The good news is both positive and negative reviews serve as opportunities to improve your brand reputation and strengthen the sense of business integrity and credibility.
To help you leverage those opportunities to the fullest, we have put together common types of reviews retailers can expect to receive and how you should deal with them.
TYPE 1: "YOU ARE AWESOME"
This is the category of reviews that come from customers who are actually your fans. They love your products and services and keep coming back for more while leaving positive reviews on your website.
So here, you don't need to do anything except feeling good about yourself and basking in the glory of positive customer vibes around your brand, right?
Wrong.
If utilised mindfully, positive reviews can help you further enhance your reputation and attract more prospects and drive conversions.
How to respond;
Thank the customer. Respond to each and every review in a personalised way to show customers gratitude and let them know you care about their business.
Mention your brand name in your reply. This will help your business rank higher in SERPs.
Promote your products/services in the comment. Many of your prospects would be reading your responses to assess your accountability and responsibility. Give them a reason to try your offerings by stating something interesting about the product or mentioning your upcoming range in response to your existing customer reviews.
TYPE 2: "I ORDERED SOMETHING AND GOT SOMETHING ELSE"
This is where you (the seller) messed up. You shipped the wrong item or the wrong size. Maybe, the item got damaged on the transit. The product got delivered late.
Slip-ups like these can happen when you are selling online and there's nothing wrong in it. What's wrong is not taking responsibility of your mistakes and not responding to such reviews and addressing the issue, which frustrates the customer even more.
How to respond:
Admit it. You know it's you who messed up, so own up to your mistake and apologise. Sometimes, even a simple apology does most of the reputation repair work.
Do not shift the blame on to others (the shipping company or the bad weather) even if technically it wasn't your fault. This will make you look even more irresponsible and will hurt your business accountability and integrity.
Emphasise that this isn't usual. Your prospects must be reading those not-so-good reviews. So, do let the concerned customer and potential customers know in your reply that this isn't how things generally work in your business.
