Whether the review was fake, angry, or expressing a valid concern, it is natural to be upset by a 1-star review. No business owner wants to see a 1-star review. However, how a business responds can do a lot to help (or hurt) the situation.
Businesses should not take 1-star reviews personally. If they are fake, appeal the review. If they are legitimate, learn from the mistake and reach out to the reviewer quickly, professionally, and apologetically to offer an explanation and resolution. Then, focus on getting more 5-star reviews.
This is often easier said than done, so read on for 6 simple steps on what you should do about 1-star reviews.
1. Use Google’s Review Management Tool
The first step is to determine if the 1-star review is legitimate or fake (as in the reviewer wasn’t even a customer or is wildly misleading).
If you have a fake 1-star Google review, you can use Google’s Review Management Tool to appeal it.
How to get rid of 1-star Google reviews by flagging it:
- Look over Google’s policy on prohibited and restricted content (such as if the review is fake, misleading, or contains harassment/offensive content) to make sure the review violates their guidelines.
- Gather your evidence (be specific and include any proof you can of inconsistencies or that the person wasn’t a customer)
- Go to Google’s Reviews Management Tool
- Select your business and “report a new review for removal”.
- Click on the review and click “Report”
If your review is found not to be in violation, you can submit a one-time appeal of the review. Learn more from Google’s article on how to remove reviews from your business profile.
2. Don’t take it personally
Once you know it isn’t a fake review, you need to learn how to deal with a 1-star review.
It is important to realize that it is not a personal attack. Regulate yourself first so that you aren’t responding emotionally. Take a few deep breaths and remind yourself that feedback is good.
You can’t control the bad review, but you can control how you handle it.
Stay positive. Learn what you can. Address the issue. Then, move forward.
3. Investigate
Once you have a clearer head, try to be objective and honestly look at the review. What was the issue? What caused this? Have there been any common issues or themes? Investigate internally so you have a clear understanding of the situation.
This is important for responding to the reviewer and to show you the areas that you need to improve. Try to learn from this situation and do what you can to avoid the issue going forward, such as updating your policies/wording or staff training.
Monitor reviews to be aware of any issues or trends, and continue to adapt as needed.
4. How to respond to a 1-star review
The best practice is to respond to all reviews—the positive and the negative. Responding to negative reviews shows both that customer and all the people that read the review that your customers matter to you, and you are responsive and committed to improving. Seeing this builds your trustworthiness and credibility.
Before you respond, make sure you understand what your internal investigation showed and know the context about the customer and their order/service.
It is best to respond quickly (ideally within a business day) and to keep your response brief. When writing your response, consider these 5 important steps:
- Thank them for their feedback: you want to encourage people to leave feedback.
- Further inquire about the situation: don’t be afraid to ask follow up questions to get more details.
- Empathize: You want to empathize and validate their feelings, even if you disagree with the situation.
- Take responsibility: Apologize. It is a good idea to offer an explanation (if there is one) or clarify misunderstandings, but it is important to avoid arguing or being defensive. Don’t keep making excuses, shift blame, say it didn’t happen, or the customer misunderstood (or is the one at fault). While it is a natural tendency to want to defend yourself, being confrontational will only make the situation worse and will not make a good impression on potential customers who read it.
- Offer a resolution: Offering a resolution comes in two parts. First, make your commitment to improving clear. Second, offer a solution to their specific issues or some form of compensation (such as a discount).
Reach out directly
After you do this, consider taking the conversation offline and reach out directly. If you can communicate and work with the customer, it can help you make a connection with the customer. If the issue gets resolved, you can also ask them to revise their review.
Unfortunately, some customers are going to be unreasonable. The benefit of taking these conversations offline is that others can’t see the continued conversation. Don’t try to win the argument. You have done what you can. It is important to know when to let it go and move on.
How to respond to a 1-star review without comments
It is harder to respond to a 1-star review when they don’t leave a comment. When responding, focus on asking follow up questions and contacting them directly (or asking them to contact you). If you can continue the conversation, then follow the 5 steps above.
Also, sometimes you may find that the person didn’t mean to leave the 1-star review. If that is the case, ask them to remove it.
5. Focus on getting more 5-star reviews
Now that what you should do about 1-star reviews, the next step is to focus on getting more 5-star reviews to drown out the 1-stars.
To do this, you want to provide a great product/service and then ask happy customers to leave a 5-star review.
When asking someone to leave a review, you want to make it as easy for them as possible. Provide them with the links or clear instructions. A great way to do this is by offering them review cards that contain all the information. These can be handed out or included with purchase.
Contact our talented graphic design service for customer review cards you can hand out to your customers for quick and easy 5-star reviews.
6. Share positive reviews
Once you have more positive reviews, it is important to share these on your website, in your marketing materials, and across your social media channels.
For help knowing how to showcase this on your social media channels, consider our social media management service. We can make sure your business has an active online presence.
