Managing negative online feedback of your business can be challenging. There’s also a risk that if it’s handled poorly, it could lead to ongoing consequences.

The public relations experts at Adoni Mediaencourage embracing the conversation with your clients. View feedback as an opportunity to improve trust, influence purchase decisions and build brand loyalty.

Here are some of their top tips on how to manage negative feedback effectively.

Understand the problem

You need to listen and understand where the negative feedback is coming from. If the feedback is vague and confusing, don’t be afraid to ask more questions to clarify the issue. You want to be able to help the complainant as much as possible, while preventing others from making similar complaints. Also remember to take any negative feedbackas constructive rather than personally.

Respond quickly

It is important to give all complaints time and effort, making sure unhappy customers know they have a voice.Respond quickly and politely to demonstrate acknowledgement of the complaint and how you will work to resolve the issue. However, if a complaint is rude or inappropriate,take some time to construct a plan and suitable response.

Humanise your response

Interacting and engaging with your audience is vital to increasing brand loyalty. If they can see you responding to negative feedback and dealing with any issues effectively, they are more likely to re-engage with your brand.Often, just showing you’ve listened can go a long way to resolving a customer’s perceived problem.

Respond to positive feedback

While it’snecessaryto reply to negative feedback, responding to positive feedbackis just as important. Let your audience know that you value their feedback and comments. These positive comments can also act as testimonials for your brand that can help retain your customers and attract new ones.