In recent years, online reviews have become more crucial to the success of a painting business than ever. Over 90% of customers list online reviews as the primary factor in their purchasing choices. In order to maintain a positive online presence, it’s crucial to respond appropriately to positive and negative reviews. Additionally, properly handling bad reviews in the painting business is a clear step toward improving customer service.
Respond within a reasonable time
Once a bad review has been posted, everyone will put your next move under a microscope. Since it’s very easy to check out the time stamps for posts like these (on most websites), the swiftness of your response becomes a make-or-break issue. The first way for you to turn this situation around is to respond in a timely fashion. This will show your business’s attentiveness toward customer experiences and professionalism in handling bad ones. Your best bet is to take advantage of the first 24-hour window.
Try to turn the conversation into a private one
The excellent idea is to try and move any further discussion to a private channel. E-mails and calls are great “offline” options for other correspondence. If you keep communicating with the reviewer on the platform where they left their review, your potential clients can see all of it. The best way to accomplish this is by simply leaving the contact information at the end of your response post.
Include a subtle marketing message
There are many ways to market and advertise your painting business. The most popular option is usually sales promotions. But, one that might surprise you is that you can turn a negative review into a marketing opportunity. The main idea here is to subtly insert a phrase that positively describes your business into your primary response message.
Here’s an example – “Our business is usually highly appreciated for our amicable customer service and motivation to provide high-quality results, and we are regretful to hear that your experience wasn’t the same.”
Be concise
A good strategy for handling bad reviews in the painting business is to be concise. If you want to write a good response, it’ll be short and kind, and you won’t go into too much detail. Any further details should be discussed privately. If you get carried away and go into too much detail in your response, there’s a chance that the customer will become even more irritated by something you say. The less you say, the smaller the likelihood of this happening.
Try to reach a middle ground
Of course, it’s imperative to acknowledge and understand the client’s point of view. But it is also essential to stand your ground at certain times. Try to express your side of the story and reach a consensus with the client. Additionally, if you are wrong, it’s vital to establish exactly what your business’s mistakes were. This stops you from apologizing for things that aren’t your fault, and it also showcases your motivation to learn from your mistakes and truly understand them.
The point of all this is to establish where your business went wrong, apologize for it, and try to find common ground with a solution that benefits both parties.
Pro tip: Always try to have a set bonus or compensation for unhappy customers. For example, experts from nycministorage.com recommend investing in a few extra buckets of paint, which you can keep in a storage unit. Think of these as a safety deposit. Next time you get a bad review, you can offer them a lower rate using the paint you already have.
To wrap up
Handling bad reviews in the painting business can be tricky. But it is a necessary evil. A business’s online presence is more important now than it ever has been. Use negative reviews and unsatisfied customers as both learning and marketing opportunities. Try to find a solution beneficial to everyone and apologize for what you did wrong. Of course, there will always be difficult customers to deal with. But, what is important in this situation is that your business is represented as professional and empathetic.