Let’s face it, unfortunately, all of your customers aren’t going to be happy all of the time — receiving negative feedback is inevitable and part and parcel of running a business, but it’s still a hard pill to swallow.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Negative feedback can provide you with valuable insights into what’s not working well in your business, and responding to it can allow you to reinforce your business values, which can positively impact your business.
You should always respond to negative feedback, even if you don’t particularly agree with it. Negative feedback is like a snowball rolling down a hill. The longer you leave it, the bigger it gets, and it picks up momentum along the way. A lot of the time the customer just wants to feel heard. Be sympathetic and understanding, even if you’re not convinced you’ve done something wrong.
“Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. We’re sorry to hear that you’ve had a bad experience.”
It’s likely that their bad experience does not accurately reflect the ‘norm’. Use it as a marketing opportunity to reinforce the level of service you would normally expect your customers to receive. Remind them that you’re not always bad, you just haven’t got it right this time.
“We pride ourselves on providing the best experience for our customers, so we’re disappointed we missed the mark in this instance.”
Avoid getting into too much detail or waffling in your response. This has the potential to aggravate the situation even more and can cause the conversation to spiral. Aim for 3-4 sentences max when replying to negative feedback.
If an unhappy customer is sharing negative feedback publicly, you’re going to want to take the conversation offline pretty quickly. If there’s a way for them to privately share their contact details with you, ask them for a phone number so that you can follow up with them directly, or give them a number that they can contact you on instead.
“We’d like to find out more about your experience, could you please send us your contact details in a private message so that we can look into this for you? / If you’d like to discuss this further, please contact me at [phone number/email].”
Even though this method is tried and true, unfortunately, it’s not always going to be 100% effective. Despite all efforts, there will be instances where customers remain unhappy no matter what you do and there’s nothing that will change their mind. Don’t let it get you down though, using this formula means you’ve given it your best go at putting a not-so-great customer experience, right.
