Your customers are talking about you behind your back. You’re losing out on reviews and opportunities to grow your business and risk damaging your reputation.
How do you respond to customer reviews? Do you post an automated response or ignore it when a new review comes in? We’ve got the answers for you!
Don’t let this happen to your business. Here’s everything you need to know about responding to customer reviews.
Why responding to reviews is essential.
Reviews are a massive part of the e-commerce industry. They let customers know how products hold up, if they work as advertised, and how well they perform in customers’ daily lives. Some reviews even showcase the human side of a product by showing how it works in different situations. To add to this crucial information, a review is an opportunity for a company to show off its customer service skills and interact with customers in a way that can improve brand loyalty.
However, these reviews don’t just help these companies—they can also help you! When you respond to reviews about your company, you’re helping out everyone involved: the customer who left the original review (and any other consumers who see it), your company and its employees, and even yourself!
How to respond to good reviews
You’ve likely heard that reviews are essential if you’re a business owner. More importantly, they can make or break the success of your company. Getting great feedback is something to celebrate, but how should you go about thanking reviewers? Here are some guidelines for what to do and what not to do when it comes to responding to good reviews:
- Thank them for the feedback.
- State how your business has changed based on their feedback and how others can benefit from it.
- Link back to their review in your response so that it shows up for other people reading through the thread.
- Ask if there is anything else you can do for them or if they have questions about what you’ve done so far.
How to respond to bad reviews
No matter how good you think your product is, there’s a chance that a buyer would still stumble upon something negative about it. And no matter how difficult it can be to receive a negative review, you should never ignore them. Reviews are essential for customers to give feedback about your product, and ignoring them can be quite harmful in the long term.
Many businesses will respond with a snarky comment or an attempt at humor, but this can only exacerbate the situation. If handled correctly, negative reviews can be good for business. Here are five ways to respond to bad reviews:
- Stay calm and composed. Resist the urge to get angry or defensive. Their opinion is not wrong; you just disagree with it.
- Appreciate that they took the time to leave feedback for you. Even if it was negative, it’s still a sign that they care about your business and want it to improve.
- Ask questions about how you can improve—you’re interested in what they have to say because you take pride in your business. You don’t want one bad experience from a single customer (or even a few) tainting all of your work.
- Be respectful of the customer’s point of view, even if you disagree with what they’re saying. They are expressing themselves and sharing their opinion with you because they feel an issue needs to be addressed; it doesn’t mean they are against you.
Tips for responding to customer reviews
When answering your reviews, keep a few key points in mind.
- Try to answer every single review you receive—it’s the right thing to do and will earn you goodwill from both your buyers and potential buyers. But don’t try to be perfect. You’re not going to be able to respond to everyone (or even most people), and the occasional slip is fine—just do what you can.
- Don’t write too much—try not to make it more than five sentences. This will help keep your response under the character limit (fundamental on Amazon reviews) while being informative.
- Try focusing on one review at a time; when you’re done reviewing that one use the “update” feature on Amazon so that your customers know that you replied and are working with them.
- Mention why you did what you did; even if they didn’t like your product, they might appreciate some insight into whether their criticisms were valid or constructive.
- Keep your response under the character limit—spilling over into an extended message annoys people far more than simply telling them you’ll get back to them later.
Takeaway
Reviews are a source of valuable feedback but can also be a huge source of stress. They’re not going away anytime soon, but if you know how to respond to them well, they can be a great way to build stronger relationships with your clients—and make your business more efficient and productive.
Want to take your business to the next level? Contact us to know more!
