Steps to manage negative reviews

1. Respond immediately.
2. Be professional and not defensive.
3. Contact the person if you know who they are, and apologize directly. (They might be willing to take down their review.)
4. Solicit more reviews immediately from satisfied borrowers.
5. Respond to all reviews, not just negative ones. This pushes the negative review farther down the page.
6. Talk to your internal marketing team members. They might want to assist you in your responses to negative reviews.
7. Look at how other professionals have responded to negative reviews. Big corporation have large marketing teams; take note of how they handle bad reviews.

What should you take away from the review?  Reflect on what’s being said in the review. Is any of it justified? Can you spot patterns in your reviews? Could you have handled things differently or done a better job of managing the client’s expectations? How can you and your company avoid these types of reviews in the future?

Learning from what your customers are saying about you is one of the best ways to identify areas of your business in which you could improve. You might not initially agree with something one customer says, but if several different reviews come back with the same pain points, then you should examine your processes and consider ways to improve client satisfaction.