WHEN YOU RECEIVE
A NEGATIVE REVIEW:
Respond immediately
Customers expect a quick response to their review. The longer it
takes, the less likely they are to forgive the situation. In a recent
Google review study, 63 per cent of customers say a business has
never responded to their review.
Take if offline
Don’t try to fix the problem online; it might just make it worse.
Apologize and ask them if you can contact them right away to fix
the problem.
Follow up and make it right
When you fix a situation gone bad, you can turn an upset customer
into an office advocate. In fact, in another study by the Retail
Consumer Report, of those who had a negative experience fixed:
33 per cent turned around and posted a positive review;
34 per cent deleted their original negative review.
Use the review as a staff training tool
Building and maintaining a high-level
reputation online is just good business
and should be part of your ongoing
focus. Customers are going to continue
to look at online information to make
business decisions. Ensure what they
find about your business online shows
you care even when things go wrong.
Staff hate reviews, but you can spin this into a positive by highlighting
and discussing both negative and positive reviews when they hap-
pen. Also, take the opportunity to reward and incentivize positive
reviews so there is a bonus when good things happen in the office.
Trudi Charest is the co-Founder of
4ECPs, a business resource company
for eyecare professionals. 4ECPs has
six visions, marketing, training, social
media, payments, jobsite and events.
Trudi can be reached at www.4ecps.com
or [email protected].
OPTICAL PRISM | July 2018 41