It’s been years since online reviews began appearing on ecommerce sites. Amazon popularized product reviews by recent buyers, and companies like BazaarVoice and PowerReview then made it easy for retailers to capture and integrate the voice of the customer into the retailing experience. Product reviews are now (almost) everywhere online. But how should retailers handle negative product reviews?
The issue of how to respond was raised last week by an audience member during my Yahoo! Merchant Summit panel discussion entitled “Social Persuasion.” It was a great question and generated some excellent feedback from my fellow panelists, Yahoo!, Sr. Manager Social Media Engagement Neil DeLuca, Top Right President Ron Pereira, and TurnTo Director of Marketing Cathie O’Callahan.
Understanding and Responding to Negative Reviews
1. Negativity is everywhere
A poor review can reveal problems as varied as supply-chain sourcing by the manufacturer, weak product design, poorly written/hard-to-understand product manuals, issues with your delivery partners (UPS, FedEx or USPS, for example), and payment processing issues (you charged for shipping when the buyer expected free delivery).
2. Become a moderator
Make sure you, or someone else in your company, enable administrative moderation rights (if possible) so you can review reviews before they go live.
3. What actually happened?
If you’re the moderator, you can hold back reviews and contact the reviewer to get to the root of the issue. The “real” issue could be any of the problems/misunderstandings listed above (#1).
4. Ask for feedback
You don’t generally receive reviews unless you ask for them so look in your database and generate a list of everyone who bought the same product. Contact them (usually via email), and offer an inventive for writing a review. A simple offer can be a discount coupon/code for a future purchase.
5. Withholding from the light of day
If you’re a moderator, you can bury a poor review, or pursue its removal if hosted on a third-party reviews platform, in a case where it is untrue or distorted.
6. Tell your side of the story
If you can’t remove a negative review or secure its removal, make sure you publicly explain your company’s position, explanation, and post-purchase efforts to “make things right” with the customer. If the reviewer’s complaint or account of his/her experience was inaccurate, untruthful, or beyond the normal buying experience, make sure you tell your side of the story. Consumers, generally, give retailers the benefit of the doubt, if the one complaining appears overly demanding or presumptuous.
When it comes to product reviews, the best option is always to be on the offensive (as in moving forward and being active). Make review solicitation a key part of post-sales customer service and contact. Ask for them. Incent would-be reviewers. Merchandise super-positive reviews whenever possible on your website and in your marketing.
These recommendations are even more important when the product receiving the negative review is one of your best sellers. If you’ve sold a lot, that means there are a lot of customers you can contact (#4) for reviews. Just make sure you do.
