If it hasn’t happened already, I assure you the day is coming: You will get a bad review of your business. The real problem isn’t the review, however. How you manage it is what will have the most impact.
I’ve produced some other content on this subject, but I do believe this is the first time I’m addressing the auto repair industry with the concept. By the time you’re done reading, it is my sincere hope that you will learn how to use good quality automotive content marketing content coupled with a little professionalism to weather the storm when — not if — the time comes. Let’s get right into it.
1. Don’t Ignore It
This is easily and by far the most important piece of advice I can give you. It has less to do with content and more to do with attitude, but without a plan of positive action, none of what I’m going to tell you next will even matter.
The single worst thing you can do when you get a negative review is to ignore it. You can also do worse damage responding. Is it a workable proposition or a hopeless catch 22? Ignoring it can be taken several ways. You can be perceived as indifferent, guilty, or arrogant, depending on the reader. I guess the real question here is: Do you want your audience to know what your attitude is about the situation, or would you rather they assign you one based on their own perception of your silence?
I’m sure you’re intelligent enough to realize that the latter would be a very bad policy, so let’s focus our attention on responding. There are direct and indirect ways to respond to bad reviews, and they can be equally effective. With that, the rest of the article will assume you’ve decided to actually do something.
2. Keep Things Business as Usual Online
Be sure to not let a negative review negatively impact how you engage your audience online. In times like these, it is easy to get a little defensive and start overexplaining things. Keep the things you post and the comments you make positive or neutral, even if someone decides to post a link to (or just mention) the bad review.
If that does happen, don’t be surprised if more people start giving the comment momentum and voicing their own concerns. It’s important to put a stop to that sort of thing as quickly and as diplomatically as possible, but how can you do that? You can do it by keeping your commentary on the matter brief and concise without mentioning the reviewer or engaging with him or her personally. There are better ways to handle it. That brings me to my next point …
3. Don’t Directly Address Detractors in Front of the Rest of Your Audience
Unless it’s actually your niche, people aren’t visiting your social channels, reading your emails, or following your blog looking for soap opera content. Once in a while, everybody enjoys at least watching a good flame war, but you can save that sort of online exchange for comic book fandom pages and the like. We’re talking about your business; do what you can to keep things businesslike on your page.
If the reviewer (or someone getting attention for posting the review) is stirring up trouble on your social channels or blog comments, do your best to deal with it one on one and off page. If you do respond directly on the review platform, keep your response below 100 words. Address the issue, thank the poster for their feedback, and thank them for reaching out. Repaying negative with positive here can really pay off, as can working with a professional copywriting company to develop a powerful, concise response. BeezContent can help with that.
You might also want to get some help developing an outreach email that can be sent to people who leave bad reviews. Form letters usually aren’t very effective, but having a good template that you can customize and send when needed is a good idea. We can help with that, too. More on that later …
4. Develop Content That Addresses Common Complaints or Concerns in a Passive Way
If it proves impossible to deal with the subject directly or if he or she isn’t responding favorably to your efforts to reach out, don’t fret. There are other more passive ways of addressing their concerns without spotlighting and embarrassing them.
The best way to counter questions about your ability to provide good service is to consistently deliver content that instills confidence in it.
However, don’t start posting content with veiled references to the review or the subject of the review. The reviewer will likely feel attacked and could stir up trouble on your social channels. Instead, show the reviewer and other readers how a professional responds to an unfair review: By keeping it business as usual and making it clear how good an idea it is for people to bring their cars to your shop.
5. Did You Screw Up? All Right … Admit It
There are times when transparency is the best defense. Has a specific review made news within your follower base? Is it raising specific questions about your ability to meet their auto repair needs? All right, then, address it head-on. The best way to do this is not with polished, sanitized content, but rather with a heightened degree of genuineness that gives you the moral high ground.
Use well-chosen words and your social media presence to publicly admit to what happened. You want to make several things clear here: you understand you messed up, you’re sorry, and you’re doing what you can to fix the situation. People expect competency, but most understand that perfection is not achievable. Be real about what happened. It will salvage a large percentage of your followers and make it much easier to do damage control.
If you find you need help with any of the above, we at BeezContent want you to know that we’ve got your back. We can help you deal with the aftermath of a bad review and give you competent guidance on how to use professional automotive content creation services to counter the damage.
Lastly, keep things positive and professional, and get help where and when you need it. That last sentence is the best recipe out there for getting past this little bump in the road. Just try to remember that that’s all this is …
