34 - How to Deal With Nasty Reviews

Welcome to another edition of "Perspective Wednesday"!  In today's episode I'm going to talk to you about nasty or negative reviews.

What do I mean about nasty reviews?  Well, those reviews our businesses might get every now and then from disgruntled customers - or sometimes even competition.  Yes, competition.  My family’s cleaning business has received nasty, or negative reviews, online from people who we have never done business with.  So, we have come to the conclusion that sometimes some of those negative reviews are from competitors trying to make a dent in our ego, our self-esteem.

So, what do we do with those reviews?  We learn from them.  Even the review from people whom we believe are competitors.

I have never tried to erase a nasty or negative review.  I have never even reported it to Google, Yelp, or any other platform.  I leave it.  Why?  I’ll tell you why.  Like I said, there is always something to be learned from any situation.  

Look, an ex-customer leaves a negative review on any review platform, or your website, or your social media accounts, there’s a reason for him or her doing so.  Find out the reason and reply to the comment.  Thank the customer for letting you know how you can improve your service.  Apologize for any inconvenience or shortcomings on your part.  And, move on.  

There’s no reason to dwell on nasty or negative review.   You need to change your mindset.  Change your perspective.  Modify it so that from now on you view every situation as a learning experience.  
 
The worst thing you can do is try to get into a shouting match with an ex customer - especially online! 

The ideal thing you can do, like I said, is to learn.  And, I’m not saying it just to say it.  Remember, that I am of the philosophy that feedback is the best tool available to improve your cleaning business.  Now, granted a nasty review might be hard to take in, but if you analyze why the customer got upset, I’m sure you’ll be able to get some gold nuggets from that particular review.

Another suggestion I can give you is to not reply right away - especially if it’s a nasty or negative review.  Let the initial emotions you might be feeling simmer away.  It might be a couple of minutes, a couple of hours, or a couple of days.  However long it takes you to not feel anything when you reread the review; the important thing, again, is for you to reply.  

Replying to nasty or negative reviews might even put you at a greater advantage when you look at it analytically.  Why?  Well, because it’s going to show other customers - current or potential - that you are a serious businessman or businesswoman who knows how to deal with uncomfortable situations.   And, like I said, if in your reply you mention that you are grateful for the learning experience and that you apologize for any inconvenience then it shows that you not going to be brought down by the situation - quite the contrary you will take the experience and improve your business, your service.
 
Finally, to wrap things up.  You do the same with those suspicious reviews.  The last one my family’s cleaning business received was our company’s Google My Business page.  Whoever it was left a 1-star review because our website was “horrible.”  
Again, I took the advice I’m giving you now and I replied to the individual who left it.  Thanking the person for letting us know we could do a better job with the website and apologizing for an unpleasant experience with our website.
I mean, how could anybody have a comeback to a reply like that?

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