Reputation MarketingNo matter how carefully a company works at creating a positive reputation, a bad review is going to be given by some unhappy customer. It is almost impossible to avoid, so accepting it and moving on to handling the problem is the best course to take; hopefully something will be learned to prevent more bad reviews from being generated. This is why reputation marketing and monitoring needs to be an ongoing process, a way to develop more good mentions and handle any negative ones before any damage is done.

Don’t Overreact

It does happen to every company eventually. Being excessively worried that a couple of negative remarks can hurt a business does nothing other than create more worry. Instead, use such energy to analyze the situation, determine what prompted the remark, and then decide what should be done, if anything.

If a company regularly monitors its online presence to discover such instances quickly and learns how to deal with the problem, a few random bad reviews won’t do much harm. A poor one here and there is expected, so it’s all right to have a few so long as there are plenty of good remarks to offset the bad ones.

Only Manage The Worst Ones

Not every bad mention will be resolved. By all means, handle those that could truly cause damage a company’s reputation, such as a significant error, a well-known person complaining, or one that has attracted attention. For those more general complaints or irrational griping, just ignore them. Work on reputation marketing to generate positive reviews on the company website and bury a bad one in the middle of good ones.

Handling Bad Reviews

For those bad reviews that need handling, there are a few approaches. If the complaint is about poor service or a bad product, politely acknowledge the complaint with a reply comment, solicit the full story, and offer resolution.

In most cases, recognition is wanted; doing that and correcting the mistake can change a poor opinion. If a bad review cannot be removed, leave comments showing acknowledgment of the problem and attempted resolution to allow subsequent review readers to see the complaint and any attempts to actually correct the problem.

For those that cannot be resolved, attempt to move that comment to at least the first or second page of reviews. Although false reviews should never be posted, it is all right to request reviews from happy customers. Having open communication with customers who have easy ways to contact a company adds to a positive image.

In worst-case scenarios with a very damaging comment, contact the unhappy customer to discuss the issue via email or phone to find the best resolution. Then ask the writer to remove the bad comment, which may or may not happen but is worth trying. Uncooperative customers posting slanderous comments may require a careful online reply or the help of a reputation management firm.

No business likes seeing bad online reviews – but it happens. Always be proactive, decide if a response is warranted, and then work for the best way to please the customer. Then keep up with reputation marketing and management, which will help make each negative comment less influential!

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