7 Tips On Managing Negative Facebook Reviews

Bad Facebook reviews can suck. They can harm business and perpetual negative reviews can be a nightmare for business owners. Bad reviews CAN help drive business though, if used as a tool and not thought of as world-ending.

The way to use it as a tool to drive business is to consider using human communication in dealing with people in this very online world. When someone is spoken to like a person, they often remember it's a person on the other end and not a robot.

Not responding to reviews, whether they are positive or negative, can be a missed opportunity in learning more on how your business operates as well as how people perceive it.

The first step in understanding any review is to understand why people leave them: they most typically want to complain--in a very public setting, or they want to share their great experience with the world.

When you see a negative review posted to your Facebook page, there are plenty of ways to respond, and the first thought of yours might not be the nicest. However, composing a short, non-argumentative reply is going to be your starting point to acknowledging their unhappiness with your product or service.

State that you understand the problem (even if it might be exaggerated) and show some sympathy that the customer or client had an issue. Tell them you're sorry, try to make things right, and thank them for their time, business, and feedback.

Finally, let the customer know how the issue has been resolved or what will be done to fix it in the future. Consider offering a discount or a small free product and avoid mentioning your business name or location so that the negative review is less likely to pop up first on a search engine.

If the person reviewing replies with another negative Facebook review, ask to move the conversation to a private message, email, or phone call and give the appropriate information.

Though we are talking specifically about negative reviews, when a positive one is left, make sure you thank that person for their time and thoughts!

If the negative feedback was left as a comment  on a post, rather than an actual review, you can opt to hide the comment. It isn't an end-all, be-all, but it can be a fairly quick and easy fix. However, it does not benefit you to hide comments just because they're "bad" or negative. It is much more beneficial to you to actually address a problem than sweep it under the rug.

When a comment is hidden, it is hidden from any other Facebook users and from your business page. It is not hidden from the original poster or their friends.

If the comment is completely irrelevant or untruthful, you can always report it, but sometimes Facebook is slow to respond.

If you're having a problem with a Facebook user who is constantly posting garbage content to your page (aka, a troll) ban them. This isn't highly recommended, but sometimes it has to be done.

The easiest way to ban a user from posting negative Facebook comments to your page is to use the ban button once you've hidden a comment from the user.

If there are a few keywords that pop up regularly in reviews with negative connotations, look at banning them. This is a great idea if there is an adverse or controversial situation affecting your business.

If the problem is a that a dead body was found on your property, ban all Facebook reviews that have the words "dead body," "found," and "property." Also anything similar to those or synonyms to those words. For example, "corpse," "located," or "land."

Also ban alternate spellings, those that use symbols or numbers in place of letters: d3@d |30dy

Make sure you are regularly monitoring the reviews that are posted about your business online, so that you can respond quickly and appropriately.

Imagine a customer has a negative experience in your business and posts a 1-star review. In scenario A, the customer gets a public response to the review and a phone call from the business owner within 24 hours. In scenario B, the review goes completely unresponded to. In which scenario is the customer more likely to be retained?

Make sure you have alerts and notifications enabled on sites like Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, and other review sites that are important for your business.

A reputation management tool with review monitoringcan also help to alert you whenever a new review is posted online about your business.

If you have a few harsh Facebook reviews, you may want to consider asking happy customers for their reviews , particularly when they're most likely to be pleased with your good or service. Use these positive reviews and comments to almost completely bury the negative ones.

If you've fixed the issue with the negative review(s) think about asking the now-happy patron to update their comment. This is unlikely to happen, even if these people are satisfied, but it never hurts to ask.

A bit of an extreme option, but you can disable ALL reviews to your business page. The problem is, this could affect your bottom line.

When people choose a business based on reviews, they typically know and realize that no one, and no business is going to be perfect. Also, most people (like 85%) read up to 10 reviews. So disabling Facebook reviews based on a few bad apples could potentially harm business.

We strongly recommend against completely disabling reviews! A better strategy to fighting a bad review is to consistently ask customers for reviews and build up a positive online reputation over time.

Whatever you do, DON'T DELETE YOUR FACEBOOK! Even if you think people don't notice it, they do! Considering all of the statistics out there showing how important reviews, stars, and feedback are, deleting your page should never be an option. And really, neither should disabling your entire page.

Responding to Facebook reviews (even the bad ones) keeps people engaged, it fosters a relationship with them, and retains business. Face the negative reviews head on, focus on the positive ones, and share your best reviews for the world to see!

This all boils down to the fact that you'll never make everyone happy and some people get pure joy out of raining on others' parades. Don't let the trolls win, it's bad for business. And remember, one positive review or referral can translate into thousands more.

Much like Google or Yelp, you can't hide from all Facebook comments. If you find yourself needing help navigating, do some research, read some reviews, and consult a professional.