Are you a business owner who has felt disheartened by a bad review? In this episode, May Silvers shares valuable insights on handling negative feedback. As her businesses have grown, May has seen her share of both praise and criticism. She brings these experiences together with practical advice for navigating such challenges.
Receiving mixed reviews is inevitable as a business expands. May emphasizes the importance of maintaining integrity, ethics, and delivering on promises as a business owner. She advises against immediately reacting to negative feedback, suggesting a 24 to 48-hour cooling-off period to avoid emotional responses. She recommends printing out the review, identifying facts, falsehoods, and gray areas, and considering the reviewer’s perspective. Empathy is key—understanding why the reviewer might see things differently can transform a defensive situation into a constructive dialogue.
May outlines an effective response strategy: thanking the reviewer for their feedback, acknowledging their feelings, and asking clarifying questions without being defensive. She suggests reaching out via email or text message rather than responding directly on the review platform, aiming to have a one-on-one conversation to resolve the issue. This approach helps maintain professionalism and control over the narrative.
Patience is important. May suggests taking time to fully assess the situation and speak with the client before offering compensation or resolutions. She views these moments as opportunities for growth and, if needed, recommends a gesture of goodwill like a credit or gift basket to end the interaction on a positive note.
May urges her listeners to handle negative reviews with grace and professionalism, turning disgruntled clients into ones who respect and value your reasonable and fair approach.
Quotes
• “When you are growing your business and you’re asking for feedback, testimonials, reviews, there will be a mix of reviews.” (01:06 | May Silvers)
• “When you are growing your business and you get to a certain point that you are becoming big and successful and well-known, you will get people who want to sue you. You will have people who want to get a refund. You will have people who tell you that you are a money grabber and you didn’t fulfill what you said that you will fulfill. All kinds of things just to rattle you and also to get something from you.” (01:33 | May Silvers)
• “As a business owner, make sure that you show up with integrity, show up with your good moral values, have business ethics, and deliver what you promise.” (02:05 | May Silvers)
• “Don’t respond immediately because you’re responding out of emotions. You need to have a clear head to understand what exactly is going on, what’s the objective of this person when he or she wrote the review, and how to handle it the best way. Step away from it and calm down. Give yourself 24 to 48 hours. Then come back and read the review.” (04:55 | May Silvers)
• “Thank them for letting you work with them, thank them for writing the review, and then be empathetic and acknowledge their feelings.” (12:35 | May Silvers)
Links
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