Marketing Monday – Online Reviews…Should Small Business Respond?

Should I respond to a bad online review? That is a question many small business owners and entrepreneurs ask. Along with the best strategy for responding to online reviews.

Getting a bad review online is probably not the end of the world, and it can even turn into a positive if properly handled. Before the dawn of the Internet you most likely would not know when someone was dissatisfied with your product or service, they just would not be a repeat customer. While it never feels good to receive criticism (especially in a public forum) it does offer an opportunity that you may not have had to win back that client or to demonstrate your excellent customer service to potential customers.

In fact some consumers see a product with absolutely no bad reviews and that makes them skeptical that maybe none of these reviews are real. No product or service is perfect and showing a few critical reviews may be helpful. This is true especially if there are many more positive reviews of the key features of your product or service or they see you have addressed the concerns and it will likely not be an issue going forward.

On a recent episode of MSNBC Your Business they presented a segment on this topic that had some additional helpful advice from fellow small business owners and experts.

As they discuss in the video the key to success is engagement, but before you engage make sure you are calm…don’t respond angry or in a defensive manner. Always take the high road with your response and be positive! If possible offer a solution.

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