How to Respond to Bad Online Reviews

In an increasingly digital, on-demand world, that’s so closely and quickly connected, it’s easy to find out about a business before you do business with them. It also provides an environment where customers can cast your business in a negative light on a very public forum. Let’s face it, you won’t please everyone that does business with you and that can easily lead to a bad review. Before you know it, others jump on the bandwagon because someone else has taken the first step.

What’s counterintuitive is not all bad online reviews are bad for business. For those who already know your company and appreciate what you offer, those reviews won’t matter. What’s more, consumers who read reviews usually do give deference, putting things into context. Future customers are likely to weigh the good with the bad and make an intelligent, unbiased decision. However, this isn’t to say that not responding is the best course of action.

Ways to Respond to Bad Online Reviews

When your company receives a bad review online, it’s only natural to do one of two things: label the person who wrote it as a blithering idiot or just ignore it. Of course, the former is a one-way ticket to the insanity of trying to win an argument that can’t be won or even resolved. The latter tells people that you just don’t care enough about your company’s reputation. While the second option will certainly do less damage, it isn’t necessarily the best way to go.

Most customers won’t write you off based on one negative comment. Many, however, will gain respect for your business if you respond to the comment in a pleasant and helpful way. Of course, that’s not easy to do when you pour your life into a business and someone bashes it online. Your immediate impulse is to return fire. Don’t do it. Back slowly away from the keyboard and collect your thoughts. —Forbes

What you ought to do is approach your business in a proactive manner, which you’re likely doing naturally. In other words, providing the best you can at a reasonable price, meeting or even surpassing customer expectations. However, it’s nearly inevitable that you won’t please everybody and out of those, there will be at least one that takes to the internet to voice his or her negative opinion. Of course, your business will be cast as incompetent, uncaring, or just bad all around. What you do next will determine how a bad review affects your business. So, try these tips to turn a negative into a positive:

  • Don’t respond right away. It’s almost cliche to give this advice, but it bears repeating. The more in-the-moment you are, the more difficult it will be to respond objectively.
  • Leave your emotions and personal bias aside. Yes, your company is your very life and you’ve pleased so many others, this seems quite unreasonable, but it might be legitimate.
  • Try to learn from what’s being said. Don’t just take the comments at face-value, dig into what’s between the lines. You might just discover that there’s something awry you’ve never noticed.
  • Be brief but clear. Your response should not be a novel and it shouldn’t go off into tangents. Make a brief, clear statement so others who read it can form a sense of the situation.
  • Offer a reasonable solution. It might be the last thing you want to do, but offering a discount, or something else to make peace can work wonders.

What you should never do is try to win an argument. You’ll look petty and it will appear to future customers that you don’t work and play well with others because you’re always in-the-right. Keep a level head and approach it with empathy, you’ll probably be surprised by the results.

[shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest

Related Posts

How Gomez Tire Grew Revenue 60% While Bracing for Tariff Pressure

.elementor-widget-text-editor{font-family:var( –e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;font-weight:var( –e-global-typography-text-font-weight );color:var( –e-global-color-text );}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:var( –e-global-color-primary );}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap, .elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-default .elementor-drop-cap{color:var( –e-global-color-primary );border-color:var( –e-global-color-primary );} A Family Tire Business Ready to Scale By 2022, Gomez Tire had outgrown the systems that got it there. Demand was climbing, the shop floor was full, and co-owners Alex and Robert Gomez knew that raw hustle alone wouldn’t get them to their next milestone: a $5.2 million revenue target by 2025. What they needed wasn’t more hours in the day — it was a stronger operational foundation. “Hiring John and his team has been a game changer for our company. Their expertise and guidance over the last year has helped build a stronger foundation for the future growth of our company. They have been extremely helpful in developing practical operation strategies that have been helpful and effective. More importantly, they have provided us clarity on our operations like we’ve never had before.” — Alex and Robert Gomez, Co-Owners, Gomez Tire Growth That Outpaced Its Own Infrastructure Gomez Tire, a Phoenix-area tire and automotive services company, engaged Waters Business Consulting Group in 2022 during a period of rapid growth that was beginning to strain cash flow and operations. The brothers were juggling pricing decisions without full visibility into margins, uncertain about their true break-even point, and stretched thin trying to run day-to-day operations while also thinking strategically about the business’s future. Beyond the numbers, growth was creating people problems. The team needed clearer expectations and more consistent communication, and the company was short a commercial technician just as demand for larger commercial accounts was increasing. On top of it all, tariff-driven cost increases on tires loomed on the horizon, threatening to squeeze margins further unless the company got proactive about inventory and purchasing. Building Structure Around the Growth Waters Business Consulting Group worked with the Gomez brothers to build the financial and operational scaffolding their growth demanded. That started with a rigorous look at historical financials and the construction of forecast models that gave the owners, for the first time, real predictability around revenue and cash flow. From there, the engagement expanded into nearly every corner of the business: defining position descriptions and performance metrics so accountability wasn’t a guessing game, instituting regular team meetings to reinforce standards, and mapping out staffing needs — including the long-sought commercial technician — to match the pace of growth. On the inventory side, WBCG helped the team think proactively about tariff exposure, guiding decisions to sell down existing stock and plan inbound containers strategically rather than reactively. The consulting relationship also touched harder, more personal decisions. WBCG helped facilitate family conversations about roles and accountability, evaluated whether a satellite location was still financially justified, and analyzed the financial case for a move into a larger facility — one with the warehouse and shop space to support the business the Gomez brothers were building. The Results: Real Growth, Real Margins The numbers tell the story. From 2020 to 2022, Gomez Tire’s revenue grew roughly 36% while gross profit jumped about 63%, a sign that the business wasn’t just getting bigger — it was getting healthier. That momentum continued: by 2022 the business was generating $2.50 million in revenue and $914,000 in gross profit at a margin near 36%. Two years later, in 2024, revenue had climbed past $4.0 million and gross profit had grown to roughly $1.7 million, including nearly 30% year-over-year growth from 2023 to 2024 alone. Along the way, the team closed an underperforming satellite location to sharpen focus on central operations, captured an $80,000 tire order through a national vendor relationship, and rolled out a new operations app to modernize day-to-day workflows. Just as importantly, the Gomez brothers now have a financial model that tells them where the business stands — and where it’s headed — instead of navigating growth by instinct alone. Ready to Build Your Own Growth Plan? Rapid growth can feel like a good problem to have — until it strains your cash flow, your team, and your sanity. If your business is scaling faster than your systems can support, a fresh set of eyes can help you build the structure to grow profitably and sustainably. Contact Waters Business Consulting Group to schedule a free consultation.

Read More »
ERI USA molded pulp packaging manufacturing

How ERI USA Turned Eco-Friendly Packaging Into a Self-Funding Global Growth Story

.elementor-widget-text-editor{font-family:var( –e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;font-weight:var( –e-global-typography-text-font-weight );color:var( –e-global-color-text );}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:var( –e-global-color-primary );}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap, .elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-default .elementor-drop-cap{color:var( –e-global-color-primary );border-color:var( –e-global-color-primary );} In early 2009, Brian Pio went into business for himself leading the U.S. branch of ERI Group, an international packaging company producing eco-friendly, molded-pulp protective packaging for major manufacturers. It should have felt like a milestone. Instead, he was working 70 to 80 hour weeks and could feel the organization drifting in the wrong direction. “We had a multitude of opportunities but we were missing something to push us over the top,” Brian remembers. “John came in and took inventory of my personal life and business practice. He dove head first into the actual work and contract negotiations. It was an easy decision to hire him… After 3 years of working together I have become a better family man, volunteer and business leader. I can’t recommend John enough both personally and professionally.” Big Opportunity, No Roadmap Brian brought more than 15 years of packaging industry experience to ERI USA, and he’d correctly spotted a growing market: manufacturers and large retailers — companies like Motorola, Microsoft, Home Depot, Sony, IBM, HP, LG, and Keurig — were actively looking for sustainable “green packaging” alternatives, and ERI’s molded pulp solutions fit the need well. But a good market opportunity isn’t the same as a working business. ERI USA was facing steep startup expenses with no financial forecast to guide budgeting or planning, no real clarity on which direction would deliver the best return, and increasingly difficult investor relations to manage on top of it all. The business needed capital just to keep the lights on while it found its footing, and the day-to-day grind of chasing that capital was wearing down Brian’s motivation in the face of ongoing setbacks. Building a Financial Model — and a Way Forward Waters Business Consulting Group’s engagement started with clarity: helping Brian define target objectives and build a strategy and financial model the business could actually run on. From there, the focus shifted to prioritizing the activities that would move the business forward fastest, including introducing Brian to a major DIY retailer that opened up new opportunities ERI hadn’t previously pursued. Daily action items kept the team focused and motivated even through the hard stretches, and a full financial forecast and business roadmap gave Brian something he hadn’t had before — a clear sense of direction. The Results The shift showed up in ERI USA’s client base and its balance sheet alike. The company began representing more sizable companies in Taiwan and worked with partners in China and Mexico on large packaging opportunities. Perhaps most importantly, the business moved from the stress of intermittent, unpredictable funding to cash flowing on its own — a fundamental shift in stability. Investor returns increased, new opportunities opened up with major manufacturers seeking eco-friendly packaging, and several purchase orders came in for high-volume production. Just as meaningfully, Brian describes gaining a better quality of life, with more freedom and less frustration than the 70-80 hour weeks that defined the business’s early days. If your business has real market opportunity but lacks the financial model and roadmap to capitalize on it, that gap is exactly where the right guidance makes the biggest difference. Waters Business Consulting Group helps founders across industries turn promising opportunities into stable, self-sustaining businesses. Schedule a free consultation to talk through where your business stands today. Contact Waters Business Consulting Group

Read More »

Imagine Selling Your Business…

How Would Your Life Change?

You didn’t start your business just to stay busy—you built it to create freedom, security, and options for yourself and your family. Selling your business can be life-changing, but the real question is whether you’re intentionally building toward that outcome or simply leaving it to chance.

Sign up below for a free consultative session to learn what your business could be worth today and in the future! 

Thank you for your interest in learning what your business is worth. We will be in touch shortly.