Even if you're absolutely extraordinary at your business...
Even if you have boatloads of happy and ecstatic customers...
Even if you deliver an excellent product or service each and every day...
People can (and probably will) occasionally hate your business on Yelp! Of course, there's more than one way on how to remove a bad yelp review.
Yelp reviews matter to your customers
Bad reviews hurt. I'm not just talking in terms of affecting your pride either. It can ultimately hurt your bottom line when new customers see the dilemma.
Of course, the complaint is sometimes valid and may present an opportunity for your business to improve.
However, there's also times when the person is a chronic complainer and the internet provides them a voice to express their displeasure. Being anonymous on the internet makes these people easily able to share their hatred for your business and for all to see.
In reality, these types of customers are mostly douche bags. That's the technical term by the way.
Your challenge as a business owner, should you accept it
The most difficult part is that as a business owner, you rarely get a chance to rectify their problem first before they air their grievances for all of humanity to see. Really, it's a fair way of doing business. Nonetheless, your help reputation is something you're going to need to protect and upload.
Despite cool commercials like this one featuring professional actor Chris Kipiniak, best known for his work on Law and Order and The Good Wife, Yelp can make or break a lot of business.
How did you fix a bad Yelp review
Here's how some businesses are actively fixing their damaged reputation and turned it into a positive.
- Naturally, you should be getting ongoing feedback from your customers. Whether you just ask them verbally or have them fill out surveys, you have to be pro-active in dealing with it. One business simply asked every customer what they would improve if they could.
- Ask for Yelp reviews. Business isn't for the passive. If you're letting your customers review you on their own, you're frankly leaving it to chance. That make work for a few lucky souls in Vegas but most people lose and lose big with that strategy. By the way, it's perfectly legitimate to ask for reviews so long as those reviews aren't paid for or incentivized.
- Doing so will get you 90% good reviews and even though you'll get the occasional chronic complainer, their voice will be far outweighed by the happy customer base.
It's far from perfect of course but when you sit back and think about it, this is part of your "big picture" as a business owner. You should value your customers feedback, especially the thankful and gratitude feedback.
In fact, it may surprise you to learn that more people use it as a buying decision factor than people who don't. People who are actively searching online can easily see reviews of your business with a few clicks. it just makes sense for them to do a little homework on your business first.
Your customer knows that complainers exist in the world
If you have a few bad reviews and a lot of good ones, most people will give you the benefit of the doubt. It means you can still get the chance to do business. If you have an excellent product or service then Yelp is simply going to showcase this in a big way.
The reality is that Yelp is a powerful tool for your business if you use it as one.
