Warning: Ignore at your own risk

What do you do when someone posts a negative online comment about your product or service?  

Whether or not it is a fair comment, it may influence readers purchase decisions.  How you handle the situation can make an even bigger difference.    

How to respond

1. Think 10 times before removing a negative comment. It can be tempting to remove these negative comments if you have the administrative capability. Don’t.
2. Trust the readers.  Readers will evaluate the credibility of individual posters and make their own decisions.  They will also evaluate your credibility.  If they catch you removing negative comments, your credibility and the credibility of all the positive comments go down the drain.  It is better to leave the comment as is.  If it is out of line, other commenters may step up themselves. 
3. Provide a constructive response. This provides the opportunity for a balanced discussion.  What a great thing it would be if you can actually foster a discussion.  You might respond directly to the criticism.  Or, you might redirect thinking by expressing the positive intent of your product or service.
4. If necessary, take it off-line.  Give them an email address or phone number and promise to work with them to resolve the issue.  A public response may end the negative discussion and demonstrates to other readers that you are following through.

Example of a response that  influenced the purchase decision

Last night I was checking out the business books on Amazon.   Reading the user reviews wasn’t proving helpful because the 5 star reviews were so vague that it was hard to tell if they actually read the book.  Then there was the post from a man named Bob who gave a less that flattering review.  It had impact because

• It was negative.  People tend to remember the negatives.
• It was contrary to what everyone else said.
• It was clear that he actually read the book.  He had credibility.

Subsequent posts thanked him for his honest feedback and indicated they might not buy the book.  In my own case, I started thinking about my favorite free library instead of making the decision to buy.

Here’s what turned the tide

The author of the book responded personally.  He made a statement about why he thought the book was good.  He expressed confidence in his product.  He said he was so confident that his book makes a difference that he offered to buy it back himself and re-sell it.  He implied confidence that others were just waiting in line to get their hands on that book.

The author’s response hit a perfect tone for the readers.  After that, posters offered to buy the book themselves.  They praised the author for being responsive.  They praised his coming to the Amazon site to comment.  They became loyal followers because of his response to a negative post, not because they had read the book yet. 

That is the power of  internet comments.  I welcome yours and promise to respond.