Receiving negative reviews is an unavoidable part of the gig industry and part of your online reputation. They can be hard to accept, but it’s important to keep things in perspective. You can’t control what a client writes about you, but you can control how you respond to negative reviews.
Types of Negative Reviews
A well-worded and professional response is your best defense against a negative review. However, there are different levels of negativity, and the approach you take when responding will vary based on how negative the feedback is. In this article, we provide negative review response examples to help you put your best foot forward when responding to a bad review.
The perceived negative review
When a client leaves a 4-star review, it can be perceived as negative since they didn’t choose to give you 5 stars. However, in most cases, a 4-star review is going to have nothing but positive content.
Sometimes clients will have a “nothing is perfect” attitude and refuse to review anything with 5 stars. It’s not a reflection of you or your performance. The review may not meet your expectations, but if the content in a 4-star review is favorable, then you should respond as though it’s a positive review.
Don’t dwell on the missing star, and sincerely thank the client for their positive feedback.
⭐ You might also like: 4.95 is the New 5.0: How 4-Star Reviews Can Help You
The partially negative review
Clients who leave a 3 or 4-star review likely felt that they had some sort of negative experience with either your performance or their interactions with you. It could be anything from your communication prior to the event to a misunderstanding regarding the services they were expecting.
No matter what the issue is, your response should come from a place of respect and professionalism. Address their concern while also showing gratitude for the positive portion of their review.
The negative review
Sometimes things just don’t go the way we plan which can lead to a bad review. When you receive less-than-stellar feedback, accept it as constructive criticism and be gracious in your response.
This will show the unhappy customer and other future clients that although you have a negative review, you handled it professionally and have used it as a tool to improve. Most potential customers can forgive an unfavorable review if it has a kind and professional reply.
When responding to negative reviews, you should own up to your mistake and cordially accept the feedback.
Pro tip: If the client requests for you to take any action in their review, such as a refund, you should let them know that you will reach out privately to resolve the issue. Avoid starting arguments or negotiations through the review feed.
How NOT to Respond to a Negative Review
It can be hard to not take a bad review personally, but it’s important not to react with an emotional response. You should try to look at negative feedback as a learning opportunity and a chance to practice reputation management, both on review sites and social media.
If you need to take a day or two to respond to the customer’s review, that’s okay. But keep in mind, when you do respond, the things you say are a reflection of your business and all potential customers will be able to see it.
As a business owner, it can be easy to become defensive when you don’t agree with the review and you feel like it may hurt your business. In fact, a rash and inflammatory response is far more detrimental than the review itself.
Avoiding Negative Reviews
While some things are out of your control and everyone has bad days, there are things you can do to avoid common mistakes that are the root of many negative reviews.
✔ Good communication – Prior to the event, be responsive and proactive with your communication. Make sure to check in with them a week or so ahead to confirm the details. This will give the client confidence in both your reliability and performance.
✔ Set expectations – Make sure that you have clarified with the client exactly what they are anticipating from your performance. This will prevent them from having unrealistic expectations that may lead to disappointment, and help you prepare appropriately.
✔ Don’t bring a guest – Unless you have discussed bringing a guest with the client beforehand, it is best to avoid bringing someone with you to the event.
✔ Triple-check your availability – It’s extremely frustrating for a client to receive and book a quote only to find out that the performer is actually unavailable. Before you send a quote to a client, you should always confirm your availability and hold the date until the quote expires.
✔ Have a clear contract – The best way to avoid conflict with a client is to have a clear and straightforward contract. Include a cancellation policy, the exact services you are going to provide, and the event venue and time. You can even go a step further and include things like breaks, load-in times, and equipment to be provided.
Ensuring that you have checked all the boxes above will help prevent any misunderstandings that could leave to negative feedback.
📃 Get more booking tips! Check out 6 Things Your Booking Agreement Must Have.
Disputing Reviews
There are times when a client may leave a review that is truly unjust or inappropriate. In these cases, you have the option to dispute the review on GigSalad. When you dispute a review it will immediately become inactive and you will have the opportunity to explain why the review should be removed.
Once the dispute is submitted, our team will audit the review and make a determination about whether it should be removed or not. Remember that disputing a review does not guarantee its removal but does give you a chance to share more information about the situation.
Negative reviews are an unfortunate part of the gig business. However, approaching them appropriately can actually benefit your business by demonstrating that you handle criticism professionally and are dedicated to bettering yourself and your brand. 💙
Sonia is a Customer Happiness Agent at GigSalad and uses the knowledge she’s gained from helping both the vendor and client through the booking process to give her best event planning advice. When she’s not at work she enjoys the outdoors, a good book, trying new recipes, and spending quality time with her husband and their furbabies.