Negative reviews and feedback are common in online business but you will need to know the best ways in which you can handle this in a positive way. As a marketer you should be prepared to face rejection as well as negativity. You will need to know both the aspects of online business for that matter. One is that, there will be angry readers and customers who will rant in a comment and on the other hand there will be prospects who will choose your product over the others.
It is true that you will feel somewhat demoralized when someone spits on your hard work but you will need to stay strong and steadfast in your commitment. This will ensure success in your content marketing efforts. However, this is not easy. Though negative feedback may create a negative feeling in you, you will need to follow these steps to make sure that you manage it in the most positive way such as:
Learn from the negative feedback. For this you will need to first know whether the feedback is useful or if it is simply garbage. This means that you will need to look at the feedback in two different ways such as:
- Confirmation that you do and
- An occasion to ask yourself how you can improve your online reputation.
However, it all boils down to your mindset such as whether you are ready to take things as it comes or whether you want to find a way to successfully turn that negative perspective of the customers around.
Listen to your customers carefully
One of the best ways to deal with the negative feedbacks received is to listen to your customers carefully to know what they are actually saying about your company and brand. According to the experts which any online reputation management company Orlando also corroborates is that this is the best possible way to respond when you are getting negative feedback.
- You will also need to distinguish the accuracy of such negative feedbacks and at the same time ascertain the quality of its presentation. You will be surprised to know that there are several people who have the skill in then to present criticism in such a way that will make the recipient feel comfortable. This they do by accepting the fact that what is being said by the customers is worthwhile information and there are lots of things that they can learn from it.
- You must not take negative feedback as a personal attack but learn from it. You must not get defensive or distance your emotional self from it. Consider it as a human nature and then plan your next move to respond to it. The best way to go about is to accept the negative feedback of the customers with gratitude and openness.
It will be a wrong move from your part if you try to prove someone or something wrong. This is because you will become close-minded to realize the useful information and opinion that may be hidden in a negative feedback or one that is poorly presented.
Things Not To Do
When it comes to dealing with negative feedback, there are a few things that you should not do.
You should not over apologize to go overboard, even if the feedback is based on a specific misunderstanding, mistake or behavior. Ideally, you should apologize once but make sure that you make it count. When it comes to apologizing make sure that it is:
- Specific
- Sincere and
It should show that you understand the issues of the customers and you know exactly how you can avoid it in the future.
Also make sure that you do not react on Impulse. It might be very tempting to react immediately in the heat of the moment. But it is important the you take a deep breath and give yourself some physical space so that you can absorb the comments. This will help you to clear your head before you respond to any comments.
You should not miss out on the chance to clarify things and never dwell on it. instead you must understand the concerns of the people and assess whether or not the feedback is true.
Look For The Gaps
There is often a huge gap between what you intend to tell and what the customers heard. This, if not effectively removed will create a huge gap bettween your brand and the customers. Look out for these gaps and make the best efforts to fill kit as well.
In most of the times, reports suggest that negative feedback and reviews are the result of miscommunication in one kind or the other. Therefore, when you get a negative feedback, there are two specific things that you can do such as:
- Determine whether or not you simply disagree with the feedback send by another person or
- Whether or not the person has a wrong perception.
In such situations what you really need to do to deal with such negative feedback is to shift their misconceptions and to ensure that they are not misled in the future.
Wisdom Of The Crowd
When it comes to criticism, you should not fixate on a particular one but accept the fact that you live in a crowd-sourced prosumer movement. This is a specific movement where the consumer is also a part producer. Therefore, you should give the consumers their share and then use it to improve your own feedback.
This means that you should respond when it is appropriate but make sure that you run your response by someone else first so that it is the most effective. You can do this at its best when you know the person who posted a negative review, call him or her up to know about their experience and then contemplate on the ways in which you can make it up with them on the best way possible.
The main intention is to balance the good with the bad and then let go whatever that is bad. This will ensure a better management of your reputation online.