How to Make Negative Online Reviews Positive for Your Business

It can get to the point where it’s like they validate your very existence. Whether you offer your own review submissions on your site, which you should, or you just rely on Google, Yelp or Facebook reviews, you might live and breathe by whether or not the next review is positive or negative.

And for good reason. Does anyone buy anything online without first reading a review of the product and/or the company they are buying it from? Didn’t think so.

• 91% of 18-35-year-olds say they treat reviews like any personal recommendation
• 93% of all shoppers say that reviews have affected their buying decisions
• Shoppers spend up to 31% more for products that have excellent reviews

So, with all that riding on reviews, a negative review can feel devastating. 

But, negative reviews are at once at opportunity, some of the best R&D and QA you’ll ever get, and necessary for the trustworthiness of all your reviews. 85% or all consumers and 91% of 18 to 35-year-olds look for negative reviews to become more informed about the product or service and their buying decision.

4 Steps to Making Negative Reviews Positive

It’s difficult to lump every negative review into one type. You’ll get some that are simply off the scale. But there are reasons to not worry about those either. 50% of people who read online reviews say they know when a negative review is irrational and sympathize with companies that receive them.

Here are our tips for handling legitimate negative reviews.

1. Read the Review Objectively – It’s easy to overreact to a bad review. But try to objectively read the review and assess the problem.
    
2. Find a Solution – If there was a product defect, maybe you can replace it. If there was a service issue, perhaps you can offer an apology, explanation or incentive for a future purchase. And if the problem was just perceived by the customer, not based in fact, be thankful to the customer, explain what happened and invite further comment. 
3. Offer the Solution in a Comment on the Review – Make your solution public whenever possible to show that you respond to your customers’ problems and concerns. But there are times where you may want to take the problem and resolution “offline”. 
4. Ask for a Subsequent Review – Especially if the customer was pleased with your response, ask them to post another review reflecting their experience with how you handled their complaint. 

And when you start seeing an uptick in business because of how well you’re handling all your reviews, you’re going to need more transportation and warehousing services, and that’s where PiVAL International can get you lots of great reviews.

To learn more about improving your e-commerce business, check out our article “Amazon Shows that Shipping is Key to E-commerce Success”.