Dealing with Negative Comments

Why dealing with negative comments can be good.

If you’ve ever created or published anything and put yourself out there you will have opened yourself up to thought, opinion and engagement. Some of those thoughts and opinions may be different to your own, and people may have different expectations and experiences from your services, products or offerings.

Simply, some people may not like what you have delivered.

Negative feedback can be positive and can show or give you the opportunity to move in the right direction.

Here are some ways to make negative feedback a positive.

Reflect… Is the feedback accurate?

Is the feedback true? Take a moment to reflect, read over the feedback a couple of times and assess to see if there is some value or truth in the feedback. Ask another staff member or friend to share their thoughts on the feedback to see if it is accurate. Be ready with an open mind to receive the feedback and look for positives to draw from. If the feedback is negative in nature and is true, then this is a great way to improve your service and or product. Take this feedback onboard and make a plan or outline some steps to work towards making the necessary improvements.

Responding to negative comments.

Responding to negative feedback is always preferred and recommended. Responding to feedback shows that you care about your business, services and products. It also shows that you care about your customers and clients.

Responding to feedback, positive or negative shows everyone that you are active, responsive and that you care about them and your business. If the feedback has outlined an issue be sure to mention those specific issues in your response and outline what steps you have taken or not taken to improve your product or not. Sometimes feedback is not accurate and you are right, so think about how you can educate your audience.

Is deleting negative online feedback appropriate?

Your first response should not be to delete negative feedback but sometimes there are cases where this maybe the only option. It maybe defamatory or just inappropriate or wrong. If this is the case, do try remove or delete the comment or feedback. If this can’t be done within the platform then try reporting the feedback outlining why it should be removed to the platform’s organisation.

What if you can’t remove or delete a comment? In the case where you cannot delete or remove the comment, where possible reply or respond and outline why the feedback is inappropriate. This will help your audience to understand and often they will be able to put two and two together.

What are your thoughts, how have you dealt with comments positive or negative? Let us know in the comments below or give us a shout out on our socials.