Your agency just got a negative review on Facebook. The customer said some pretty terrible things about one of your employees. Or they complained about a rate increase. Or they claimed you didn’t call them back fast enough. Whatever the situation, they’re angry and now YOU look bad.
So what do you do? How do you do damage control to your online reputation fast?
Here are some proven steps you can take!
Monitor Your Reviews
The first step to make sure that you are monitoring your review profiles and getting a notification whenever someone leaves one. This way you know exactly what is being said and can respond quickly.
For Facebook, you probably already receive notifications, but Google can be trickier. Go to Google My Business and make sure to register your business name and address. This allows you to claim the location and receive emails and updates when a review is left.
Respond To Every Single One – Good and Bad
Now when your receive a notification, you need to respond that day if possible. Plan to respond to every review you receive whether it is 1 star or 5 star! Thank your 5 star reviewers for taking time to leave a review and helping your agency.
For the negative reviews, you’ll need to write a little more. First, always acknowledge their complaint and their pain, even if it seems ridiculous to you. If an apology is appropriate, include that too.
“I completely understand that you’re unhappy with our response time and I apologize for the delay.”
Next do your best to offer a solution if possible. You could offer to call them, contact company support, or take other action.
Remember that your main goal here is to show OTHER people that you are taking care of the client and willing to help improve the situation. The client with the 1 star review may be a lost cause at this point, but you need other people reading this review to see that you are making an effort to take care of your clients.
Studies have shown that the business owners response to a negative review is MORE important than the review itself! So ignoring them is always a bad option. Do your best to apologize for any mistakes, acknowledge their complaint, and take action when possible.
Get More Positive Reviews To Offset The Negative
As an insurance agency, negative reviews are going to happen occasionally. Someone will have a rate increase or get angry because they aren’t getting the rate they believe they deserve. We all know that there is nothing the agency can do about these situations, but you still often take the blame.
The best way to handle negative reviews is to offset them with many more positive reviews!
Your happy clients are often very willing to leave a review, they just don’t think to do it. That’s why asking for reviews is so important. By creating a steady stream of 5 star reviews, the occasional 1 or 2 star won’t do as much damage.
The easiest way to do this is with our Agency Feedback software. We’ll monitor your review sites and let you know when new reviews pop up (so you can go respond). PLUS we give you an automated way to capture new reviews.
Simply enter your client’s name and email into the software after you have a positive conversation (at new business, after an annual review, or following an endorsement). Then Agency Feedback will send an email on your behalf asking for a review! The client will be directed to your customized landing page and able to quickly share their experience.
The best part? (Well there are two.) First, if they AREN’T happy with your service, they’re asked to send you a private email rather than writing a review. The landing page handles all of this. (See ours in action here.)
And second? Get all of this PLUS our daily Facebook content for only $47 per month. Go check it out here now or call us at 501.547.8107.
Never let another negative review stop you from getting inbound phone calls and losing out on quotes again! Create a system of generating new positive reviews and quickly responding to negatives.
