Updated 9/25: The following blog is adapted from Bizrate Insights’ past library of white papers and guides that we’ve made publicly available. Enjoy!

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Introduction

At some point, an unhappy customer will publicly share their experience shopping with your business. It’s inevitable.

You won’t be able to please every single customer. But what if those unhappy comments and low ratings could have a positive impact on your business?

In a hyper-connected world where consumers feel more empowered than ever to voice their opinions, it’s easy to think that even one negative review could be trouble. However, 67% of people are actually skeptical when they come across products with a lot of positive reviews but no negative feedback, according to a Bizrate Insights survey of 510 consumers.

Negative reviews can help build trust for your brand and even present opportunities to turn dissatisfied shoppers into loyal customers. But first, you must understand the hidden value of negative reviews and formulate a plan for how your business addresses this type of feedback.

In this guide…

We’ll debunk the stigma around negative reviews and share how you can use unhappy customer comments to your advantage. Read on to learn:


1.The hidden value of negative reviews.

2.Tips for leveraging negative reviews.

3.Best practices for responding to negative customer feedback.

4.When to delete a negative review.

The Hidden Value of a Negative Review

Negative reviews are unavoidable. What you may not realize is that they are also valuable. Poor feedback or ratings can raise your business’ credibility, help you salvage lost sales, and even provide you with a roadmap to future success.

Boost Your Credibility

No one is perfect — so customers are skeptical of a company or product that only has positive comments and 5-star ratings.

In fact, a lack of negative feedback makes existing positive reviews feel doctored, misleading, and inauthentic. One of the biggest indicators of trustworthiness is a combination of positive and negative reviews.

When browsing online, 61% of online shoppers feel more confident in the trustworthiness of a product’s reviews if they see a mix of positive and negative feedback, according to Bizrate Insights’ survey. Comparatively, just 5% would trust a product’s reviews if they only saw positive feedback.

Determine What Isn’t Working

Your customers are the best judges of your performance. In the same way that positive feedback highlights what your business is doing right, negative reviews can help identify the customer pain points you should address immediately.

From the usability of your website to the effectiveness of your customer support team, reviews give you an outside perspective on the quality of your customer journey. The insights taken from negative comments and ratings can help you develop an improvement roadmap while also addressing minor, day-to-day issues as they arise.

Recover Lost Sales

People don’t always leave negative feedback out of spite. More often than not, they recently had a bad experience interacting with your business and want to be heard.

Customers expect you to acknowledge and respond to their feedback. A prompt response to a negative review improves your odds of reengaging a customer before they’ve completely turned their back on your company. But the response time is only half of it — you need to come prepared with a concrete resolution if you want to turn that dissatisfied shopper into a loyal customer.

How to Respond to a Negative Review

Most customers who post any kind of review do it to share their experiences with other shoppers, not just with a business. People who read these reviews not only form an opinion based on what other customers say but also on how you respond.

Did you write a scathing reply and deny any wrongdoing, or did you try to solve the problem? Did future reviewers post about the same issue because you still haven’t found a resolution? Your response will ultimately influence your ability to turn a negative customer review into a positive outcome.

Take the following steps to reply to negative reviews as well as any positive comments or ratings your business may receive from customers.

1.Inaction Is the Biggest Mistake You Can Make

With few exceptions, you always need to be ready to act once a customer submits negative feedback. A negative review may not appear detrimental at first, but to potential customers just learning about your business, the presence of an ignored comment could cast doubt and inadvertently lead them to competitors.

2.Respond Quickly

Whether customer feedback is positive or negative, there’s no such thing as responding too soon. Three in 5 consumers surveyed by Bizrate Insights said they expect a response to their negative reviews within a few days. Depending on the size of your team, immediate contact isn’t always possible, but a timely response will always go a long way toward making customers feel heard and valued.

Bonus Tip: If you’re responding on a public forum, be thoughtful about your post. Ask yourself if you’re setting the right tone and whether this is the type of response you’d want future customers to read. Just be sure not to post personally identifiable information (PII) about yourself or the customer.

3.Always Apologize, Empathize, and Personalize

Empathizing with a customer’s poor experience doesn’t just show your business cares — it helps form a connection. These are all appropriate ways to open your response to a negative comment: ”I’m sorry,” ”I understand,” ”Thank you for letting us know.” Since most comments display a reviewer’s name, address them directly and use personal pronouns whenever it feels natural.

4.Take Steps to Make Things Right

Show that you understand the issue and are working to make it right. You will need to apologize, even if it appears the issue in question is on the customer. An immediate resolution is always best. However, you should provide contact details if the problem requires a more hands-on approach or the customer prefers to speak directly with your team.

5.Move the Conversation Offline

Crafting the perfect response to a negative review won’t do much good unless it leads to a meaningful resolution. If the topic of the customer’s negative comment can’t be resolved immediately, move the conversation to a private channel (e.g., phone, email, SMS, etc.) so that you can work one-on-one with them. This will help you de-escalate the situation while providing a more personalized resolution.

6.Don’t Forget to Follow Up

After assisting the customer, it’s good to follow up with your team to investigate whether the pain point in question was an isolated incident or part of a broader problem. If the issue persists, then use this as an opportunity to work with other team members to formulate an action plan. Within the next 24 to 48 hours, follow up directly with the customer to make sure their initial issue remains resolved and that they are still satisfied with the resolution.

Bonus Tip: Solving one-off issues won’t have a lasting positive impact on your business unless you make global changes.

When to Remove a Review

Customers are skeptical of companies without negative reviews. From their perspectives, a company with only 5-star ratings and glowing comments feels inauthentic. Not to mention, scrubbing this feedback deprives a business of the opportunity to improve and evolve.

Despite the urge to delete everything negative, you should generally leave bad reviews alone. However, there are some instances where removing a negative comment is appropriate.

 To delete or not to delete?

Delete if a customer’s comment meets any of the following criteria:

1. The feedback contains abusive, threatening, or vulgar language.

2. PII about the customer or an employee is included.

3. The review platform’s terms of service have been violated.

4. The review is fraudulent and unrelated to your company or its products.

Conclusion

Negative reviews can be painful — but they’re also necessary. Contrary to what many believe, negative comments and ratings can grow trust in your brand and even be used to salvage lost sales. There are certain cases where it’s appropriate to delete a bad review, but you should always plan on responding to a customer’s negative comment. As you formulate a strategy to address customer feedback, keep these points in mind:

1. Inaction is the biggest mistake you can make.

2. Respond quickly.

3. Personalize your response and always empathize.

4. Come prepared with a resolution.

5. Try to move the conversation offline.

6. Follow up.

The next time your business receives a negative review, remember that it’s not the end of the world. Embracing customer feedback will ultimately help you build lasting relationships with customers and evolve your business.

Collect Unlimited Feedback from Verified Customers

Staying on top of customer reviews is a challenge for any business — and there’s no guarantee those comments and ratings are from real people. That’s where voice-of-customer (VoC) feedback can help.

Bizrate Insights’ VoC survey tools collect comments and ratings from verified customers at critical touchpoints in the customer journey. Gather customer feedback covering everything from the point of sale to post-fulfillment and find out why shoppers are exiting your site without making a purchase.Each piece of feedback is automatically categorized as positive or negative, and you can easily follow up with customers in real time.

All of our solutions are free to use and include unlimited survey collection at no extra charge. Learn how simple it is to start collecting verified customer feedback today.

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