Your website can balance out bad reviews

One of the biggest changes brought about by the internet is that it has enabled almost anyone to become a publisher. It has also enabled every publisher to find an audience. While that has a great democratizing impact, it also gives an outlet to every dissatisfied customer, disgruntled employee, and unethical competitor.

The problem

I’m sure that at some time you’ve looked online for a business and stumbled across a review for the business, their service, or their product. Take a look at a website like Yelp.com and look up your favorite restaurant. If there are a dozen or more reviews, you can be pretty sure that someone left a scathing review about your favorite dish. – They say it was inedible. Your favorite waitress? – Someone called her incompetent. – You get the picture. You may keep patronizing the business but others may be scared off.

Unfortunately, businesses are often caught off-guard by such reviews. They feel defenseless. Often the customer never gives the business a chance to address the issue before airing it in pubic. The business usually has little recourse to get such reviews removed. If the business has had only a few reviews, then the negative one stands out like a sore thumb. And it never seems to go away.

Your response

[box type=”note” style=”rounded”]Note: The following advice can make your website better whether you have negative reviews or not. As they say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”[/box]

Ask yourself what intangible qualities your customers value most from you? Think about qualities such as trust, competence, quality, promptness, integrity, fair return policies, workmanship, or friendliness? Or is it something else?

Now ask yourself if adding the following content elements might be effective in addressing some of those desirable qualities.

• the training your employees go through every year
• descriptions of some of the inspection processes, quality controls
• your customer policies – on returns, price matching, satisfaction
• the authorizing or regulating agencies, certifications earned
• awards won, recognition received
• success stories, case studies
• testimonials given by customers
• your memberships such as Better Business Bureau
• links to, or excerpts from, reviews in the media
• use of social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter so others can spread the word for you
• talk about the business principles or values you believe in – and cite examples of how you put them into practice

Being specific and giving examples will go a lot further than simply saying something like, “Our customers are like family to us.”

Some caveats

I’m not saying that you can treat your customers poorly, sell shoddy merchandise, and expect your website to cover for you. Instead, be honest and accurate in how you portray your business. What you do or say online should be congruent with what you do OFFLINE. For example, don’t say that you match prices if you you have a dozen exceptions – or if you don’t always do it cheerfully!

Don’t discuss specific issues you’ve had with complaining individuals. Your defense could trigger escalating attacks. Address it person-to-person if at all possible.

Maybe you got some negative PR for legitimate reasons. Let’s say that it came out that the tshirts you were selling caused an allergic reaction in several customers and it was discussed in the media. Own up to it. Rectify the problem and make good with customers affected. It may be a chance to say what happened, restate your quality policy, tell how you fixed the problem, how you’ve changed some things so it won’t happen again and so on. People can be very forgiving if you take ownership.  Caveat within a caveat: If someone actually got injured you may want to consult an attorney before publishing details online.

Do not, under any circumstances, go on review websites and publish positive reviews just to stack the deck in your favor. And NEVER, NEVER post phoney reviews about your competition. Both of these measures are unethical. And there is a strong chance of them backfiring on you BIG TIME!

Need damage control (or prevention) from bad reviews?

Bad reviews can come from unhappy customers, unethical competitors, or anything in between. You don’t have to be helpless. Proactive Public Relations strategies for your web content can minimize potential damage. And you can come out with an even stronger reputation.

Every business and every situation is different so it’s best to consult with a web content professional. Contact Added Value Web Services for a free phone consultation.

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