How to handle online criticisms and comments

Annette Moran • 18 October 2019

Be positive with all comments.

With so much business carried out online, word of mouth and customer reviews form a vital part of any company’s reputation. After all, checking out other reviews of the business can often sway a decision by a would-be new customer.

So if you are getting nothing but five star glowing reviews, that’s perfect and your business will benefit – but what should you do if you start to get online criticisms or negative comments from people?

At LCM Marketing we can help you with a PR strategyto deal with negative online comments or criticisms and have come up with a few tips to help you protect your business reputation.

Do you know what people are saying about you?

The first step toward protecting your online reputation is to know what is being said about you and to see any reviews which have been given to your business or services. If you aren’t monitoring your reputation, you can’t protect it.

Decide if a response is merited

If you do come across a negative comment or review online then take a deep breath and think about whether it actually merits any kind of response – in some cases responding to it can open a whole can of worms.

You need to check if the concerns are genuine and if they are, then offer an apology and take the conversation offline so you can remedy the issues. You will be showing that you care for you clients without broadcasting all of the issues.

If the comments are from someone who is just trying to be a cyber bully then it might be better to ignore them rather than give them the attention they are seeking. After all, if they are trolling your business for fun, nothing you say will make any difference.

Check out the facts

If a complaint is genuine, then check out all the facts within your records and make sure you have the full picture before responding to them. This will show them that you have taken it seriously and you are looking to remedy the issue.

Decide whether to reply online or offline

You need to decide whether it’s best to respond online or offline which will be dictated by the nature of the complaint and the relationship you had with the client in the first place. If the issue involves confidential information, for example, it has to be offline.

If you do resolve it successfully offline don’t forget to ask them to update their review on your site accordingly.

Always keep your cool

Remember, never respond to a negative comment in anger – take your time to measure your response and always be polite and professional, no matter how the other person reacts. Never lose your temper.

Only respond to legitimate concerns

If someone continues arguing with you and it becomes clear they are just trying to provoke for the sake of it then wrap up the conversation as there is no point continuing with it. You should only spend your time answering legitimate concerns which could lead to improvements in your services.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with handling comments online or your PR strategy, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

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