THE RIGHT AND WRONG WAYS TO HANDLE NEGATIVE REVIEWS

​Realistically, everyone will get a less than pleasant review every now and then. Unfortunately, there’s just no way around it. When you do get a negative review, make it a learning experience. Rather than getting fired up and attacking the reviewer, take the opportunity to think about what you can change to make your business more accommodating or efficient. Talk to your customers without attacking them, and then decide what changes you should implement. Here’s a look at some of the right and wrong ways to handle negative reviews.

RIGHT: Follow Up with Customers

You’ve got a lot on your plate when you run your own business, but you should always be thinking about customer service and response. You need to check up on your reviews, so you know what people are saying about your company. If you come across a negative review for your products or services, you can find out why this happened by reaching out to the person who left it. Reaching out like this will help you find out how you can improve your business as well as get to the bottom of what the problem was in the first place.

WRONG: Publicly Attack Reviewers

Although it can help to respond to negative reviews on a public forum, never do so in an antagonistic way. Instead, try to find out what the nature of the problem is and offer a solution that changes the reviewer’s mind.

RIGHT: Make Changes to Your Company

The point of reading your own reviews is to find out what your company is doing right and what you could be doing better. When you notice a few different reviews that give you the same kind of advice, do your best to implement the changes so you can satisfy your customers.


If you get a negative review or two, take some time to reorganize and decide how to come back stronger than ever. The team at G4H Consulting can help you with web design, email marketing, and Facebook advertising, and you can look through our website or call us at (585) 755-0366 for more information.