4 Tips to handle negative feedback from customers.

As business owners, when we receive negative feedback feels like a stab directly to our hearts, this feeling comes from the fact that we put so much effort, passion, and dedication into each one of our products that receiving a 1 or 2-star review feels so unfair, right?

I get it, and sometimes we have to accept that there might be some production issues which is normal when we are just starting our businesses; as we also learn how to improve the product or even better the quality, negative feedback can be taken as a learning experience or constructive feedback if learned how to handle them correctly.

However, some negative reviews are just simply….

Mmm....how to call them...

Irrational? Hurtful, baseless, or simply unfair?

Those reviews are the ones that touch a nerve inside us and make us really upset; now, it's easy to get angry and blame the customer by replying on how everything the buyer put on that review is false, but here are some tips that will help you provide excellent customer service and deal with negative reviews at the same time.

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1. Wait to respond.

Don't respond to the customer immediately; when you do, you are reacting, and sometimes our anger, stress, anxiety, or whatever the review makes us feel at the moment is not the best advisor to reply to a customer because you can be offensive and you may not use the right words to describe what happened.

Calm down, wait a couple of hours, if not a day or two, and try not to think about it until you feel calmer. Then analyze the situation and politely write a response.

2. Contact the customer first.

Before even replying to the feedback, contact the client directly through a direct message or email. Sometimes it might just be a misunderstanding, and if the client wrote something on the review that you can fix or help the client out, then reach out directly and do so, sometimes the client might even change the negative review because their issue/problem/question or misunderstanding was resolved.

Here's an example of one of my shops; the customer initially left a 1-star review stating she “never got her order.”

I reach out to her as follows:

She then updated the review, changed it to 5 stars, and wrote that everything was good with the order.

I also sent her a last message afterward expressing how glad I was that the "issue" was resolved and thanking her for updating the review.

3. Report the review.

For example, if you sell on Etsy, some reviews can be reported if they go against Etsy's policies.

For example, if a client is upset because a package got lost by USPS, or if they leave a 1-star review because the delivery of the order is delayed (carrier's fault), then you can report it to Etsy explaining why this review is based on a 3rd party issue and how this specific situation was totally out of your control (if, in fact, it is).

In this case, you don't even have to deal with the customer directly, and Etsy can remove the negative feedback from your store.

If you are going to report it because the review is about a 3rd party, I suggest waiting to respond to the review and just let Etsy handle it. If Etsy doesn't because they decided that the review doesn't go against their policies, you can leave a public response to that review if you wish.

4. Learn from it.

If the review points out something that you can actually improve or change on your product to make it better, make sure you take note and tweak or adjust the product as necessary to offer an even better version of what you already have listed. You can note those new additions in your descriptions or photograph the changes to show how your product looks better now.

If it's a complaint from a customer about something they might expect different from what they receive, which happens more often than you think, then make sure to learn from what they are complaining about and add those "expectations" to your product description and/or item details.

For example, if you offer a shirt, and your product photos also include a pair of pants to show how buyers can style the shirt. You may receive a bad review because the buyer expected the pants too (😒I know), then make sure you add to the product description a note that says something like: The listing is for the shirt only, the pants and any other decoration is for photography or product staging only.

That way, you will avoid those 1-star reviews where the client states something like, "I never received the pants. What a waste of money" (hello friend, the pants are not included; that's what the description says! 😉).

Well, you are ALWAYS going to get some unjustified, out-of-the-blue, non-sense negative feedback; I can tell you from experience, after being on E-commerce since 2015, that it is just part of the business.

Yes, they hurt a bit, but with time, you learn to let them go.

If you implement these tips, they will help you to deal with those 1-star reviews in a better way and move on faster.

But please know as much as you make an effort to provide detailed information, excellent customer service, and the best quality product; there will always be a person that will never be pleased, or the product will never be good enough for them or worth what they pay, so have this in mind when those negative feedbacks arrive and always keep going.

Remember, for 1 annoyed crazy customer, you will probably get 1000 happy, appreciative, and thankful ones 😉