You get up early in the morning, take a shower and make yourself a coffee. The weather outside is dreary, but you’re not meteor-sensitive, so you’re fresh, 100% motivated, ready to make the most of another good day, to take another step towards the success you’re striving for in business.
You sit down at the table, take a sip of coffee and check your phone for overnight notifications; the ads are going well, you’ve already secured a few sales; your last post has already gained traction, everything is going smoothly.
Three notifications down, but, surprise!!! A disgruntled customer left you a negative review… what are you doing? “I’ve got to make it go away!” is the first thought that crosses your mind. And it sounds extremely convenient.
But what if there is a more beneficial alternative?
What if, instead of wasting your energy trying to hide the dirt under a bushel, you have a way to turn the problem into an opportunity for your business?
In business, as in life, everything bad is for the best, because the bad that happens to you can bring to light unforeseen opportunities and show you the way to a higher level in your business development.
You can say that a negative review is a problem. That it is a break in the gears of your business, a criticism of your work, a crack in the relationship of trust that you strive to build with your business customers.
That’s why the defensive reaction is the one that always appears first in your mind.
However, leaving aside sabotage actions by competitors [it happens, it’s a fact of life, shame on them], good negative reviews left by customers can bring to light problems that you and your team either didn’t know about, or you thought the situation wasn’t that bad, so “it’s okay”.
Well, it turns out it can’t “just go on” forever.
A hidden review means neglecting a customer’s complaint who was so interested in what you had to offer, and had such high expectations of you, that when they felt cheated, they felt it appropriate to take up valuable time to express their dissatisfaction.
So what could be worse for your business than a dissatisfied customer?
Answer: an unhappy customer who also feels ignored.
Sure, they may choose to ignore you in turn at some point, and eventually lose you for good. “So what? There are still enough customers for me in the market, it’s not the end of the world”, you say to yourself.
And maybe so, but an unhappy customer will do far more harm to your business than writing you a negative review in plain sight; instead, he’ll be careful to give negative feedback about your business to all the people he comes into contact with, looking for the products or services you sell.
So, instead of thinking about how to hide a negative review, you should locate the problem raised by the customer’s dissatisfaction and consider the options you have to solve this problem.
This will give you the chance to turn a potential threat to your business into an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your customers, by coming out and showing that you are listening to their complaints, and that you are working hard to solve their problems, and they can continue to trust your business.
What’s in it for you in the end?
- Customer loyalty
- Recommendations
- More customers
- More sales
- A better performing business
