Dealing with negative Google review

A business owner’s worst nightmare: after investing a lot of time, effort, and sweat into the enterprise they have worked so hard to create, POOF! One disgruntled client with a grudge tarnishes your hard-earned reputation. In addition, Google’s search algorithm considers good evaluations and pulls them from Facebook, Yelp, and other review sites besides Google. According to your number of reviews, one unhappy customer can destroy your rankings. There are strategies for client pleasure, lessen the harm to your business’s reputation, and improve the SEO of your website. You may find brief instructions that will walk you through each step below. Pass right past these and never again be responsible for a customer’s unpleasant day!

So you received a poor review. Avoid panicking or yelling. 

You might feel like yelling at the person behind a negative or false Google or Yelp review or want to grab the closest sharp object and go for a quick drive. You must avoid carrying out either of those actions. Every company has at least one unfavorable review, so it’s hardly the world’s end. There is a well-established notion that no publicity is bad publicity, and some study has even suggested that negative evaluations promote sales. Therefore, take a deep breath, relax, and move on to step two.

Analyze the Situation 

If the review is genuine, you must address the first issue. Sometimes rival businesses or strangers you’ve never met leave fake evaluations. Here is an illustration of a fake review that a client just received. Check your data to discover if the person who left a negative review is one of your customers after learning about it. This individual turned out to be untrue. Look at what they purchased if they were a former customer. Take a look at the service’s duration. Take note of the calls to customer service. The more information you have, the more prepared you are to deal with it and stop it from happening again.

Quickly respond to unfavorable or false reviews. 

You still need to respond even if you know the negative review was bogus. It is why: 

Remember that by appeasing the critic, you are also demonstrating to potential customers how you handle unhappy clients. Regardless of the kind of bad review you get, act swiftly. Prospects can see that you care about their needs if you take prompt action. Most of the people who read your evaluations are those who are considering buying from you. Not only do you need to appease the unhappy customer, but you also need to reassure other customers that the same thing won’t happen to them. If someone wrote a false review, meaning they had never visited your restaurant, purchased your goods, or gotten your services:

• Address the issue and express regret for the disappointment. 
• Declare that despite them having been a past customer, you need help finding them in your database. 
• Please give them your contact information and offer to help them. 
• Mark the review as bogus or report it. 

You ALWAYS reply because even if you highlighted the review, prospects might still see it, or it might not be removed. 

If a customer wasn’t happy with your service or item: 

• Even if their criticism is only partially or 1% true, respond to it and accept responsibility. 
• Make no excuses; they are like assholes; we all have them, and they are all rotten. 
• If there is a valid explanation why the service or product they received was considered poor quality, be upfront about it and guarantee it won’t happen again. 
• Offer to address the issue.

If a Google review is fake, you can remove, flag, or dispute it. 

Google allows you to mark reviews as fraudulent so they can be deleted. As follows: 

• Open Google Maps and look for your establishment there. 
• To identify the review you want to flag, view all of your reviews here. 
• Opt for “Flag as inappropriate” by clicking the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.

Furthermore, it doesn’t end there. There are two additional ways to take the situation further: 

• Follow up on the status of your flagged review by calling Google. An option for help should be located at the bottom of the menu on the left. Then click.
•  You DO have the option to submit a legal removal request through a Google form if the review qualifies as defamatory and untrue. Grab your nearest legal expert before you take this path because these requirements are rather strict. 

Fix the Problem—Even If It Takes Work

When I tell business owners that they need to modify the way they conduct their operations, they typically respond with gritted teeth and a terrified expression. That is understandable to me. Any change to how you conduct business might be difficult, but in this case, it is necessary. It’s not them—you if you consistently receive bad feedback or have received several. Directed at you or your business; perhaps the consumer was having a bad day. However, it would be best if you put out a lot of work to correct it when there is an issue with the service or a defective product. 

Keep an eye on your negative reviews. 

Maintaining awareness of events can make your Google negative review positive. Most of the time, folks who leave a negative review are just trying to get something rectified and want you to be understanding. For instance, if a customer had a problem with your service and you promptly repaired it, you could persuade them to modify their review from negative to good. That has happened MANY times before.

After the owner exhibits a little common decency, it’s uncommon for consumers to change a 1-star review to a 4-star rating.

They might leave you another review if the site the review is on doesn’t permit modifications. 

Stop Negative Review Directories like Google, Yelp, Facebook, and others 

Getting as many evaluations as possible will help to drown out any negative ones. However, avoiding receiving one is the best way to handle a bad review. Tighten up the way you treat customers. Spend a little more money on employee training.