SPOTLIGHT BUSINESS Talk of the Town Drafting Your Response to a Negative Review Do Say... Don’t Say... “I understand…” “I apologize…” “I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.” “I’m sorry to hear that this happened.” “That’s not what happened.” “Actually…” “You… You… You..” This language is accusatory and doesn’t help to de-escalate a conflict “You’re wrong.” “Thank you for posting your comments.” “I remember…” “We would like to make this right.” Words such as attitude, rude, un- true, lies/lying challenging customers with Everest-high expectations. Read the owners’ responses and start to get a feel for what sounds good and what does not jibe. If you come across a negative review that’s completely ludicrous, follow the steps online to report it. Most of the time, if it’s a false or derogatory post, the host- ing site will remove the content from your business page. You may have to be per- sistent and contact customer support to share your reasoning, but I have seen success in this area. One example is that it’s not uncommon for ex-employees to leave reviews for their former employ- ers, which has nothing to do with the customer experience. There’s no industry that is free of tales from disgruntled customers. Thanks to scammer locksmiths, many customers come to locksmiths already anticipating a bad experience. On top of this, the se- curity industry is saturated in technical language and specifics, and this can be a source of great misunderstanding be- tween your employees and customers. A customer may feel slighted by not fully understanding the situation or process at play. One of the biggest areas for this misun- 30 KEYNOTES DECEMBER 2016 derstanding concerns requests for quotes. Here’s an example: A customer may ask for a lockout service call when he actu- ally lost his keys and need all the locks on the home or business rekeyed. That can be a fairly significant quote change. A customer could feel taken advantage of because, for him, his need never changed from the beginning. Language is so im- portant in our industry, and most cus- tomers don’t know this. A situation such as this must be met with empathy and understanding from the moment it occurs all the way until the res- olution, which might come months later when the customer takes to Yelp with his or her feelings. If a situation such as this leads to a negative review, it must be ap- proached in a very open-minded manner. Though you know that your tech wasn’t wrong, you must put yourself in your customer’s shoes and realize that, quite simply, the situation stinks for him! Your goal in posting a public reply must be to improve the situation. “The customer is always right” still rings true, especially when engaging in conflict resolution with an audience of potential clients. It’s critical to express that you hear and feel the per- son’s frustrations. A particularly scathing review can be thought of as a wound on your business, and your job is to immedi- ately treat it and eventually cure it entirely. Customers provide incredibly honest feed- back for business owners from the safety of an online platform, and we can learn a lot about our practices and their efficiency, or lack thereof, by listening. Your job is not to be right. Your job is to be kind, human and solution-oriented. You may not regain the trust of the cli- ent you are replying to, but you may gain the trust of the potential client who’s read- ing your response. The idea of responding to unhappy customers online can be ex- tremely intimidating, but when a response is well craſted, it can actually provide an opportunity to gain customers. Keep the conversation public, at least initially. Offer a resolution or invite the customer to contact you directly, if appropriate. Pay special attention to grammar and punctuation; you’re making an impres- sion and representing your company. Avoid disclosing personal information about your customer and their specific situation. There’s no need to go into great length or detail in your initial response. This isn’t a who is right/wrong war, but rather a chance to smooth what is now a public mishap —even if there was no actual wrongdoing in the first place. Keep your response short and sweet. You can also respond to positive reviews, though the sense of urgency is much less. A positive review can be met with a simple “Thank you!” or “See you again soon!” mes- sage. If you recognize a repeat customer, you can always thank her next time you see her or even send an email or thank-you note for the review. These little actions can have a big return in customer loyalty. A positive review also provides a great opportunity for you to acknowledge a staff member who has done a stellar job with a client. This can be as simple as WWW.ALOA.ORG
