This is a CRUNCH 'small bite' - a quick tip for our followers and fans.

Got a one star review and feel a bit sick? You are not alone.

In this episode we talk about what to do when someone posts a bad review about your business, product or service. We get real about the first reaction most of us have - hurt, angry, defensive - and how hitting reply too fast can make things worse.

HMC senior account managers, Emma Letessier and Vicki Jones, walk through how to pause, breathe and then respond in a way that shows you are listening and willing to put things right. They talk about when to say sorry, how to take the conversation offline, and how a calm, human reply can actually make you look more trustworthy to everyone reading the review.

We also talk about the upside of reviews. Good ones are powerful social proof. Tough ones can highlight gaps in your service and give you a chance to improve.

Key takeaways

• Do not fire back in the heat of the moment. Take a pause, then reply calmly and professionally.
• If you have made a mistake, say so and explain what you are doing to fix it.
• Write some simple response templates for common situations, then personalise them for each review.
• Reply to the good reviews too. A quick thank you shows you value your customers.
• Treat negative reviews as free feedback that can help you improve your systems and service.
• Keep your tone empathetic and human. People are watching how you handle criticism, not just what was said.

You're listening to Crunch from New Zealand PR agency hmc.

This episode is a small bite, a quick insight on a focused PR topic where we give business leaders some practical takeaways to implement straight away in your business.

Communications clarity in one little bite.

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Here we go.

Foreign.

Vicki.

And this is Emma.

And today we're going to talk about bad reviews.

Every business has had that heart stopping experience when somebody said something negative or given you a one star review.

But it's often tricky to know how to respond, what kind of things to say.

So hopefully we can give you some tips about how to protect your brand and even how to enhance it from that.

So why do reviews matter?

Do we think reviews matter because they give that third party endorsement or credibility to your brand or your company?

It's not you saying that you're really great at doing something, it's your customers vouching for you and that helps build trust for other people more easily.

Yeah, exactly.

But when someone says something negative, it's really difficult to know whether to respond.

But I guess you've got to own it, right?

And acknowledge if you've done something wrong.

Yeah.

I would always say respond like no comment is almost as bad as a bad reply.

Yeah, yeah.

Or coming up with lame excuses that just feel like you're being defensive.

Yeah, that's not really going to win you any hearts and favors back, is it?

I think it's an opportunity for you to own your values, let your company values really shine so, you know, being accountable if you've made a mistake, it's an opportunity for you to own that and rectify it.

True.

And that's one of the things that can be an advantage of a bad review because it makes you look at your business and things that you can improve on.

Yeah.

If you look at it in that.

Holistic way and if people see that you're doing that, then you might win them round completely.

It's hard, I suppose, to keep the emotion out of it as well and not to get angry and stroppy at someone.

Yes.

Especially because it's so public.

It's time to be professional.

But yeah, take accountability.

And I think you and I have talked before about perhaps having some FAQs, some frequently asked questions that would give you some kind of guideline and how to respond to different situations.

That can always be helpful.

Yeah.

But also I think not just have them as a copy and paste, but tailor them to the answer so it doesn't.

You're just Churning out the same thing.

Definitely be personalised.

Yeah.

And clear and concise and empathetic and friendly as part of that strategy as well, I suppose to getting your ducks in a row ready for reviews.

It's probably good to have a regular check in to make sure that you're responding because there's nothing worse than waiting months and months to get back to somebody who said something good or bad.

You know, you need an agreed person to own that channel and respond to them the same way that you would with your social media channels as well.

It doesn't look good to have that one star negative review there.

Not being responded to for months or just being responded to with a really generic response like, hey, thanks for your review.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because that information's sitting there forever.

It's discoverable at any time from anyone who searches.

So the good reply is gonna helpfully balance things out.

Yeah.

I think one thing too that I always tell clients when they ask me about Google reviews and responding to them, it's not easy to get a Google view removed.

And that's a good and a bad thing because it lends that extra credibility.

You know, it's not you controlling the narrative so much.

So when you do get those five star reviews you know, that you've removed really earned them.

But the other thing too is it shouldn't put you off putting yourself out there and asking for reviews.

Because a one star review I think is authentic.

You know, not everyone is gonna love you.

And I jokingly say sometimes to clients that your vibe attracts your tribe.

Not everyone is going to vibe with your brand.

So they might not be your ideal customer and they might give you a one star, but is there an opportunity to look at?

Maybe it's something you've done or they're just not the right fit for your business.

Yeah, yeah.

And all that is a learning experience for helping you build not just your brand but your business and how it works.

If someone's consistently complaining about something, maybe it's worthy of a complaint and you should go back to the basics and get it right in the first place.

Yeah.

So it's really important to take the emotion out of these replies, isn't it?

I guess whenever a review comes in that's bad, it would be really tempting to whack onto the keyboard with an angry response because as a business owner you're hurt, but it's best to take a step back and be calm.

Or maybe write it out separately and then reply objectively.

A lot of places use the opportunity to gift something or be proactive in a response as well.

To suggest someone tries something else on a menu or to refer them to another.

Another thing that is really good, just to be able to just engage them and spread the word about what else the business might have on offer.

Yeah, actually that's a really good point.

And so maybe you don't see that so much on Google reviews, but you definitely see that on TikTok was like, I'm thinking about the example of the woman who had the waterproof, or it was supposed to be waterproof North Face jacket and she was trekking in some mountain range in the south island and she did a TikTok review like calling out North Face and said, this would be so great if you could make this waterproof.

While she was still out there, they helicoptered out a waterproof coat to her.

I'm not saying that everyone has the opportunity to do that, but it's.

You can turn a bad situation something positive and that reflects your customer service, your attitude towards your customers and the values of your business.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And when we talk about what kind of recompense you might make, you might sort of have a preset list of criteria or freebies or offers or discounts or whatever that you can offer for a genuinely negative review.

Just apologize, be upfront and apologise.

So it's just the facts of life that the keyboard warriors are out there and you're likely to get a bad review every now and then.

But take a step back, think about what you're going to say and how you're going to respond and be honest and authentic.

Let your value shine.

Thanks for joining us today for Crunch, brought to you by New Zealand PR agency hmc.

Be sure to tap the follow button so you don't miss our next episode.

See you next time.