Successful Amazon sellers know that apart from having a well-optimised keyword-stuffed listing and great product images, there is so much more to getting that ‘Best Seller’ tag or winning the ‘Buy Box’. 61% of online shoppers read reviews before they move an item to the cart. It has been proved time and again that user reviews increase conversion to a great extent. Consumer reviews are treasured digital testimonials and are trusted 12 times more than the manufacturer’s detailed product descriptions. However, if you are selling on Amazon, negative reviews are inevitable, and you are bound to get them. A not-so-great feedback is not the end of the world if you know the knicks and knacks of ‘Amazon Review Management’.
Bad Reviews Are Good Too
Negative reviews are not all that bad. Some bad reviews are good too. Why? Because it makes it look real. People get suspicious if all they see are 4 or 5-star ratings. Online buyers have the maturity to understand that there is no single product that can please everyone.
A recent survey conducted by Revoo shows that negative reviews actually help improve conversions by 67%. So, don’t fret over bad reviews too much. Just make sure you have a ton of good reviews as well to balance it all out.
Watch Your Listing Regularly
It is believed that customers develop a good impression and take down or update negative feedback if the seller acknowledges their problem within 48 hours. How do you know when you get a negative review? Amazon won’t send you any notifications and the only way to stay informed is to watch your listings like a hawk every day. Of course, that will eat up a lot of your time especially if your listing is big.
There are a lot of feedback monitoring tools available in the market that track product reviews and send an automatic email response. Better yet, you can hire our expert Customer Service Virtual Assistants to give a personalized touch to emails that are sent and offer solutions to customers in a professional way.
Best Practices
We have compiled a list of the best practices to deal with negative reviews.
• Be quick in responding to negative feedback. Setting up a fixed time every day is a good idea to ensure that the customer is happy.
• Acknowledge the buyer’s problems and admit them. If the item is broken or damaged during shipping or transit, you need to be able to be of help to the customer that has paid money for your product.
• Don’t be defensive and try to be polite and helpful.
• Apologize, even if it is no fault of your own.
• Watch your words as other potential customers will be reading your comments before they purchase your product.
• When all is done, give your contact information (email or phone number) to the buyer so they can reach out to you. Offer replacement or refund if needed. Follow up once in a while till the issue is resolved and request the customer to remove or update the feedback.
How To Contact The Buyer?
1. Contact buyer from your Orders
This is the most common way of reaching out to those who have left bad reviews. Go to the “Manage orders” section and go to that particular order where you got the negative review.
2. Comments Section
Click on the comments section and write an open message there. The comments section is meant for customers to interact with each other about the product. There are no hard rules that the seller shouldn’t write to the buyer there. You can write your reply right here in this box.
Keep in mind that all eyes are on you. Going public means that you are prone to be watched by other sellers and prospective buyers. It is important to maintain a polite tone in offering a solution. This will help you gain the trust of other potential buyers.
Requesting Amazon To Remove A Review
Amazon doesn’t always remove a negative review unless there is a solid reason for it. As a seller, if you feel offended, and feel that it is no mistake of yours or you smell something fishy, you can always report it to Seller Support and request they take it down.
Here are a few valid reasons for which you can request a removal:
• The review has cuss words or inappropriate language
• The complaint is not product related
• Designed to promote a competitor’s product
• Reviews posted intentionally by another seller
Bottom Line
There is no escaping negative reviews no matter how good your product is. You can only damage control and turn the stone in your favor by following best practices and responding promptly.
If you need professional help with your Amazon store management, do get in touch with us.
BIE is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based agency providing human resources to manage all things Amazon.