Responding to negative reviews is one of the most overlooked reputation management strategies for roofing companies.
Accumulating more reviews is a great first step for your roofing business. However, the increase in review frequency often overlaps with a few negative reviews from unhappy customers.
As the founder of Roofing Webmasters, a digital marketing agency for roofing companies, I’ve worked with thousands of roofers over the past decade to enhance, sustain, and manage their reputations.
Based on my experience, review responses can make or break the perception of your business online.
Below, I outline six proven steps to respond to negative roofing reviews in a way that helps your brand.
Table of Contents
1) Respond to Reviews Quickly
Most negative feedback is a cry for attention, especially when relayed in a public forum, like a Google Business Profile or Facebook Business Page.
A swift response to a negative roofing review will show the customer that you value their time and are aware of their grievance.
Set up email alerts for your review platforms so you are notified about each new customer review.
This way, you can respond to feedback ASAP or assign someone in your company to handle the matter.
Quick review responses often quell the customer’s aggressive demeanor, leading to a more reasonable dialogue.
2) Thank Customers for Their Business
No matter the nature of the complaint, expressing gratitude for the customer’s business is a way to disarm their aggression.
Remember, this person took time out of their schedule to write a review of your business – even if it was bad.
Start your replies with something like, “Thank you very much for utilizing our business and leaving a review…”
An initial showing of gratitude can help soothe the reviewer’s inflamed perception of your company. It also shows prospective customers that you value your clients.
3) Acknowledge The Customer’s Problem
Agitated customers often crave specific acknowledgment of their criticism. Because of this, template-based or generic review responses are often ineffective for reputation management.
Instead, acknowledge their specific issue in your reply. As the owner, you must take responsibility for whatever the customer perceives as the problem.
Consider acknowledging the criticism in detail and thanking them for bringing it to your attention. Remember, the customer is always right – even when they’re wrong.
4) Apologize For The Inconvenience
Responding to negative reviews is not about your ego as a business owner; it’s about your customer’s ego.
With this in mind, apologize to them for their experience, whether you deem it to be warranted or not.
Regardless of the issue or who’s at fault, their experience with your company was negative.
A brief and straightforward apology, citing the specific issue or incident, can diffuse the situation and even prompt the customer to delete or amend their feedback.
5) Offer an Explanation or Solution
Customers sometimes have a point with specific criticisms, which may require an objective look at your employees or standard operating procedures.
Other times, they may form a perception of your business based on an isolated incident.
Consider Unforeseen Incidents
For example, maybe one or more of your critical staff members called in sick on the same day. Perhaps a supplier was late in delivering materials.
Unfortunately, customers aren’t always privy to this information and may sound off without knowing the whole story.
Provide Reassurance
When necessary, explain the circumstances that led to their unpleasant experience with your company and (briefly) that such a situation is not typical.
You don’t want to sound like you are making excuses, but simultaneously, you want to assure other customers that the negative reviewer’s experience isn’t the norm.
6) Invite The Customer to Talk Privately
If possible, use the reply to move the conversation offline. At the end of your response, tell the reviewer that you would be happy to discuss the matter further over the phone or in person.
Privatizing the conversation will limit harmful exposure online and give you a chance to win the customer back.
In addition, you may find a solution that leads to them updating their review and speaking on your attentive response.
If you view each negative review as an opportunity, you can mitigate harm and boost your reputation.
Don’t Let Negative Reviews Harm Your Reputation
The fact is that negative reviews will happen. No one bats .1000 (to use a baseball analogy).
The important thing is to be prepared when negative reviews emerge.
Our team at Roofing Webmasters can help you handle negative reviews with our professional reputation management services.
Using our reputation management tool, DataPins, you can easily get more reviews and effectively manage existing ones.
