Responding to Negative Reviews Online

5 mins read

06 May 2025

Your website and social media page's are shining representations of your business. Accordingly, negative reviews can take a toll on your reputation online and offline, whether those reviews are unfairly given or well-deserved.

As a business owner, you know well that your reputation can make or break your success. 91% of customers trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations. It can be upsetting and disheartening to receive a negative review, but you should never respond to a bad review with fire. So if you see a negative review about your business, take a deep breath and keep calm. The best way to address it is to be diplomatic.

Need some tips on how to diffuse the situation? Here's our top tips on how to address an unhappy customer and how you can even turn the situation into an opportunity:

1/ Achnowledge the Negative Review

A negative review, can sting. But your customer has taken the time to provide feedback, so it is important to acknowledge the feedback. Negative feedback is an excellent way to identify bottlenecks in your business and can help you and your employees to improve your offerings. Furthermore, acknowledging your dissatisfied customers and thanking them for feedback is an opportunity to let your customers know your open to two-way communication and that you value your customers. This may lead you to changing a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one.

2/ Apologise

Apologise, even if you do not think you are in the wrong. An apology shows that your empathetic to their situation. A simple “We’re sorry to hear about your experience...” can go a long way. Whether the customer is right or wrong, the fact that you apologise shows that you care and value the customer's business.

3/ Make it Right

Make it right. Your dissatisfied customer has taken the effort to let you know how they feel so why not go the extra mile to address their primary concern? 96% of dissatisfied customer won't complain to you but they will tell 15 of their friends. Show your customers that you're dedicated to providing them with a solution. This will help prevent negative word of mouth and might fix the issue. Use this opportunity to turn a dissatisfied customer into an advocate.

4/ Move the Situation Offline

In some cases, trying to solve issue online can do more harm than good. So aim to turn the online contact into a personalised encounter. It can be in person, over the phone or in a direct chat but bear in mind that you have to genuinely try to resolve the customer’s concern and allow both parties to come up with a win-win resolution.

5/ Keep it Short but Sweet

When dealing with negative reviews, apply the concept of ‘less is more’. There is no need for you to defend every point and prove your case no matter how unfair the review is. Avoid sounding patronising to your customer as it takes away your sincerity. Keep your responses simple, factual and authentic.

Customers remember the companies that pay attention to them. Anytime you see a negative review, keep in mind the above tips to help you sail through what can be an unpleasant situation. As inevitable as negative reviews are, they are also great opportunities to improve your customer service and business, look at your processes and find ways to keep bad reviews to a minimum. Remember that ignoring negative reviews is a form of connecting and learning from your customers. It's an opportunity to stop them leaving your business to never return.

Have your tried to above and you're still getting negative reviews? If you've tried everything to improve your online customer experience without success, let us help!

Contact Elephant in the Boardroom for a complimentary chat and keep your customers happy.

Email: [email protected]

Visit us at: 555 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

Call: P: (03) 7018 7620 or M: 0418 967 352

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Peter Durning

Corp Centre

Candace is a pleasure to deal with! She understands how important the image of our business is and delivers results to ensure the said image is top notch!

Jose Alvarez

JYGA Group | Project Manager

We really liked the high standard of customer service we received from the moment we decided to get the project done. Great communication and the website looks like ten (not one) million dollars. We were really impressed with the attention to detail and can do attitude from the team at elephant in the boardroom. All the questions we asked were answered promptly and nothing was too difficult. The website looks fantastic and we will definitely recommend you to all our business partners.

Kiki Makrogiannis

CO-FOUNDER | TRADE MATCHER

Elephant didn't just build Trade Matcher a website, they built us a Directory that could facilitate us in achieving our business goal: "linking locals". The team are excellent! Knowledgable, creative, innovative, pro-active and sensative to urgency. Highly recommended.

Launce Kent

DIRECTOR | WEALTH EVOLUTION FINANCIAL PLANNING

We engaged Elephant in the Boardroom to design and develop a new landing page, then website for our company Wealth Evolution Financial Planning. The website was built quickly, to specifications and it exceeded our expectations. Elephant made themselves available throughout the build 24/7 and made the process simple. We are ecstatic with the results. We have recommended Elephant to many of our clients and will continue to do so.

MMSG

DIGITAL CHANNEL MANAGER

A truely professional company that will deliver as promised and beyond.

PETROTTERS

Founder

Elephant In The Boardroom has been nothing short of exceptional. Going above and beyond to ensure my business succeeds has really helped solidify the relationship between us. We will continue to work with them as our business grows. We would have no hesitation in recommending their work to our networks.

Jo Marcou

Next Millennium Group

Big thank you to Candace director of Elephant in the Boardroom for bringing our vision and branding to life! Your professionalism and attention to detail is second to none - you have truly exceeded our expectations. Above all you were an absolute pleasure to deal with no task being to big or small, regardless of time of day! I cannot recommend the fantastic team at Elephant In the Boardroom enough.

Dr Joe Donnoli

Inate Health

Elephant In The Boardroom have created for us a wonderful, interactive and easy to use website. They are an up and coming company that are keen to stamp their name in this very competitive market. I am certain that if my dealings with them are anything to go by they will certainly succeed. Thank you Adi and Candace and we all here at Mount Street Chiropractic Centre wish you all the success.

Nestor Sequera

SN Integrity | Technical Manager