It’s commonly said that an unhappy customer will tell 10 people. In the world of social media, you should avoid negative reviews because an unhappy customer can affect hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands of people by leaving a single bad review.
Not such a long time ago, word-of-mouth defined your reputation. In our Internet age, it’s substituted by customer reviews. In the past, companies have threatened to sue customers over reviews and fire employees who get bad reviews. Michelin-rated chefs have even committed suicide when faced with losing a star rating. See our top five tips on how to avoid negative reviews in the future:
1. Provide an excellent customer experience
This is the cornerstone of everything. You should provide a great customer experience and excellent service. It might sound easy, but in real life, it isn’t.
2. Show generosity
As well, be generous in your refund policy and dedicate yourself to having the fastest and best-in-class call centers in your industry. Sometimes, you should consider going the extra mile in making things right – it may cost you more and take more time, but your future success and your reputation depend on it. A bad review can start a snowball effect when other customers start being critical of your business in a similar way, and you end up losing customers.
3. Have your SOP and write it down
We suggest that you set up caring principles in dealing with customers for your customer service. It can totally change your customer satisfaction. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers, and try to see things and problems from their point of view. We encourage you to write down your customer care principles in a guidebook and act accordingly. Also, share it with your team. If you have a bigger crew of customer service employees, you should invest in their training as well. Give them your guidebook and teach them, using your standard operating procedure (SOP), how you want each of your customers to be treated every single time they come to your website.
Therefore, you create a consistent consumer experience so they always know what to expect from your business. Write down how your employees should greet, talk with and say goodbye to your customers. How they should act when they deal with a customer’s problem and they start complaining about your product or service. How to give them reassurance and relief that you can provide a solution to their headache. All employees have to know what their role is in the customer service process. As commonly said, happy employees are the first defense against unhappy customers. The best way to instruct your employees is to use pre-recorded videos and training modules that you can use over and over.
4. Always ask about the experience
Another recommendation is to ask customers about their buying experience (most businesses don’t do this crucial step). Simply ask this, “How was your experience today?” The main point is to get to know if something bad happened and fix it rapidly. After the customer leaves, there’s a remarkably higher chance of a complaint showing up in your reviews. It’s even more likely if they feel like you don’t care. Once you ask them about their experience, you’re showing that you really care about them.
5. Add a complaint area to avoid negative reviews
Also, add a complaint area on your website to keep them on the site and to help give customers guidance on how to get in touch with your company. This way, they won’t complain in their reviews so frequently, but rather leave you a message on your website.
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