Reputation management and customer feedback are important in today’s competitive business market. Online reviews allow those exploring the market to decide whether to engage with an organisation. Fortunately, many consumers don’t expect organisations to receive all positive reviews; it’s common for businesses to receive some negative feedback. In fact, 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they can see both good and bad comments, according to recent research from Trustpilot.

However, too many negative reviews can reflect badly on an organisation. Therefore, it’s critical that businesses know how to respond to improve their reputation and build trust with consumers. This article discusses the risks of negative online reviews, best practices for managing such feedback and strategies to improve overall online reputation.

The Risks of Negative Reviews

Receiving negative feedback is inevitable as more consumers voice their opinions online. Although negative reviews have been proven to help organisations grow, they can also be harmful. Risks of negative reviews include:

• Undermining a reputation – Negative reviews can cause customers to lose trust in a business, effectively damaging its reputation among consumers.
• Driving customers away – A negative review can be the difference between a customer giving an organisation a chance or taking their business elsewhere.
• Lowering search engine ranking – While one or two negative reviews wont make or break search engine rankings, several negative reviews may affect results. Search engine optimisation (SEO) guidelines typically favour quality businesses by putting them at the top of search results.
• Losing revenue and profits – Organisations with low online ratings caused by negative reviews are less likely to receive business from consumers, negatively affecting profitability.

Best Practices for Managing Negative Reviews

Knowing how to manage negative reviews is crucial. How an organisation handles unhappy consumers can influence current and future business prospects. The following are best practices for managing negative online reviews:

• Respond Quickly. It’s best to reply to negative reviews as soon as possible, as ignoring or delaying a response can worsen the situation. Responding quickly to both positive and negative reviews can help establish trust with customers.
• Don’t get angry or defensive. If a negative review is true, it’s important to face it head on. Addressing the problem directly in a non-threatening, non-defensive way can help defuse conflict and de-escalate emotions.
• Be open to legitimate feedback. If there is a consistent pattern of criticism throughout reviews – such as slow service or poor product selection – it should be used as an opportunity to improve business operations. In addition, admitting fault can be more beneficial to a business than arguing.

Strategies to Improve Overall Online Reputation

Approximately 9 in 10 consumers stated they would check online reviews before buying from a business, according to research by Statista. Thus, improving an organisation’s online reputation following negative online reviews is crucial to help rebuild positive connotations. Organisations could consider the following strategies to help improve their overall online reputation:

• Share valuable content. Regularly producing and sharing relevant content online can demonstrate industry expertise. Not only can this build trust and credibility with existing customers, but it may also attract new ones. Additionally, the brand’s value can be emphasised by sharing success stories and testimonials. Indeed, 9 out of 10 people trust what a customer says about a business more than what the business says about itself, according to research by global video production company Wyzowl.
• Remain consistent. Branding should be consistent across all online platforms to foster customer trust. Specifically, it’s important to develop clear brand guidelines that cater to the target audience, accounting for aspects such as the tone of voice, grammar rules, colour palette and imagery. These brand guidelines should be utilised on websites, social media profiles and online directories.
• Be SEO savvy. Businesses can elevate their position in search engine rankings and boost their brand visibility by leveraging SEO strategies. For instance, they can insert audience-specific keywords into meta descriptions and always share high-quality, user-friendly content.
• Track the brand. A single bad review could set a brand off course, so there’s no time to rest even when an online presence is already established. Organisations may utilise social media listening tools and other technology to stay abreast of conversations about their brand and continually track their online presence.

Conclusion

Negative reviews can be intimidating for many organisations. However, with proper management and adequate online reputation-building efforts, organisations can leverage negative reviews to further develop their brand and bolster consumer trust. Contact us today for additional risk management solutions.