We have already told you how to find negative reviews of your competitors. In that article, we shared some hints about what to do when you find them. This post goes a bit deeper in the topic by showing what you should do the improve your service and get new customers.
There are some principles you should keep in mind when you try to reach out to the negative reviewers of your competitors:
- Never criticize your competitor
- Try to be empathetic
- Be supportive
- Give useful information or advice
- Avoid being aggressive
Improve your business
While you are reading the negative reviews about your competitors, you can learn from those reviews about how not to do the same thing. You can improve the way you communicate, and you can improve your service or products by learning from elsewhere what customers don’t like about it. If you need further suggestions, read one of our preview posts about how you can avoid or fix your negative reviews.
Be better where they fail
If there are specific sites where your competitors are getting negative reviews and fail to answer them, try to jump on that site. Make efforts to be visible to the dissatisfied consumers who want to find an alternate. If your competitors fail on Facebook, boost your posts to the audience they belong to; if they fail on Google, use AdWords, and so on. Be present and you will gain new customers.
Get in touch with the authors of negative reviews
You have already found the negative reviews, improved your business, and bettered where they failed, but what is the next step? First of all, try to avoid reaching out to the authors outside of that site you found the reviews. If it is in the comment section of a blog, write a private message to them or in a comment on their blog instead of making a comment on your competitor’s post. Engage with them without showing disrespect towards your competitors, as it can backfire on your business.
Reply directly to unhappy consumers
Yes, we just said that you should avoid responding to the authors directly under their reviews. But there are some specific occasions when you can make your move. If your competitor abandoned their social media platforms, their sites, or the comment section of their blogs or product sites on retailer sites, you can reach out to those customers.
Don’t forget that there are some instances when these reviewers stay loyal or leave the whole industry after making a negative review. Don’t be pushy, and don’t be aggressive if some of them decide not to choose you.
