When you receive a bad review on your remodeling company, your first instinct will probably be to have the review removed. However, this review should not be removed. Bad reviews occur when there is a problem with the goods or services received. Instead of focusing on the bad review, reach out to the customer and correct the problem.
When contacting a disgruntled customer, handle them with the same empathy and commitment as you would a customer who has not posted a negative review. Make a commitment to make things right for the customer.
A technique employed by the Walt Disney Company can help you handle a disgruntled customer and turn them into a happy customer. Disney deals with more than 135 million people annually. Many of these are angry parents that are dealing with upset children. Take a look at their approach and figure out how to incorporate it into your business plan for handling customer complaints.
* Hear the Customer Out
Allow the customer to explain everything before you say anything. Many times, the customer wants someone to listen without interruption.
* Empathize with the Customer
Once you finish listening, tell them you understand how they feel and you will work to correct the issue.
* Apologize for Any Problems
When apologizing, make sure it is sincere. Even if you did not really cause the problem, apologize that the customer feels upset. Then, tell them that you will do what you can to correct the problem.
* Resolution of the Problem
Tell the customer that you will do what you can to correct the problem. If you are unsure what the customer is looking for, ask them what you can do to help them.
* Diagnose the Problem
In order to determine what caused the issue, you must look at what was done to cause the problem and determine how it can be corrected so it will not happen again.
This technique, known as H.E.A.R.D, was developed to help employees know what to do when a customer comes to them with a complaint. When a complaint is lodged online, it can be a little more difficult; however, the first step is reaching out to the customer and starting a conversation. When you reach out to the customer, do it publicly, but do not try to defend yourself online. Instead, post a response that you are willing to help and give them the contact information they need to contact you.
Your future customers often read reviews before deciding to do business with you. This is why it is vital to reach out to the customer publicly. If you were a customer, would you rather work with a remodeling company that gets defensive and lists why the customer is wrong or a remodeling company that demonstrates their willingness to help ensure the customer is taken care of and made happy?
Although you may know that it is better to make the company happy, there are many remodeling contractors that lash out at customer complaints. Instead of responding negatively to a customer complaint, do what you can to approach the situation with grace. When posting, make sure that you apologize for them feeling upset and ask if you can make things right with the customer. By reaching out to them and asking for an opportunity to make things right, you can turn a bad review into a positive one.
Instead of trying to get a bad review removed, try to drown out the review by offering a solution and following through with what you promise to do to make the customer happy. Many times, this is simply listening to the customer’s complaint and offering a solution to help turn them from a disgruntled customer into a happy customer.
The more that you focus on making the customer happy, the better your business will do. Work on finding what the underlying issue is and how to correct it can help you improve your business and provide amazing customer support.
Using the H.E.A.R.D. for each negative review and making sure that all of your customers are happy can help counteract any negative reviews. Furthermore, asking for reviews from all of your clients can help to counteract a bad review. Online customers understand that there may be bad reviews. When there are loads of positive reviews and only a couple of negative reviews, customers are more likely to buy or seek services from that particular remodeling company.
