Responding to Reviews?

[Lrogers]

We all know that there are people out there who leave bad reviews that are blatant lies. We have a situation where a consumer claims we said we gave brand new tires at time of purchase and that we lied. We never said such a thing and in reality her tires have been slashed and she wants us to replace them for free.

We are having a debate in amongst management on how to respond. Is it appropriate to call her out on having slashed tires (in a nice way of course). My personal philosophy is to be nice and offer further assistance and to never call a customer wrong. But I am curious what everyone else's opinion is.

 

[davidmoon]

I've seen dealers who go on the offensive, and I think that also makes you look bad. This is where good diplomacy comes in. Don't get overly emotional, state the facts, your willingness to work things out and never insult.

State your dedication to resolve the problem
State your availability to the customer
Summarize your side of the argument (Real brief, like the tires sold to Ms. Smith were good and free from damage outside of normal wear-and-tear)
The steps you took to work it out
Then restate your dedication, and an option to open the door for further communication

Consumers realize that problems arise. Handle it professionally with an over-willingness to resolve (if possible.) Pointing fingers and calling people liars really doesn't help. It's only going to encourage a volley of bad comments.

 

[ryan.leslie]

We all know that there are people out there who leave bad reviews that are blatant lies.

Frustrating, no doubt. Here is my 2 cents.

The thing you have to remember is that you are not writing a reply for the benefit of the reviewer, you are writing it primarily to diffuse that negative review for all of the unsold prospects that are going to read it down the road. There is a huge difference. This shouldn't be a debate, please don't get sucked in to that. The harsh reality is that 50% won't believe your side because you are the "big bad dealer" and the other 50% will lose respect for you for being confrontational in an open forum. As good as it would feel to vindicate your store, debating is a lose, lose proposition for a dealer.

The good news is that your unsold prospects are very perceptive and can sniff out a "crazy person" all by themselves. They want to see that you are actually paying attention to what is being said about you as that is an indicator of your store's awareness of the importance of customer satisfaction. The "non-crazies" will appreciate the reply for what it is.

I encourage my dealers to post an overtly high road response from the Dealer Principal or GM that shows you care but admits that there was obviously a disconnect somewhere and you are willing to do what is reasonable to make it better for the customer. Close the reply with your direct line and ask them to call and give you the opportunity to find out if there is anything you can do to help them.

Again, just my 2 cents. Now, bury that bad one with 10 good ones that tell a compelling story about WHY they gave you all 5's and you are well on your way to diffusing that negative review.

 

[yagoparamo]

Just like in real life; keep it cool.

 

[Jason]

We all know that there are people out there who leave bad reviews that are blatant lies. We have a situation where a consumer claims we said we gave brand new tires at time of purchase and that we lied. We never said such a thing and in reality her tires have been slashed and she wants us to replace them for free.

We are having a debate in amongst management on how to respond. Is it appropriate to call her out on having slashed tires (in a nice way of course). My personal philosophy is to be nice and offer further assistance and to never call a customer wrong. But I am curious what everyone else's opinion is.

Personally, I would go "Nordstrom" and replace the tires.

 

[joe.pistell]

We all know that there are people out there who leave bad reviews that are blatant lies. We are having a debate in amongst management on how to respond.

Hi Loren,

DON'T PAY THE RANSOM
If you have a solid Review base (good scores) and a good review volume AND if the customer is a wack job (aka liar) -AND- of you can craft a reply that is caring but clearly shows the customer is way out of line, then don't pay off the imtimidator.


PAY THE RANSOM
OTOH, if your review scores are 4.5 or less and with low volume, then consider buying the liar out.


My Managers let bad reviews lie around way too long. I am lobbying for the owner to pull any costs related to Reviews out of our ad budget as this TRULY is a marketing effort (thereby not punishing the managers wallets to fix a problem, so they'll get to it faster and with a smile!).

 

[Glenn Jimerson]

This is solid advice. Any sign of defensiveness or push back can turn a single negative review into a flame war. Some folks will never be satisfied no matter how you handle it. Even if you gave the person everything they wanted, they may never bother to change their review. At least people who come across the negative post will know you acknowledged the issue professionally.

I've seen dealers who go on the offensive, and I think that also makes you look bad. This is where good diplomacy comes in. Don't get overly emotional, state the facts, your willingness to work things out and never insult.

State your dedication to resolve the problem
State your availability to the customer
Summarize your side of the argument (Real brief, like the tires sold to Ms. Smith were good and free from damage outside of normal wear-and-tear)
The steps you took to work it out
Then restate your dedication, and an option to open the door for further communication

 

[yagoparamo]

Agreed with Mr. Jimerson, keep it cool and avoid a flame war. If you are not going to pay for the tires (since we have been talking about that) just don't pay for them and leave it there. Anything that you say will be used against you, period. I tell my dealers to bite their tonges and focus on the 99 customers that were happy and get them to leave a good review. Leave that 1 that is going to be mad no matter what, alone.

 

[davidmoon]

WOW! 264 posts, and finally someone agrees what I said.

 

[kevinfrye]

I look back to my eBay experience - if I looked at a PowerSeller on eBay that had 1000 positive reviews and few negative reviews, it didn't bother me at all. There is always a person who can never be satisfied, and most everyone recognizes that. When we get a negative review, we work to first see if we can resolve any problems with the customer, second - we train to fix any problems and become better, and sometimes finally, we realize that we will at times have a situation that can never be resolved to the customer's satisfaction, and we share our apology that we did not meet their expectations and move on...