One of the “joys” of gaining exposure via marketing is responding graciously to negative reviews.
What do you do when the bad reviews come?

3 Guidelines for Responding to Negative Reviews:

  1. Prospective customers are watching to see if and how we will respond.
  2. Keep everything positive. If we did anything we were accused of in the review, graciously acknowledge and thank the customer for expressing their concern, referencing how excited we are for the exciting direction we’re headed and our commitment to our core values.
  3. Keep the response short and sweet, but definitive. This is all we will allow the original poster to have to say negatively about our company; we will claim the final word here via our response.

To help you contextualize, here’s an example from one of our clients:

Negative Review

let jest say i will not send my kids back to this school. they our money hungry, disorganized, one of the educators called my daughter heartless, saying she didn’t appreciate the help she was getting in fact she didn’t understand it still they suspended her for three days because she’s forgot to check her Pace work and they like to call DCF on people.

Client’s Response

Hello [reviewer’s first name]! We appreciate you taking the time to express your thoughts!

We’re humbled by the opportunity we have to operate with excellence in all we do, always providing what is best for the care and development of our student body in a safe and nurturing environment.

We apologize that your experience with us did not meet your expectations. If you have further concerns, please feel free to give us a call: [direct line].

We’re excited for the new chapter [organization] is beginning, and look forward to continuing our pursuit of excellence in education and the academic, social, and spiritual growth of our student body!

Negative reviews will come, but you can extinguish the flames!