How To Respond to Negative Reviews and Turn Them Into Positive Fuel
No matter how many products you sell on Amazon, negative reviews are inevitable. As we all know, nothing is perfect. Reviews are a major deciding factor in how well your sales are performing. The majority of customers rely heavily on reviews to guide their purchasing decisions.
Positive reviews bring in more sales and show that you are on the right track. On the other hand, negative reviews allow you to re-evaluate your business and make necessary changes for improvement.
This blog post is an extension of our previous post, How to Remove Customer Feedback On Amazon. You can find it HERE.
Prevention is Better Than Cure
It’s easy to focus on positive reviews. However, negative reviews deserve more attention because they can damage your sales and profits. It’s important that you optimize your product listing with accurate, clear, and honest details to increase the customer’s understanding of your product. This helps reduce negative reviews.
Understanding your customers on a deeper level also helps you determine a way to respond to them. There are several reasons why customers write negative reviews. Here are a few that every seller will face on Amazon.
- They want to hear back from you.
- They want to let others know the flaws of the product.
- They are not happy with the product.
Responding to Negative Reviews
Did you know that 71% of Amazon customers post their complaint online as a result of failing traditional customer service? Unless you’re being trolled, a lot of times customers who post a negative review just want to be heard. This means you can possibly reduce negative reviews by posting a reply and offering a solution. If you solve their problems, they may change their negative review, or even purchase other products you offer.
Here are 6 tips you can use when responding to negative reviews.
1. Be Sympathetic
“There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear.” Empathizing with a customer’s complaints goes a long way. Instead of getting angry, stay calm, put yourself in their position, and respond in a polite manner.
Remember to stay professional and provide an apology to customers even if it might be their mistake. Showing compassion to your customers portrays you as a brand that cares for your customer’s needs.
2. Respond Promptly
This brings us to my second point: promptly respond to negative reviews. Responding within 24 hours shows that you take customer feedback seriously and actively listen to their needs. Never neglect a negative review. It may damage your product listing.
If you have your hands full, consider hiring customer support to take care of responding to negative feedback. Thanks to instant gratification, we want our needs filled immediately. If any negative customer experience happens, expect them to respond quickly. Respond promptly and resolve the issue to show them you care.
3. Offer to Make it Right
Always offer to right your wrongs when dealing with negative reviews. If a customer is unhappy about the dent or scratch in the product, quickly offer a replacement. Customers will thank you for your great customer service and might even reward you with a 5-star review.
Note that Amazon US now offers two ways to help delight your customers: the customer returns tool and free replacements for customers. Learn more about how to use these FBA tools HERE.
4. Identify and Report Fake Reviews
Electronics is a category that contains the highest amount of fake reviews. These are mostly paid reviews offering free samples in exchange for “honest” opinions. Fake reviews could be a 5-star review promoting the product, or a 1-star review bashing the product while promoting a competitor’s product.
5. Request Amazon to Remove Reviews
There are times when you will receive reviews about products not delivered on time, ugly packaging, or even broken seals. For orders fulfilled by Amazon, negative reviews are “neutralized” as delivery issues happened on Amazon’s end.
Amazon removes reviews that do not match their product reviews policies. If you notice a review that has no clear reason (i.e. “I don’t like it.”) or contains vulgar language, you can use the “Report Abuse” option under the review. You can also contact seller support to escalate this issue.
6. Make The Most Out Of It
If you receive consistent, legitimate negative reviews, it’s time to go back to the drawing board, strategize, and fix the issue. For example, if you sell a can opener and receive negative reviews complaining about the opener leaving sharp edges after using it, then this is a great time for you to fix the problem.
Always evaluate each negative review and work towards improving your product or service.
How to Gain More Reviews
There are plenty of ways to get more 5-star reviews without relying on risky black-hat tactics. Check out our recent blog post on gaining more 5-star reviews in 2020.
We at ZonGuru have developed a brand new tool for you to easily Bulk Review Request past orders to ensure you gain as many customer reviews as possible. Here’s how you can access this amazing feature.
First, login to your ZonGuru account and navigate to the Review Automator tool under the customer engagement section. Click on it and follow the instructions to get started!
Make sure to check out our new Review Automator tool and never miss a chance for a 5-star review again. Review Automator lets you easily send your customers bulk review requests that are in complete compliance with Amazon’s TOS, all within the Seller Central UI. Make sure you never miss the chance for a 5-star review. Watch our latest video to learn more!
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, we provided you with enough insight to help you respond to negative reviews and turn them into positive fuel for your business. Negative reviews are an integral part of Amazon and something you can’t avoid. They’re a constant occurrence you have to be proactive about. The key to handling negative reviews is to not take them personally. Everyone has their own opinions.
Originally published at https://zonguru.com.
