Regarding effective online reputation management, responding to all reviews is crucial. No matter if they are on review websites, social media, or mentions on third-party resources, you have to demonstrate that you listen to your customers and their opinion matters. Even if a reviewer is not interested in your answer, many potential customers may see your reply and have a first impression of your business.
For some reviews, a simple thank you, or apology may be sufficient. For other reviews, pre-written responses to frequently asked questions or feedback may be appropriate. However, complaints require direct engagement with the customer to address and resolve their concerns effectively.
Are Complaints and Negative Reviews not The Same Things?
Negative reviews and complaints are similar in that they express dissatisfaction or criticism about a product, service, or experience. However, there are some differences:
- Emotional component
- Intended recipient
- Objectives
- Reasons
Emotional component
Complaints are much more emotional, expressing frustration or anger about the negative experience, compared to negative reviews, which may only describe the fact of poor user experience, low quality, delivery issues, etc.
Intended recipient
Consumers typically direct their complaints toward the company, while reviews aim to inform other customers.
Objectives
Consumers leave negative reviews to warn others about a bad experience. According to a survey, 26% of our users write reviews for this reason. As for complaints, their primary purpose is to get the company's attention and get them to respond and solve the consumer's problem. 20.4% of PissedConsumer reviewers want the business to solve their problem accordingly.
Reasons
The reason for a review can be any aspect of your business that customers interact with during the customer journey. In most cases, the reason for writing a complaint is poor customer service, which overlaps with the customer's negative experience with a product or service in the first place.
For example, the reason for leaving a negative review – a seller sent the wrong order. Reason for complaining on sites like PissedConsumer – when trying to return an incorrect order, the representative was rude and said it was not their problem.
Better to Resolve Complaints than Try to Ignore Them
Some companies try to ignore customer complaints in the flow of numerous reviews. Others look for various ways to remove them from online resources. However, both solutions will not benefit you in the long run.
As long as the complaint is posted, for example, on a review site, it will damage your online reputation because other people searching for reviews about your business will come across it. And they'll probably skip over a dozen 5-star reviews, but they'll read this complaint with interest.
Regarding removing reviews - there is a misconception that if you remove a review, the problem is solved. Many reputation management companies may offer to remove the complaint from your Google business profile, review sites, and other resources. But how profitable is such a solution?
Suppose you paid the money, and the review has disappeared. What stops a frustrated user from writing another review and then another? Trust our experience, when people find out that their review has just been deleted, instead of helping them, they will become pissed consumers and do everything they can to spread the word to as many people as possible.
Don't fight this losing battle with your customers; make them your allies.
Willingness to help and communication is the solution to the problem
Believe it or not, you can turn angry users into brand advocates. First, accept that your company has made a mistake. Second, show that you honestly want to help. Satisfy the complaint, and all the enthusiasm with which the customer was angry at your company will turn to praise.
Start communicating with dissatisfied customers, get into the situation, and try to resolve it. Yes, this approach may take longer, and company representatives must speak with an unhappy and sometimes angry customer. But in the end, you can save a lot of money and improve your online reputation.
The bottom line, all you need is the customer's contact information and a sincere desire to help.
Do I Have to Pay If I Want to Respond to Reviews and Complaints?
PissedConsumer stands out due to its unique nature, as it serves as a platform where frustrated customers voice their concerns and cry out for help. Simultaneously, businesses have the opportunity to leverage this platform to their advantage.
Recently, some businesses have asked us if they have to pay to respond to consumer reviews on the PissedConsumer platform. The answer is no, you don't. You can reply to your customers' reviews for free, in any quantity, at any time. You can respond using the "Comments" section underneath a review.
However, commenting may not be the most effective solution from an online reputation management perspective for some reasons.
- A reviewer can miss your answer. It can happen because a notification can get lost among other emails.
- Reviewers can ignore it. You cannot tell from email notifications whether a comment is from another visitor or a business trying to solve your issue. For many people, there is no great need to read a comment from another user.
- The platform does not display phone numbers and emails in reviews and comments. We do it for the safety of both consumers and companies because the platform does not understand whether a representative of this company leaves this phone number or email.
Many companies make this mistake of leaving their contact information in the comment, expecting the reviewer to contact them.
How PissedConsumer Solutions Can Solve Complaints Efficiently
Our business plans give you additional ways to manage your reputation and handle customer complaints more efficiently.
For example, starting with our $49.99/month Bronze plan, you can access your reviewers' contact information. How does this help you resolve a negative review? When a company representative personally contacts unsatisfied customers by phone or email, it shows a personal approach and the company's desire to repair their trust.
Read the success story of Shein, a Global Fashion E-Retailer. Find out how they decreased negative reviews by 53% and improved PissedConsumer rating from 2.0 to 4.4 using the Bronze plan.
Another advantage is that we notify the company about a new review before publication on the site. This gives you time to respond and resolve the customer's issue before millions of users see it. And these are only several advantages from the wide range of opportunities you can leverage.
In addition to effectively resolving current complaints, we can help you identify and address the root causes of negative feedback and complaints to prevent them from occurring.
Feel free to contact us to discover how we can help you improve your online reputation and customer services.
Legal disclaimers:
- While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide any legal, medical, accounting, investment or any other professional advice as individual cases may vary and should be discussed with a corresponding expert and/or an attorney.
- All or some image copyright belongs to the original owner(s). No copyright infringement intended.
