How to Rank in Google Maps: Step 4 (What if I get a bad review?)
Last time we talked about getting local reviews; but what if they’re not always positive?
The fact of the matter is…everyone gets a bad review at one time or another. Something out of the ordinary happened, and something went horribly wrong. It happens to even the best of businesses.
So maybe you have a bad review or two under your belt. How you respond is what counts.
You have two choices.
- Face it head on. Leave a comment right after the review and humbly apologize for their bad experience, then offer them a free night stay or a free product for their trouble. (And if they take you up on your offer, make it the best experience they’ve ever had.)
- If you don’t feel comfortable responding publicly, a lot of review sites give you the option to contact the person directly.
One of three things could happen.
- Worst case scenario, the person won’t respond and won’t remove the review. Think of the benefit though: you just publicly showed potential customers that your business isn’t about to let a bad experience happen.
- The person might take you up on your offer, and then remove their negative review.
- Or the best case scenario (and it has happened)? The customer replaces their negative review with a positive one, pointing out that a mistake was made and a bad experience had; but this organization did everything in their power to make it right.
Next time, we’ll talk about how to measure your success using Google Local Business Center.
Nicki Hicks
Sometimes a negative is a positive
Photo by httpoldmaisonblogspotcom
Tags: Google Maps, local reviews