Most likely, a customer is going to leave a bad review for your business at some point. Whether it’s a late delivery or a mixed-up order, some situations will make customers leave a negative review. While there is a tendency for businesses to categorize reviews as good or bad, focusing only on sharing the positive feedback, a less-than-stellar review can be useful to your business.
How to Mitigate a Negative Customer Review
Receiving negative customer feedback is not the end of the world. In fact, it presents an opportunity to improve your business. And it is not only your company—looking at your competitors can give you other ideas on how to better your brand. Your response to a negative review can show customers that you are concerned about rectifying the situation. Tip: There will be instances when the review is fake (all CAPS, the same statement again and again, complaints not related to your business, etc.). Those reviews are better left alone as they are clearly false.
Some customer reviews might require you to reach out to the customer privately via email, social media, or by phone. Whether you choose to respond to the customer publicly or privately, remember to their concerns in a professional and empathetic manner.
In addition, systems like Net Promoter Score (NPS) can help improve your business and gain more loyal customers.
How Net Promoter Score (NPS) Works
NPS is one of the most effective survey methods for customer experience metrics. The data that is produced from an NPS campaign can assist in the customer review process. The Net Promoter Score system categorizes your reviewers into three categories: Promoters, Detractors, and Passives.
Promoters are those customers that like the product and would recommend it to their friends. On a scale of 1-10, the customer would rate the product or service as a 9-10. Those that would rate a business a 7-8 out of 10 as a likelihood of recommending the product or service are considered Passives. The Detractors are those that are unhappy with the business and are likely to leave a poor review. They would rate their likelihood of recommending the product or service as a 0-6 out of 10.
The key to maximizing the Net Promoter Score is to focus on all of the feedback you receive, not just the Promoters and Detractors. The Passive group offers value to your score as well.
How to Turn Your Detractors and Passives into Promoters
It is usually easier to talk to a Passive than with a Detractor because they have a strong feeling about your brand. If the Passive was vocal about the negative experience with a bad review, they are more likely to respond if you reach out directly. By validating the Passive’s feelings, they can be moved up to a higher NPS ranking. For example, if a customer’s order arrives three days later than expected and they leave a negative review, sending an email that acknowledges the late delivery and explaining the reason it happened can go a long way. This is an opportunity to move the customer up the NPS ladder.
A Detractor customer, on the other hand, might not be quite as receptive to your effort to reach out, however, they can provide the best insight on how to improve the customer experience. They are often an untapped resource for new business for companies. The best way to reach a Detractor is with a very direct message that asks how you can improve on their experience or what they would like to be different with your product. It is even possible that a short email with a direct question such as, “What specifically could we do to improve our score?” By listening to their feedback, a personal connection is created, and they can be turned into a lifelong customer.
Close the Loop
After collecting an evaluating the feedback you’ve received, you actually need to take action and respond to your customers’ feedback. This is the most important step in the customer interaction process. Detractors and Passives can be turned into Promoters by asking for their feedback and then acting on it and let the customer know that the situation was remedied. This will increase their positive feelings towards your business, which will increase their lifetime value and improve referral rates, which will help your business both in the short and long term. If you would like to improve your customer experience and dominate your market, Centinal can help get customer feedback to better understand their opinion on your business.
