Even if you have a stellar business that people love, few will actually take the time to write a positive online review. However, when it comes to negative reviews, you can have the opposite situation. There are aggressive and chronic complainers who spend most of their time writing reviews online. They prefer to be hidden behind a profile name, and are empowered by the internet because it gives them a loud and lengthy voice. The aggressive customer does not respond well to any kind of comment or rationalization because they can’t complain if there is a true issue that can be fixed! A chronic complainer is never satisfied and never stops whining. Visitors can identify these people simply by clicking on their profile and seeing the list of chronic complaining they’ve done. When an internet-savvy customer sees a chronic complainer review, they’ll usually ignore it.
Businesses should respond to both positive and negative reviews. But be aware, once a chronic complainer is pegged, it’s best to walk away because they will always have to have the last word. Once they see that you have left the conversation, they will move on to the next unfortunate target.
The best advice for handling customer reviews:
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- Manage your online reputation to know what people are saying.
- Respond to both positive and negative reviews whenever possible.
- If a review is negative, attempt to handle the situation offline with a phone call.
- If the customer is satisfied with your complaint resolution, ask for a follow-up review!
- Once pegged, ignore the ‘chronic complainer’ and move on. (They’re a waste of precious time.)
- Negative reviews are nearly impossible to remove, shift energy towards building positive reviews.