--- title: How to Respond to a Negative Review description: Get the latest on marketing trends in a cheat sheet form! Learn about mobile, video, social media, and content marketing! Plus Website Development Template! image: https://info.piccolomarketing.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images/1.20.17.png --- [![piccolo Marketing](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Piccolo_Oct_2016/Images/piccolo-wordmark-color-digital.jpg?width=750&height=388&name=piccolo-wordmark-color-digital.jpg "piccolo Marketing")](http://www.piccolomarketing.com/) - [piccolo](http://www.piccolomarketing.com/) - [Meet the Team](http://www.piccolomarketing.com/meet-the-team/) - [Cool Stuff](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog) # Piccolo Marketing Blog # How to Respond to a Negative Review Posted by [Anna-Vija McClain](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/author/av) on Jan 22, 2017 11:42:48 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Finally! You have a notification or email indicating that you’ve just received a review. As you’re taking the steps to open it, you start to think… “I hope it’s a good one!” or “It must be from that customer I just had – she was so happy!”   You open the page, read it, and your heart sinks.   A negative review.   RED ALERT. DELETE. DESTROY THE EVIDENCE.   Before you do anything rash, stop. Just stop and follow these steps to (positively) respond to a negative review. 1.    **Recall the experience.** A customer has taken the time, and felt motivated enough, to provide a review of your business or service. Take a moment to recall the customer and use this as an opportunity to improve a system, process, or service. While the customer may not be 100% in the right, there is undoubtedly a middle ground where the truth can reveal an opportunity for improvement. Don’t miss out on that opportunity. 1.    **Step back.** Now that you’ve considered the situation, take a break. Don’t respond immediately. I’m sure we’ve all had an experience where, in hindsight, our initial reaction to a situation was both inappropriate and exaggerated. Time provides rational insight that you will find incredibly valuable in a situation like this. Take some time to clear your mind and, after reflecting, come back to your response. It will be easier to draft a considerate reply with fresh thoughts and emotions. 1.    **Respond.** You most definitely need to respond. Carefully and thoughtfully consider how to balance respecting the experience and feelings of your customer with a “defense” of your organization. NOTE: your “defense” is not an argument. Instead: - **Apologize.** Let them know you are remorseful because a valued customer had a negative experience. Unequivocally, with no strings attached. You are simply sorry. - **Highlight your strengths.** Communicate a value that your company strives to uphold that is relevant to the situation. Underscore how your goal is to provide a quality experience for each customer and how you work towards accomplishing that goal. - **Stay positive.** Always. You know the old saying, “you catch more bees with honey.” Well, it’s true and it never helps to bring more negativity to a situation. If you take no other piece of advice from this blog, please always stay positive. - **Be genuine.** I’m sure you never set out to provide poor, or less than stellar, service. You can reflect those sentiments in your response to a negative review by being genuine in your efforts to correct a situation. Wishing you many 5-star reviews!       [![Get a Free 10-Minute Template to Design Your Website!](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2475195/6d47866b-2394-4e89-b92c-c4ee3d7ad7c8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2475195/6d47866b-2394-4e89-b92c-c4ee3d7ad7c8) Topics: [email marketing](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/email-marketing), [entrepreneur](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/entrepreneur), [mobile](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/mobile), [video](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/video), [content](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/content), [brand](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/brand), [marketing](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/marketing), [website](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/website), [trends](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/trends), [social media](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/social-media), [business](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/business) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Recent Posts ### Posts by Topic - [brand (30)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/brand) - [entrepreneur (30)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/entrepreneur) - [marketing (30)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/marketing) - [website (30)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/website) - [business (29)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/business) - [content (29)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/content) - [social media (29)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/social-media) - [email marketing (28)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/email-marketing) - [mobile (28)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/mobile) - [trends (28)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/trends) - [video (28)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/video) - [web (2)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/web) - [blogging (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/blogging) - [branding (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/branding) - [color (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/color) - [create (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/create) - [design (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/design) - [develop (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/develop) - [email (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/email) - [logo (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/logo) - [management (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/management) - [message (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/message) - [messaging (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/messaging) - [package (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/package) - [products (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/products) - [strategy (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/strategy) - [template (1)](https://info.piccolomarketing.com/blog/topic/template) see all