3 Steps for Handling Negative E-Commerce Customer Feedback

Most?consumers trust reviews?from people who have used a product or service they’re interested in more than the information given to them by manufacturers.

That’s why they go online to read or view what others say before committing their hard-earned money. Positive reviews can help to persuade prospective customers to buy from your business, while negative reviews push them away.

However, receiving negative reviews doesn’t mean the end of your e-commerce business. When dealt with appropriately, they can be beneficial in building your business’s authenticity and credibility.

This post will show you the steps to follow when responding to negative customer feedback on platforms like social media such as?Facebook?and Twitter, third-party review sites, and product pages.

Here are three steps to follow when?responding to negative e-commerce customer feedback:

1. Research the Incident

Before anything else, you should?conduct thorough research?to determine whether the review you’ve received is credible. The reviewer’s account profile and purchasing history should give you more insight into their credibility and validity.

If you find out that the review is spam, go ahead and delete it. However, if the issues raised by the reviewer are genuine, ask yourself the following questions before crafting your reply:

• What made the customer write such a negative review? (Was it because of poor product quality, delivery, etc.?)
• What’s the customer’s tone? (How angry is the customer?)
• What immediate solution can you provide?

Answering these questions will enable you to provide a response tailored to the issues raised.

For example, if poor product quality is the main problem, you can write a reply offering the customer an exchange or a refund.

Similarly, if the customer receives a broken or damaged product, you should inquire with the shipping company to prevent such incidences from recurring. What you find could even lead to switching providers.

Maintaining communication with the customer (through email, phone calls, direct messages, etc.) is imperative if the issue takes longer to assess and solve. Let them know that you’re working on it and will give them a reply as soon as possible.

2. Write an Appropriate Reply to the Problem

Remember that your response to negative customer feedback is read by the affected customer and many other people interested in buying your products or services.

Therefore, you have to be careful when crafting your reply. Here are three tips that will come in handy for you:

Acknowledgment

First, you need to accept that a mistake has occurred and apologize to the customer for the inconvenience caused.

Assistance

Secondly, you should provide a personalized response to the problem at hand. If it’s something you can resolve right away, then do so, but if your team needs more time to look into it, let the customer know that you’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Assurance

Once the issue is resolved, you need to notify the customer and assure them that your team is doing everything possible to prevent the same problem from occurring again.

3. Encourage the Customer to Revise Their Review

After successfully addressing the customer’s problem, consider asking them to revise their earlier review. Of course, this will depend on whether they’re satisfied with your response.

A good way to gauge their satisfaction rate is by looking at their sentiments about your business after the incident has been resolved. Consider any potential future transactions and how you can help ensure they go smoothly.

Positive sentiments are a clear indication that they’re happy, so you can go ahead and request them politely to update their review.

But if this isn’t the case, continue following up with them until the issue is completely resolved and the customer is happy.

If you do this, such a customer will not only turn their negative feedback into a positive one but will also share their experience with family and friends and refer them to your business.

Final Thoughts on Handling Negative E-Commerce Customer Feedback

Getting negative customer feedback is part and parcel of doing business. You can’t stop people from leaving unfavorable comments about your brand, products, and services.

However, you can resolve the issue raised in a way that leaves the customer feeling satisfied and encourages them to revise their review.

The information in this piece should help you develop a base process for handling negative e-commerce customer feedback more appropriately going forward.

#marketing #ecommerce #feedback