Unfortunately no matter how well you run your business you will at some point have to deal with negative reviews. Sometimes all it takes is one irritable or bad natured customer to come in contact with your brand on an off day for your team to get the bad review ball rolling. Imagine you were running a popular restaurant with an imaginative menu that has kept the customers coming in for months. Then one day, a diner having a bad day encounters a waiter having an equally bad day – what would you think the results are? Bad reviews are inevitable but the results of these can be successfully redirected if you can apply these strategies to your next rollercoaster ride of bad reviews:

1. You could start by minimizing the opportunity for negative reviews. Writing a bad review online is usually a last resort. A disgruntled customer would usually call first. They would only write a negative review if their issue or concern was not resolved. Deal with the issue promptly, get back to your customer when you say you will and perhaps you will be receiving a positive review instead.

2. Faced with a bad review, your first reaction maybe to defend your stand – however this is not the best strategy to take. Instead take time and plan out your response carefully and also try to respond privately as fast as possible in order to resolve the issue out of the public eye.

3. At some point, even if you manage to resolve the issue, the complaining customer does not revoke their negative review. In these cases it is appropriate to draft a public comment that thanks the customer for their review and discusses what measures you have taken to rectify it.

As a last resort legal action may be required based on the review being completely unfounded – keep in mind that this should be your last possible resort. Legal battles are messy and the consumer’s point of view is generally taken into consideration first so do not even consider this unless you are 100% certain you are correct.