Even well-managed organisations have off days, which means that the occasional negative online review is quite a normal part of doing business. However false and defamatory reviews? Those can be irritating, infuriating as well as damaging to your bottom line. If angry customers, unhappy ex-employees or competitors post incorrect reviews of your business online, you don’t have to just take it. You may fight back without causing any further harm to your reputation.
The Worth Of Brand Reputation
Whether you are the CEO of the organisation or just an employee, you work so hard to establish your business and its reputation in order to gain positive customer/client reviews. It’s frustrating when a person tries to ruin that hard work by leaving a fake negative review online. In the age of “fake news” as well as sponsored reviews on Amazon, this can be a massive concern.
Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) is a potent asset in our line of work. It gets individuals talking and, today, potential customers/clients are becoming more and more likely to trust an online review (good or bad) as opposed to the word of a brand.
Consumer studies have found that:
- 85% of consumers trust online reviews and a personal recommendation
- 79% of consumers read a fake review in the last year, however 84% can’t always spot them
- 94% were convinced by an online review to avoid the business
That’s why it’s extremely important to take the time to weed out fake reviews before they can harm your business.
Take A Breath
First things first: Don’t take any action right away. It’s natural to feel angry as well as defensive when someone circulates lies about your business, however taking steps while emotional may backfire.
At the same time, you definitely don’t want to allow the false review to stand for long, or you risk customers seeing it and taking it as the gospel trust.
Take a couple of minutes or even an hour to blow off steam and proceed only once you’re calm.
