This article was actually inspired by a LinkedIn discussion I was involved in last month. Sally from the Gluttonous Gardener, a lovely ecommerce business that offers an innovative and very nicely packaged range of gardening and foodie related gifts, coupled with excellent customer service, posed an interesting question – “How do you deal with customers who threaten negative feedback?”
I can see how this would be a really worrying prospect for an online retailer.
Where reputation really matters, how do you protect what you have worked so hard to nurture?
In the first instance, it’s always worth seeing if you can deal with the issue. As one retailer on the thread mentioned, there’s often an underlying reason for a customer’s dissatisfaction that may be completely unrelated to your business, products or service! Give them a call and talk it through. If the fault lies with you, then this is your chance to rectify it. If it transpires that the fault isn’t your own, then a reasonable customer will understand the situation, and it’s problem solved.
If you can’t catch an issue before negative feedback is left, all is not lost!
Negative feedback can actually be good for your business. After-all, who actually believes that the online retailer with the squeaky clean reviews and 5 stars all-round isn’t manipulating their results? Sadly, we’re all skeptics in this world, and many of us are strong believers of ‘if it’s too good to be true…’, so without anything else considered, a negative review at the very least makes you appear ‘real’.
It’s what you do after the feedback is left that will set you apart from other online retailers.
You’ve got a few choices. You can a) ignore it (not what we’d recommend); b) delete it (also not what we’d recommend) or c)respond to the feedback with and get in touch with the customer to find a resolution (definitely what we’d recommend).
Now unfortunately, there are the few customers (and thankfully they are the minority) that won’t be satisfied with your response and actions, regardless of what you do. It may be that their initial intention was to try to get money off – unfortunately not everyone is as honest or ethical as they should be. In this instance, there’s probably nothing you can do to rectify the situation with that specific customer. The value comes in how you respond publicly to the feedback – if you can demonstrate a commitment to customer service and an honest and open business approach, this really helps to build confidence in your business in the eyes of the consumer. Make sure you respond eloquently and with a response that communicates the steps you have taken to rectify the situation.
Your commitment to a high quality of customer service will be obvious to online shoppers and this is what really matters to them. Most people understand that no-one is perfect and that everyone, even businesses, make the occasional mistake. What shoppers care about is not whether you make the occasional mistake (and I mean occasional, not regular!), but how you react and deal with it when a mistake is made.
So, next time you receive a negative review from a customer, think of it as a good thing!
You can thank the handful of customers that leave that negative review for giving you the chance to prove to your potential customers just how good your business and customer service really is.
