can help you identify ways to improve your business and protect your brand from further damage. Actuated Marketing are experts at all things "Reputation" from reputation management to Reputation Marketing.

While no one likes getting negative feedback, it's important to remember that it's an opportunity to improve your business. By following these strategies, you can turn a negative review into a positive learning experience. Your customers will appreciate your efforts, and your business will be better for it in the long run.

If you decide you could use extra help monitoring and responding to negative feedback. Send us a message or give our team a call and claim your free consultation. In return, we will ensure you get a copy of our negative response template guide as our gift!

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