How to keep bad reviews away?

[corayoung]

So I'm a new business and I’m getting good online reviews so far. I don’t want to break this very good record of my business online. How should I maintain this and keep the negative reviews away? Any tips? Thanks! :)

[Harold Mansfield]

So I'm a new business and I’m getting good online reviews so far. I don’t want to break this very good record of my business online. How should I maintain this and keep the negative reviews away? Any tips? Thanks! :)

Don't give bad service. That's pretty much it. You can't stop bad reviews even if you do everything correctly.

The biggest tip is to not ignore them. Meet them head on, verify that the person was indeed a customer, and handle them as you would any complaint.
Even if you don't make that individual happy in the long run, the appearance that you care and will do whatever it takes to make someone happy will go a long way.

The worse thing a company can do is ignore a bad review and let the reviewer have the last and only word with no response from the company.

Just stay professional and don't get into a flame war with the person.

[Oscarp12]

I’d agree with the last response. Everyone is bound to get a bad review at some point. When I’m looking at online reviews, I take bad ones with a grain of salt cause I know there are a lot of crazies out there. If the company responds to the review in a positive, problem solving manner, then I know the company is one I probably want to do business with.

[kevinmoress]

Yes, I agreed with @ Harold Mansfield what he said.

But, I have a question in my mind as this is my personal experience, sometime what happens even you are offering good product and service from others but this could also be a negative reviewer bcz our competitors do also use this tactics to posting bad reviews from your competitor side.

[jonassalk]

Hey Cora, what business are you doing?

It sounds like your doing a good job so far. keep on collecting good reviews.

Like the others mentioned, don't ignore any negative reviews. Those that actually give bad reviews, if handled well can actually become advocates for your business. If service was bad, ask them for a second chance and offer a huge discount or freebie. They will often write a positive review afterwards and tell their friends about your business. When you go out of your way to fix any complaints and personally address them, they really appreciate it. In the end people just want to be heard....

[Harold Mansfield]

Yes, I agreed with @ Harold Mansfield what he said.

But, I have a question in my mind as this is my personal experience, sometime what happens even you are offering good product and service from others but this could also be a negative reviewer bcz our competitors do also use this tactics to posting bad reviews from your competitor side.

Yes, some people do use that unscrupulous tactic. That's why I said to publicly respond to them and ask them questions to verify that they were actually a customer and when. If they have no proof and you have no record of the transaction, call them out on it.

It's really not about winning the argument, it's about letting others see that you are engaged and doing everything you can to help the person. Other people recognize BS too. Let the troll do all the work for you and out themselves.

[Dallas]

As said above, there is too much crazy in the world to completely avoid a bad review. Good service will keep that number down, but the real key is to actively try and get good reviews.

[bella.lopez]

You can't make everyone happy. There will be people who may post bad or give a negative feedback. What you can do is reply with a genuine message to them or if it feels like spam, report them. And to keep up the good reviews, just do what you do best and be transparent with your customers and clients. Happy people leave a good feedback.

[CLMB Marketing]

A few thoughts on this topic:

1. As others have said, there is absolutely no way to avoid negative reviews completely. Years ago, I worked for a company that sold home decor accessories. One line of products that we carried were these miniature, hand-crafted dog breed figurines for collectors. Despite EVERYTHING in the product listing being there to indicate that these were small figures (including the product name including the word "Figurine", the size of the product (they were each about 3" - 4"), the fact that they were hand-crafted, the material they were made of, the price (around $10 each), and the shipping details, etc.), we once got a negative review because the buyer was disappointed that it wasn't a real dog. They literally expected to be able to buy a real, pure-bred dog and have it mailed to them via USPS for $10. There was no way to make that customer happy.

2. Too many overly positive reviews doesn't actually look natural, because everyone knows that you can't please everyone all the time. A few negative reviews make the positive ones look more real.

3. As noted above, a courteous, helpful response shows that your business cares about its customers in just as good a way as a bunch of positive reviews.

4. Finally, use ways to encourage happy customers to post positive reviews so that the balance of 5 star vs 2 or 3 star reviews stays as high as possible (and therefore so does your aggregate rating).

[Fulcrum]

... we once got a negative review because the buyer was disappointed that it wasn't a real dog. They literally expected to be able to buy a real, pure-bred dog and have it mailed to them via USPS for $10. There was no way to make that customer happy.

Now that's funny.

[HumaneHosting]

As others mentioned you can't based on the basics of not being able to control minds (at least we are "safe" for now...).

You should just take these bad reviews and defend yourself, but DON'T self promote while doing it. That's what often make a "bad" review into a "nightmare" review...

[DanielRepflux]

There are solutions for filtering positive and negative reviews. That’s what my business does

[HumaneHosting]

There are solutions for filtering positive and negative reviews. That’s what my business does

What? You cannot "filter" or "remove" bad reviews that isn't on your own platform and such. IE Facebook, Twitter, and etc.

Even if they are, deleting them can make your business worst than with them.

[turboguy]

I have seen some bad reviews that were addressed well enough that it could sell me on the company and the product. No one is perfect. If someone tries to keep their customers happy and you see that the company is concerned about satisfying their customers that can be a big plus.

[HumaneHosting]

I have seen some bad reviews that were addressed well enough that it could sell me on the company and the product. No one is perfect. If someone tries to keep their customers happy and you see that the company is concerned about satisfying their customers that can be a big plus.

Absolutely problems happens ALL of the time with ANY companies. I for example had a major issue with my new supplier but they acted upon it seriously and when it was resolved... I requested nicely for compensation for the inconveniences caused and they delivered well beyond my expectation for the amount of inconveniences caused. :)

That how most customers would expect a company to act and if they deliver properly then they can avoid/turn that bad review around. :)

[PerceptionHCC]

Bad reviews happen sometimes, regardless of the customer service provided. The best way to navigate these is to take a proactive approach and respond to all reviews if possible, good and bad. This will demonstrate the responsiveness and customer service of the company, and is a valuable way to offer those with a negative review to connect with you privately to discuss concerns. Many times those users will remove or update the post once they connect with an organization who responded to their initial negative review.

It certainly can't hurt in most situations.

Best,

Patrick

[Lewis-H]

8 Ways To Prevent Negative Reviews
Provide a great service.
Be your own customer. ...
Be easy to contact. ...
Add more lines of communication. ...
Respond quickly to issues. ...
Be personable when resolving issues. ...
Encourage customers to leave reviews. ...
Listen to your negative feedback.

[Fulcrum]

And yet there will always be someone who refuses to be satisfied no matter what you do to make it right.

[journalist55]

Just keep a good relationship with your customers and don't give bad service. Even if you receive a bad review I would not make a big deal out of it! I think today people are paying less attention to reviews and more to social media platforms of businesses.

[localbizgrowth]

there are reputation management solutions some of them offer review gating ( kinda grey that diverts negative feedback to the business owner to deal with...

but honestly just having a system in place to gather new 5 star reviews will make you stand out from competitors