{"id":9717,"date":"2018-09-26T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T07:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/?post_type=post&#038;p=9717"},"modified":"2018-09-26T17:46:41","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T17:46:41","slug":"responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses","title":{"rendered":"How to Respond to Online Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In today\u2019s business world, online reviews play a critical role. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vendasta.com\/blog\/50-stats-you-need-to-know-about-online-reviews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">63% of consumers<\/a> say they are more likely to make a purchase from a website that has user reviews. For most buyers, an online review can be as important as a personal recommendation from a friend. For a business, managing online reviews quickly and appropriately is crucial to attracting new customers and growing sales.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Online Review Statistics and Trends<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Just how powerful are online reviews? ReviewTrackers recently conducted their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewtrackers.com\/online-reviews-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">annual survey<\/a> to gauge current trends. Here are some of the top highlights:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>63% of consumers say they turn to Google for online reviews before visiting a business<\/li>\n<li>53% of customers expect a response to negative reviews within a week<\/li>\n<li>94% have avoided a business because of a negative review<\/li>\n<li>80% say they don\u2019t trust businesses with less than a four-star rating online<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The good news? ReviewTrackers found that overall, online reviews are getting more positive. Sites like Facebook and Google are making it easier for consumers to leave reviews, meaning they aren\u2019t just taking the time to leave one when they\u2019re really upset about something.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Responding To Negative Reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>By properly managing negative reviews, a company can mitigate their effect.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Respond quickly.<\/strong> Take ownership of the issue by writing a short reply that demonstrates you are aware of the problem. Don\u2019t be defensive and don\u2019t make excuses. The purpose of your reply is to regain the customer\u2019s trust.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Apologize.<\/strong> Offer a sincere apology aimed at getting the customer to consider giving you another chance. Accept responsibility for the customer\u2019s negative experience even if it wasn\u2019t your fault.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make things right. <\/strong>Thank the customer for their feedback and describe the specific steps you are taking to fix the issue or how the issue has been resolved. Consider how your response will be perceived by prospective customers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><strong>Additional Tips On Responding To Bad Reviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Take it offline. <\/strong>Contact the customer in a private message or provide them with contact information for a customer service representative. If you want to offer the customer a free meal, discounted services or a gift certificate, it\u2019s best to do so offline to avoid having others try to take advantage of the opportunity to leave bad reviews in hopes of getting something free in return.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Offer to Make Things Right.<\/strong> Depending on your industry and the nature of the customer\u2019s complaint, offer ways to satisfy the customer. You could offer to replace the product, refund their purchase, provide a certificate for free services or offer a store credit as compensation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ask for a second chance. <\/strong>Ask your customer to give your business a second chance and encourage them to come back by offering a discount on a future purchase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>A Note About Positive Reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While it\u2019s important to respond to negative reviews, responding to positive reviews also has its merits. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s polite. <\/strong>Show the public you are gracious and appreciate that a customer took the time to leave you a positive review.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Free publicity. <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vendasta.com\/blog\/how-to-respond-reviews-good-bad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">92% of consumers read online reviews<\/a>. Your reply will be seen by potential customers, and it\u2019s a good opportunity to subtly include a bit of marketing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Better search rankings.<\/strong> When you reply to an online review, it can improve the ranking of the review, which can\u00a0increase the chances that it will show up in search results.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><strong>Best Practices for Responding to Positive Reviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Say thank you<\/strong>. Respond to something the reviewer said. If they complimented an employee or how your product resolved a problem they were having, mention it in your response.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use specifics.<\/strong> When you specifically mention the name and location of your business, it helps improve brand recognition for potential customers and search engines.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Toot your horn.<\/strong> Remember that online reviews will be read by prospective customers, so mention something that distinguishes your brand from your competition. You can also mention special programs, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/products-services\/direct-mail-cardstock\">loyalty cards<\/a>, or upcoming promotions and events.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Online reviews are a fact of life in the 21st century. Properly handling both negative and positive reviews is critical to keeping current customers happy and providing prospective customers with confidence in doing business with you.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Get Started Today <\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Develop a plan for monitoring your online reviews. There are several tools available to help you do this, but one of the easiest ways is to set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/websearch\/answer\/4815696?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google alert<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Make a plan for dealing with negative reviews. Time is of the essence, so it\u2019s important to have a strategy ready to go when a negative review is posted.<\/li>\n<li>Assign someone to respond to reviews in a timely manner and to ensure the continuity and consistency of your messaging.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>n today\u2019s business world, online reviews play a critical role. In fact, 63% of consumers say they are more likely to make a purchase from a website that has user reviews [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_swt_meta_header_display":false,"_swt_meta_footer_display":false,"_swt_meta_site_title_display":false,"_swt_meta_sticky_header":false,"_swt_meta_transparent_header":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Respond to Negative Reviews | Tips for Handling Posts Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get tips on the best ways to respond to negative reviews online. Turn bad experiences into positive ones while increasing ROI and brand recognition for your business.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Respond to Online Reviews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Get tips on the best ways to respond to negative reviews online. Turn bad experiences into positive ones while increasing ROI and brand recognition for your business.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Valpak Advertising\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ValpakAdvertising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-26T07:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-26T17:46:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@valpak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@valpak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses\",\"name\":\"How to Respond to Negative Reviews | Tips for Handling Posts Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-26T07:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-26T17:46:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/78e604c9b181e6a07b26b7635c6d0db7\"},\"description\":\"Get tips on the best ways to respond to negative reviews online. Turn bad experiences into positive ones while increasing ROI and brand recognition for your business.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"how to respond to negative reviews\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Respond to Online Reviews\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/\",\"name\":\"Valpak Advertising\",\"description\":\"For targeted marketing to advertise your business to the exact audience you want contact Valpak\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/78e604c9b181e6a07b26b7635c6d0db7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd3cd4e4c7a552fa427e7f9ceaa09204?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd3cd4e4c7a552fa427e7f9ceaa09204?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Respond to Negative Reviews | Tips for Handling Posts Online","description":"Get tips on the best ways to respond to negative reviews online. Turn bad experiences into positive ones while increasing ROI and brand recognition for your business.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Respond to Online Reviews","og_description":"Get tips on the best ways to respond to negative reviews online. Turn bad experiences into positive ones while increasing ROI and brand recognition for your business.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses","og_site_name":"Valpak Advertising","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ValpakAdvertising\/","article_published_time":"2018-09-26T07:00:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-26T17:46:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@valpak","twitter_site":"@valpak","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses","url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses","name":"How to Respond to Negative Reviews | Tips for Handling Posts Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-26T07:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-26T17:46:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/78e604c9b181e6a07b26b7635c6d0db7"},"description":"Get tips on the best ways to respond to negative reviews online. Turn bad experiences into positive ones while increasing ROI and brand recognition for your business.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg","width":600,"height":400,"caption":"how to respond to negative reviews"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/responding-to-negative-reviews-for-businesses#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Respond to Online Reviews"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/","name":"Valpak Advertising","description":"For targeted marketing to advertise your business to the exact audience you want contact Valpak","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/78e604c9b181e6a07b26b7635c6d0db7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd3cd4e4c7a552fa427e7f9ceaa09204?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cd3cd4e4c7a552fa427e7f9ceaa09204?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/author\/admin"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg",600,400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg",600,400,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg",600,400,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg",600,400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg",600,400,false],"crp_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/831371446.jpg",150,100,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"n today\u2019s business world, online reviews play a critical role. In fact, 63% of consumers say they are more likely to make a purchase from a website that has user reviews [\u2026]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9717"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15102,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717\/revisions\/15102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}