How to respond to a malicious Google review
You work hard in your business.
You make sure everyone is kept happy. You send out quotes in a timely manner, you’re polite to customers, you pay your suppliers on time and you treat your staff well.
So it’s frustrating that despite trying your best, for some, it’s never good enough.
It’s important to remember that we are all only human, and we can all drop the ball on occasion which results in a less than perfect result for our customers. Sometimes this results in a bad review which is justified.
But what about those occasions when a bad Google review is unjustified?
Can I delete a bad Google review?
The short answer? No.
We can apply to have a bad review removed. However in my experience this won’t happen unless the review has gone against any of the Google review guidelines (mentioning individuals, absusive language etc).
Here's how to respond to a bad Google review
(weather it's deserved or not)
Here are some of the best ways to respond to a malicious review;
1. Ignore it – frustrating I know, but trust in your scores of good reviews to flood out the bad.
2. Acknowledge it – Respond with “we are very sorry that you have had a bad experience” and that “we would like to talk to you to resolve the matter”. Provide your phone number and/or email address and let them get in touch.
Prospective customers want to know that they can contact you in the event of a problem and love to see that you are addressing an issue and want to resolve it (you may know it’s a fake review but your customers won’t).
3. Respond with confusion. “We are very sorry but we don’t have any customers with your name on our records”, then invite them to get in touch to try to resolve the issue.
Google reviews are a place for genuine customers to review their experiences, not a sounding board for disgruntled staff or suppliers to vent their anger.
Those that are familiar with this sort of malicious content will read between the lines and realise that it’s a fake review. But, even if your customers don’t realise that it is, you’ve still responded professionally.
