How To Handle A Negative Facebook Review For Your Trades Business.

It happens.

You’re working your nuts off in your Trades business. Doing the absolute best job possible for all the clients that you have worked so hard to get.

It’s tough. But you’re grafting. Hard.

And everyday, moving one step closer to that dream life.

You know, the one that doesn’t involve clients that fit the "grumpy couple where the husband watches your every move like a hawk while making stupid suggestions" stereotype.

That life.

But the worst thing imaginable happens.

Your phone pings.

A Facebook notification.

A negative review has been left on your company Facebook page.

Boom.

Your business is ruined. Or at least it feels that way.

Why reviews are so important to your Trades business.

Tell me how often you’ve said or heard this one.

‘I don’t worry about reviews. I rely on word of mouth for my business.’

A lot I’m going to guess? Ok, let me tell it to you straight.

Word of mouth is great. But what happens when those mouths are sleeping at night? And your ideal clients get home late from work, tired, trawling the internet looking for your services, tripping over all the brilliant reviews left on your COMPETITORS pages?

Whilst your reviews… tumbleweed.

Exactly.

Word of mouth is great. But what about the fact that those words only fall on those in earshot? Online reviews are there for tens, hundreds and even thousands (we’re optimistic) of people to see at any one time.

Word of mouth is great. But what about when those people are on holiday, move away or just decide to go on a sponsored silence for charity? Hey. It happens.

Word of mouth is great. But what about when that person has stopped talking? Do their words linger, whispering your business name in the air for us all to hear for eternity?

No. They don’t.

It goes silent. Online reviews are written (or captured on video) and are a permanent fixture.

Unlike Fulham and the Premiership. I know. Low blow.

Word of mouth is great. But what about when those people meet another trade they start recommending instead of you? A friend or family member suddenly becomes qualified (I mean actually qualified, not self-certified because they own a hammer), someone offers them a ‘drink’ (bigger than your drink) for their referrals or they just hit it off better with this new trade.

Word of mouth is great.

But if you really want to build your Trade business, you cannot rely on word of mouth alone.

Because word of mouth relies on individuals. And you have no control over that.

Point made? Great.

So now we understand the importance of online Trade reviews in the first place, let’s get back to the problem.

Why you can’t delete a Facebook review.

First things first.

You can stop Googling ‘how to delete a negative Facebook review.’

You can’t do it. So don’t bother wasting your time trying.

What would be the point of a review platform if you could go in as your business and either delete or edit what clients and customers are actually saying about your Trades business?

Well. I guess there would be a lot more 5* Trade reviews out there for a start.

But it wouldn’t be an honest reflection about the business, would it? So it makes sense that the only people that can remove or edit the review, are the people that left them in the first place.

And that’s where we start.

Which leads me neatly onto the two types of negative reviews and how to handle them. And I’m guessing if you’re reading this, one of these applies to you.

Here’s the first…

What to do about a fake negative Facebook review for your Trades business.

So this negative review has been left for you. 


You’ve no idea who the person is. They aren’t now, nor ever have been, a client of yours.

You don’t recognise the name or the person in the profile image.

This is definitely a fake.

Left by someone who has way too much time on their hands. A hacker perhaps. Those guys are hardly rushed off their feet.

Maybe a disgruntled competitor trying to get one-up on you. Unhappy on how well you seem to be doing in your Trades business and they are trying to bring you down for their own business gain.

Ridiculous I know. But I’ve seen it happen. The lengths people will go to.

If only they put that much effort into doing the right things in their Trades business, who knows where they could be.

Anyway. It doesn’t matter which one it is.

Bottom line. You have to deal with it yourself, regardless.


Sure, you can report it to the powers that be on Facebook. But it could be weeks or months before Facebook take action and pull it down. If they even do so at all.

I’ll wish you luck with tracking down an agent that gets this removed for you. And extra Brownie points if it’s done within the month. 👍🏽

Report it anyway. Select that it violates Facebook’s community standards.

And report the reviewer as a fake account, if you think that it genuinely might be. Less than three ‘friends’ on Facebook and a faceless photo in the profile image tend to be a good indication that it is.

Or maybe it could just be they are super unpopular. Awkward.

But in the meantime, you can’t afford to leave it sitting there by itself.

Your business brand and reputation depends upon it.

The absolute worst thing you can do is nothing. So don’t do that.

After you’ve finished yelling expletives at your phone and getting your fellow Trades involved in social media investigation mission to find out who the hell this chump is (with no luck), here’s what you do...

You call the person out.
In the comment section under the review.

And I don’t mean letting rip and telling them about themselves. That will get you nowhere.

Well, maybe banned from Facebook.

Plus, all your current and future clients will see this. And getting negative or nasty (even though they may have done exactly that to you) will only reflect badly on you and your Trades business.

So don’t do it.

I’m talking something way smarter than that.

A polite, professional, response. Something like this…



Hi (Insert name here). Client satisfaction means everything to us. Having looked through our records we can’t seem to see your name listed. Would you be able to tell us what job we helped you with and the date of the works so we can address this for you immediately?

I know. Pretty clever.

Two things will happen here.

Either they will say nothing. Because the review is totally made up and untrue. In which case you have professionally acknowledged it and publicly called this out as a phoney (in the smartest way) for all your visitors and potential future clients to see.

This not only shows them that this review is likely untrue given that the so called ‘very upset client’ hasn’t replied back but it also shows the level of communication you have in your trades business.

I mean, you took the time and commented on a review. You communicated. Promptly.

Surely that means your other communication will be just as good – answering the phone, replying to emails, getting back to us with that quote you promised? It also, hands down, nails your professionalism in how you handled it.

I’ve seen it before. Trades giving as good as they get in responses to negative reviews.

It only EVER ends up looking bad on them.

By keeping your cool and rising above it, you keep control of the situation.

ALL of which helps you PROTECT YOUR BRAND AND REPUTATION.

Great. End of that. You need do no more.


OR

Scenario two happens...

They are going to start making more things up in reply to your comment and try to get the upper hand. Exhausting. I know.

In which case you need to address it, comment back and take this OFFLINE.

Something like this.



Thanks for getting back to us (Insert name here). As we still can’t find a record of you as a client or the job we have completed for you, I personally want to get to the bottom of this and find a resolution. Please can you Direct Message the best number to call you on and the best time to reach you. I await your message. 



Do not comment publicly thereafter.

Regardless of what they do next.


You have explained your stand point. This is to be dealt with directly.


Once again, you’ve been nothing but professional PUBLICLY. This option of responding calls them out again - as a total phoney review.

Without you needing to say it is.


It shows you are on the ball and if there were any truth in this then you are making steps to speak directly to the client and resolve. And this is clear for everyone to see.

Let’s see if you get that DM…



Next.

What to do when an actual client leaves you a negative Facebook review for your Trades business.

Holy smokes.

So. Just like we dealt with the first situation in the fake review, we don’t ignore this review either.

We need to address it and comment. If we know that this is legit, we need to take it offline as quickly as possible and work with the client to come to a resolution.

Something like this…



Hi (insert name here).  I’m really sorry to hear about your bad experience regarding (detail specific i.e. Your decorating). Client satisfaction means everything to us. If you can direct message the best number to reach you on and a time that suits you tomorrow or later this week, I will make it my priority to call you personally.

Address it. Keep it brief. Take it offline.

And guess what the next step is? … 


DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE GOING TO.

Be sure to make that call.

Good communication could turn a very unhappy customer into a very satisfied one. One that may, in the future, even remove or edit their negative review.

I’ve seen it happen to one of our Trade clients before. It’s not impossible.

Often, the sign of a great business is how they handle a situation when things go wrong. Ask yourself, honestly, can this situation be rectified?

HOW CAN I stop this negative review damagING my reputation?

Answer: All the above.

Do everything we’ve listed. It’s a great start.

What happens next of course depends on if the review is a fake or not.

Either way, you want to take the conversation offline as quickly as possible.

The biggest downside about these negative reviews is that Facebook will order them how they please when they show them on your business review tab.

The review could end up being the most recent or tagged by Facebook as the most helpful. Therefore, this little catastrophe is given centre stage when your clients jump over to your reviews page.

Brilliant.

Best advice I can give for this considering you can’t delete them?

Bury it. In a sea of other epic reviews. 🌊

This is why it is so important to stay on top of your review management.

YOUR reviews are YOUR responsibility.

Make sure you are constantly touching base with your most recent happy clients and asking them to leave you glowing testimonials on your platform.

Then, in a sea of tens or even hundreds of fantastic reviews for your business, how will one negative appear to your potential future clients? A tiny drop in the ocean. 🌊

TRADE NEGATIVE REVIEW RUNDOWN:

• Never ignore a negative review.
• Always acknowledge it publicly in the comments first.
• If you think it’s a fake, call it out – with our script.
• Don’t stoop to their low levels in the comments (however tempting).
• Aim to take the conversation offline as soon as is possible.
• If legit, try to find a resolution with the client.
• Do what you say you will.
• If you work things out, the client may be open to removing or editing that review. Your judgement call.

Need a little more help nailing reviews for your Trades business?

Course you do.

Want bite-size tip videos on how to get more reviews? Yes.

What about knowing where to put them, time-saving tricks to get them and ideas on how to they can do much of the hard selling for you? Let me at it.

How about done-for-you COPY & PASTE templates to get MONEY-MAKING reviews from your current and past clients? (Because ‘Great job. Highly recommend’ is dull and NOT a game-changing review for your Trades business). You read my mind!

You need our TRADES REVIEW TOOLKIT… your COMPLETE guide to managing reviews.

Ready to 2X, 5X or even 10X the amount of reviews in your Trades business?

Get your toolkit now.