Getting a bad review is the pits. You work hard, do right by your customers, stay on top of your invoicing… but that one bad day turns into a bad user experience, and before you know it your excellent rating has dipped. Or, worse, some disgruntled employee goes on a one-person crusade to bring you down online.
As a business owner, there a few things to identify before you take further action. Firstly, it’s important to identify the source. If you suspect it’s fake, look for significant spikes over a limited period of time and whether the writing style over multiple reviews is repetitive.
While tempting, it’s not a good idea to take down all negative reviews. Businesses operate in light and shade. No one expects a “perfect score” – customers are a suspicious lot. That said, if you’ve ticked off the checklist above and are confident it’s a false post, here’s what you can do.
Facebook:
- On your Facebook business page, on the right side of your company profile photo, you’ll find the reviews section.
- Find the review you want to flag.
- Look for the three dots in the right corner, and click it.
- Then click “Report Post.”
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
Google:
- On your google my business page on the left side find reviews
- Find the review in question
- Click the 3 dot menu
- Flag as inappropriate (learn more)
Of course, there are no guarantees that Facebook or Google will remove it for you, but if you’d prefer to turn off reviews completely, on your Facebook Business page click on “Settings” at the top, then “Edit Page”, “Reviews” and finally move the slider “Show Reviews Off” and click save changes. Google does not allow this function.
Ultimately, your best line of defence is to stay ahead of bad reviews in the first place. If you have 100 thumbs up, one thumbs down doesn’t shout as loudly. Follow up all positive transactions with a request to post a review on Google and/or Facebook. Offer an incentive – discount, freebie, etc – and your chances go up exponentially. imexpert partners with Reviews.io – together we can make the review process seamless. All reviews ratings collected are sent to Google daily, and are displayed under your Google Search and Google Shopping ads so you can stand out amongst your competitors.
Next up: Legitimate review from an unhappy customer? We tackle how to respond and turn the conversation around.
Also published on Medium.