Negative Online Reviews: How to Prevent Them
Nowadays, your dealership needs to nurture a solid digital presence using customer reviews. This method has been proven effective since consumers will have high trust in the opinion of others. Moreover, testimonials increase your company’s visibility and add a sense of credibility and legitimacy to your dealership. Nonetheless, while having a decent collection of reviews is integral to the company’s success, you should still ensure that they are contributing to your good reputation and not ruining them. You must make sure that you have a limited number of negative online reviews.
Why Do Consumers Leave Negative Online Reviews?
Before you figure out how to deal with negative online reviews, you need to know why consumers leave bad feedback. Based on the study, there are three different reasons why your client will end up leaving a poor review about your company: service issue, product issue, and policy issue. Here are some of the possible outcomes that they want to see after posting them.
A Simple Sorry
Most of the time, your consumers just want to hear your heartfelt sorry. About 38.9% of the consumers want to hear your apology. Being empathic to what they have gone through adds validity to their emotion. It means acknowledging this by admitting your mistake. It would be an excellent way to fix negative online reviews.
How to Handle This Negative Online Reviews
For a dealership like you, you don’t want it to be just a simple case of admitting your errors. Others will read the review, and you want them to leave an impression that you are willing to resolve it. Say that you are sorry, but do not stop there. Ask them if they are willing to talk to you personally. You can also send them your personal contact information.
They Want to Help Other Customers
73% of the customers who leave negative reviews on your online dealership want to save others from having the same terrible experience. We know today that 97% of consumers are reading reviews before purchasing products or availing of services. The customers are also aware of this. They will be posting their bad testimonial as a way to warn other customers to be wary of your business.
How to Handle This
When dealing with negative online reviews meant to warn others, make sure to always respond to them. Never ignore them since your silence could mean that you don’t care about the customer experience. Start your response by apologizing. Even if you think that it isn’t your fault, you should still say sorry. Remember that the reputation that you’ve built for years is at stake. Save them from the stress, and you are saving your dealership. Tell them that this is not a common occurrence in your dealership and that you will make sure that it will never happen again. It will help if you try to move the conversation in private.
They Want You to Be Honest
We know that the car dealership market is filled with dishonest salespeople; about 16.6% of the customers will not agree with your protocols and policies. These people want you to be more upfront with your policies. Around 48% of the customers will post negative online reviews because they want you to be more honest with your customers. There may be part of your agreement that they think is shady.
How to Handle This Negative Online Reviews
Authenticity and transparency can significantly improve your business. It would be best to be more open to your clients. Sometimes, you only have to explain your policies in detail and why you are implementing this protocol. Be sure to walk them through your process during the initial consultation, and they will appreciate this. It also helps in managing their expectations. To respond to this review, say that ‘You are sorry.’ Tell them that you are looking for ways to improve your system and try to settle this privately.
They Want Reimbursement
About 48.3% of your customers who are leaving negative online reviews want some form of reimbursement or refund. Companies can do this by providing them with a gift card or digital credit. While it may not be wise to give all these customers a refund, there are instances when this could be an appropriate solution. Consider the situation of your clients and judge them accordingly.
How to Handle This
Customers will not usually say that they need a reimbursement. However, it will be difficult for you to find an apt solution. Apologizing is always the first step. Once this is over, you want to take the conversation in private. If you think that they deserve a refund, there are various ways to do this. You can provide them with a free service or add some features to their cars free from charges.
Some May Want a Revenge
It may seem painful to most of us, but around 13.5 of our clients would only want to damage our reputation. While you may think that it is just a small number, the consequences could still be unimaginable. You will need to know how you can turn things in your favor to ensure that your credibility will remain intact.
How to Handle This
Just as always, you should start by apologizing. Even though you have the hunch that they are just out for revenge, you should still apologize and maintain a rational and calm demeanor. When you want to fix negative online reviews, ask them what you can do to make things right or to satisfy them. Usually, these people will have inaccurate details and incoherent narratives, so it would be easy to discredit them, but you don’t want to do it. Do not undermine the knowledge of your other customers. They can quickly tell if a person is lying or not. You can always ask your customers to leave an excellent review about you to bury this negative review.
How Do You Prevent Negative Online Reviews?
Customers who are in the market to look for their next car will usually experience a heightened level of stress. You will find it challenging to satisfy them. Therefore, you will still experience dealing with negative online reviews from time to time. The methods we will share below can help you limit it or avoid a damaging review.
Provide Your Customers with Amazing Service
When providing your service to the prospects, be sure to always do your best. Pleasing your customer should always be in the heart of your salespeople. If this becomes the core value of your dealership, it would be possible to control the number of negative reviews that you are receiving. Make sure to treat all your clients like valued customers. By doing this, there’s less chance that they will go to the internet and vent out their anger and frustration. Preventing this situation is still better than knowing how to deal with negative online reviews.
Be the Customer
Think of yourself as the customer who is trying to look for your replacement car. Perhaps you think that you have been doing an excellent job. Still, until you personally experience what your customers are going through, you will not discover the policies and sales strategies that could disappoint them. Be sure to go through the whole process yourself. Try to talk to your online customer support using an anonymous account. Find out if they are too pushy in making sales. They could be recommending features that your clients don’t need. Check the procedure when applying for your financing option; it could be time-consuming and stressful. Try to fix all the things that may cause inconvenience. It will prevent you from dealing with negative online reviews.
Make it Easy for Your Customers to Contact You
Your customers will understand that there is just no perfect business, especially in the dealership market. Even the prominent players in the industry will often make some lapses. The secret to preventing negative online reviews is to be ready when these occur by making yourself available all the time. Posting negative reviews is usually the last resort of the customers. Usually, they will choose to contact you and see if there is anything you can do with their issues. It would be better to vent out their disappointments in private rather than leave them out in the open. Make sure that you have a solid customer support team in place. Whether you prefer online chat or a call center, having seamless communication with your car dealership is imperative.
Improve Your Line of Communication
Considering the previous point mentioned, improving your line of communication is another way to prevent dealing with negative online reviews. Do not just be contented with an email support system. You should also have a hotline number; other customers prefer hearing a human voice, especially when dealing with a problem. Understand that buying a car is a considerable investment, and hearing your voice can provide them comfort. Live chat is another excellent option; it would be the fastest way for customers to get answers to their concerns. As long as you give them more alternatives to reach out to you, there is a lesser chance that they will post a poor review about you.
Timely Response to the Negative Online Reviews
Allowing your customers to reach out to you is excellent. However, if they need to wait for more than 48 hours to hear back from you, this is unproductive. Based on the survey, more than 95% of the customers would return to your dealership if you managed to resolve their concerns swiftly. It is not just enough to have customer support in place; you want to make sure that you are functional and well-staffed. Be certain that you have enough people that will keep up with the calls. Ensure that your people can take the calls within 45 seconds; otherwise, 50% of them will abandon the call.
Stay Personable When Dealing with Negative Online Reviews
Your customer support is not just about solving your customers’ problems; your people should also be mindful when representing your brand. If you choose to give them a template, auto-generated, and robotic response, your customers will think that they are being ignored. Moreover, even if you manage to resolve their concern, they may develop hostile or unfriendly feelings towards your dealership, resulting in negative reviews. Rather than finding out how to deal with negative online reviews, you can prevent this by making your replies personal. Be sure to empathize; make them feel appreciated and understood.
Encouraging People to Leave Reviews
Customers will be pretty passive on the thoughts of leaving a review. Most of them will read a review, but not a lot of them will consider leaving one. Nonetheless, you will be surprised to know that 77% of the customers are willing to do this. It would be best if you were proactive when collecting reviews. You will be able to see a surge of positive feedback from customers who are eager to express their gratitude for the fantastic customer experience you provided. While this cannot fix negative online reviews, it will encourage the customers to focus their perspectives on these reviews.
Listen to the Negative Online Reviews
It will not be sufficient just to accumulate reviews; you will have to take some time to respond to the reviews. Check this article to learn about the proper way to respond to them. Treat customer reviews as one of your company’s assets. If you are receiving a recurring complaint, be sure to do something to fix them. It is how you can protect your business from negative online reviews.
We understand that it is impossible to completely clear your dealership from negative online reviews, but you can be free from its damaging effect. Once you encounter them, you should not beat yourself too hard. Stay calm and remember the things we mentioned here. You’ll be shocked at how effective and practical these tips are.