The same goes for your detractors.
Instead of an in-person conversation that’s over as soon as you leave a room, online reviews are perpetual, online evidence of a word-of-mouth conversation.
It’s why consumers use social media to rant about businesses. If they call a customer service line, the conversation is 1 to 1. If they publicly call out a business online, the conversation is 1 to many. The disgruntled customer feels like they’re more likely to be heard, which is a bad thing for the business.
How to handle a negative review
Step 1 – Check if the Review abides by the Google’s Terms of Service
Your first step is to analyse the review for violations against Google’s terms of service.
Review platforms, including Google, value freedom of speech, but most of them don’t tolerate personal attacks, privacy breaches, and swearing. If the review violates any of these, then you have the right to request its removal.
Here are some helpful links and contact details for getting in touch with Google.
However, if it’s not in a clear violation of Google’s terms of service, your chances of having it removed by them is slim to none.
From my experience, Google makes these negative reviews difficult to remove. I have conducted countless phone calls and emails on behalf of clients with Google’s support team about this, and they are incredibly reluctant to take negative reviews down.
If going through Google fails, you generally have two options depending on your situation.
- Contact Client for Removal – Reach out to the client and ask them to take it down or change the review. In my experience, if this a possibility, it’s surprisingly successful.
- Prepare Your Response(s) – Prepare a public response to the review and, potentially, a private response as well.
Let’s take a closer look at these two options.
Step 2a – Reach out to the author to request they remove the post
If it feels like the author of the review is just letting off a bit of steam over something trivial, it may make sense to get in touch with them.
You will need to establish the context of the review first. Are they an existing client of the firm? Are they a prospective client that your firm couldn’t help for some reason? Are they a disgruntled former employee or someone who interviewed for a role but didn’t get it?
From my experience, a large proportion of negative reviews given to law firms are usually from individuals or businesses your firm is acting against (representing the other party in a dispute, collecting a debt on behalf of a client, etc). As a result, you may not be in a position to make contact with them and should revert to Option 2 – Respond publicly to the review.
Who should contact the author of the review?
You’ll need to decide who will contact them and how.
If the review is directed at an individual, it may make sense to have the most senior person in the practice group (or even Managing Partner depending on the size of your firm) reach out to the writer.
If the review is directed at the firm as a whole, it may be appropriate for a General Manager / Operations Manager / Marketing Manager to make contact.
I strongly suggest making contact via phone call rather than an email. It’s far more conversational and establishes rapport.
Email should be your last resort, if you can’t get through to them via phone.
How to frame the conversation
- Thank them for their feedback – In most instances, unless the review is overly aggressive, it makes sense to thank the author for taking the time to provide feedback.
- Ask for more information – Politely and respectfully ask them to explain their feedback in more detail. Frame it as an opportunity for your lawyer/firm to learn from it, so that they can improve for next time.
- Avoid returning fire – Nothing good will come out of arguing with the author. You might feel better in the short-term, but expect to see more reviews on other platforms if you attack the author. You’ll also likely ignite more negative word-of-mouth as they will tell their network about the conversation.
- Offer a solution to the problem – If a person is leaving negative feedback, it’s likely that their problem hasn’t been resolved. If it’s appropriate, offer to make things right or make an introduction to someone who can help with their issue. This will show you are being proactive.
- Don’t throw any team member under the bus – It’s extremely poor form to side with the author and tell them that the person who made the mistake is incompetent. Acknowledge a mistake may have been made, but don’t indulge the writer. Your firm should always portray a united front.
- Finally, ask them if they would consider removing or changing their review. You may need to follow through with a solution before they’ll agree, but you want to gauge if it’s they’ll even consider it. In my experience, most of the time, if you empathise with the author’s problem, they will offer to remove the review before you even get the opportunity to ask them.
Tip: This tip is only relevant to reviews left by people in business. If you really want to turn things around, do some research on their business beforehand. Think about your network and see if there is someone you know that their business might be able to help. If it’s appropriate, it might make sense to make an introduction. If you can offer something like this, you’ll likely turn the author from a detractor to a advocate of your firm!
Next steps
If the author of the review agrees to take the review down or make changes:
- Send them a follow up email with this link, which contains clear instructions of how they can edit their review.
- Thank them for agreeing to change the review.
- Make sure you do whatever you promised to make their experience better.
If you don’t follow through, expect to see the review reappear (or at a bare minimum, some negative face-to-face feedback with their network about your firm).
Don’t forget to follow up in a week if it has not been changed.
Step 2b – Prepare public response
Think about your response carefully before posting anything publicly. Aim to get input from at least one other person before responding.
A HR Manager once told me, on my very first day as a marketing graduate in a law firm, “Don’t write something in an email or online that you wouldn’t want posted on a billboard with a photo of yourself on it. You don’t know who will read it or where it might end up.” This sound advice applies in this context as well.