Did someone just leave your Florida Keys business a bad review? It’s OK. It’s not uncommon for businesses to get bad reviews sometimes. When that happens, it can even be an opportunity to show the social media world how great you are. Getting a bad review isn’t as big of a deal as it sounds. In fact, if you handle the poor review on your Florida Keys business the right way, it can even draw more customers to you.
Keep in mind that if your business is busy, there’s a slim chance that you won’t end up with a negative review. Remember that customers aren’t looking for the perfect star rating, they are looking at the bigger picture when they go to your social media page. The single most important thing to do is to respond to every single negative review that your business gets. If you have the capabilities to delete the review, do not even think about it! Never delete a bad review. The reviewer will notice that you deleted the review and rally their friends to let the public know that you are a Bad Review Deleter. If you delete even a single review, no matter how untrue it is, millennials will never trust you.
How you respond is also important. If someone had a bad time at your Key West bar, empathize with them. Tell them that you strive for excellent customer service. Only a level-headed explanation is acceptable. Don’t make excuses, but explanation are OK. Use grace and tact. Show that you’re a real person. Show them that your business is full of real people. Apologize for the bad experience. Explain how you will make it up to them or at the very least, ask them to give you one more try because their patronage is important to you.
If you show your humanity in responding to the bad review, you might even get an apology from them. Sometimes people are having a bad day and it skews their perspective. This can happen to anyone. When other customers see this real exchange on social media, they will also be drawn to your business.
If the bad review is on Google and you know that it’s a fake review, you can always flag it. Google will look into the matter. If they feel it’s actually a fake review, they will delete it.
Check in with your social media daily though. You will want to be sure to respond to any negative review within 24 hours. Some experts say it’s OK to take up to 48 hours, but the 24-hour rule is generally a better idea. If you don’t know how to put into words the proper response, find someone within your company that excels at that kind of thing or hire a professional social media marketer to do the job for you.
One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is offering platitudes. Find a new way to say that you’re sorry that they had a bad experience. Some marketers have found saying things like, “Oh no! That’s just awful. I wish that that hadn’t happened to you. We want all of our customers to have an amazing time here. It’s what makes it worth the extra effort. Stop in on Thursday or Sunday if you can so that I can personally try to earn back your business, please!” Something original and thoughtful will go much further than, “I’m sorry you had that experience. How can I make it right?”
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