Receiving negative feedback in any shape or form is inevitable. Things go wrong, people have bad days, yada yada, but how you handle the negative feedback is what can make or break the resolution. It’s said that it is 25 times more expensive for a company to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one, making ongoing investments in customer satisfaction a priority.
So instead of cringing and losing quality sleep over a negative review, see what it says and use it as an opportunity to retain that customer (if you want to keep them) and even improve your business. When customers are unhappy with your service, 94% will just never come back. In fact, it’s said that only 4% actually complain on a public forum. So with that knowledge, we should be really glad they complained to you instead of just jumping ship and never coming back. There are certainly some cases where the review is outlandish and you would rather just say ‘good riddance’ which is understandable, however there are situations where you can retain the customer and ‘make things right’. In fact, a complaint that is successfully solved will retain the customer 70% of the time!
What can you do to retain a customer through a response? Check out our ideas –
- Keep the length of the review reasonable and don’t write a novel
- Beware of sounding like you’re on your soap box
- Make sure you’ve apologized in some fashion
- Explain what could have gone wrong and describe the steps taken to correct the issue
- Extend your offer of something nice to make it better
- Welcome further feedback by encouraging them to call your store/business
How to avoid getting a negative review in the first place? We’ve got you covered too!
- Incorporate in-store signage detailing options for requesting help with a complaint – i.e. wall signs, window signs, etc. – direct them to dealing with you in person rather than having to go online
- Consider a text messaging service or phone number where you can direct all negative complaints
- Ensure that all staff is trained to handle a response
- Encourage your employees to invite the complaint i.e. ‘Was there anything we could have done to make your experience better?’ before they head out the door
- Gather your customers’ email addresses during check out in case you feel it’s good to follow-up with them on their experience
- Document all complaints – see if there are common complaints and how you can fix that in-house
Do you need our help with reputation management? Give Upright Communications a call! We’ll get you back on your feet! Just check out some of the resolutions we’ve helped with…
