How do you deal with negative feedback?
When you run a business, you will get feedback that might be either positive or negative. You might think and get worried about how I will deal with negative feedback. It might come from a customer who walks into your business, or if you run an online store, the negative feedback might appear on social media or be written on your website.
You will become upset and worried when you read that, but dealing with it calmly is essential. At the same time, you cannot ignore any negative feedback because if you do not immediately correct it, the customer will leave you; also, they will spread the word about negative feedback. People usually take time to talk about the positive image of your business, but spreading negativity is very fast.
It might affect you personally, but you must look at the right side of it because if a customer leaves you without making any mistakes in your business, you will continue to do the same. That will not help grow your business; in this case, you take the negative points and make immediate amendments to eliminate the wrong issues in your product or service.
Therefore, it becomes an essential point, and you must be grateful to the customer for sharing the knowledge with you as you learn to correct your mistakes. Sometimes, the client gives you a negative report without realizing they made the original mistakes, which prompts you to make a mistake.
I will give you an example: have you seen a business owner making changes monthly in hiring and dismissing staff? Besides, there is no definite number of hours they work, resulting in many complications in maintaining the payroll records. Then, they purchase many different types of products for a small amount of money from most of the world and expect to do the bookkeeping without making a single mistake.
The owner needs to understand tax systems, find fault with the bookkeeping staff, and come out with all the negative remarks. The best solution is to quietly let go of the client who lacks specific basic knowledge and does not trust anyone; it is not worth having a client like that.
Therefore, the mistakes are not entirely yours in all situations, but you want to keep your reputation; it is better to leave people like that. However, all that said, you must recognize negative reviews and answer within one or two days. Then, you have a more significant responsibility to prove yourself as a trustworthy entrepreneur to potential customers.
I am a businessperson who has witnessed things, such as some of the clients insisting that there are mistakes in our work. They need to gain the slightest knowledge of that area of work, and it is not easy to teach them that they are making a mistake. So, in that case, it is better to leave those clients and stop them from spreading the idea that we are making mistakes in our work. Keeping them with the business is not advisable as they will always stay the same but are ready to complain.
The best way to offer a replacement for the new product or, if the customer does not want another product, is to refund them, as you must maintain your brand without damage. Whatever happens, you should never lose your politeness toward your clients, which will escalate the disputes. Besides, it would help if you showed your concerns and compassion.