Tips for Managing Negative Online Reviews for REALTORS®

No matter how great you are at your job, everyone receives negative feedback from time to time. With online reviews playing such an important role in how prospective clients make decisions, learning to respond professionally is a valuable skill to develop. 

According to a recent survey, nine out of 10 consumers read at least one review before making a purchasing decision and businesses that respond promptly are often linked to higher overall ratings. Consider looking at any negative feedback as an opportunity to showcase your character and professionalism. 

Here are some tips to help guide your response if you find yourself in this situation. 

Respond promptly 

Do your best to respond to any negative feedback as timely as possible. However, never react emotionally. Instead of, “That’s not what happened,” consider something like “We’re sorry that your experience did not meet expectations.” While replying quickly is important, be sure to take the time you need to gather your thoughts and reply with a level head as soon as you possibly can. 

While it may be uncomfortable, leaving negative online reviews or feedback unanswered can sometimes worsen the situation or close your window of opportunity to remedy the situation. 

Stay professional 

Even if you disagree, best practice is to acknowledge what the reviewer is feeling. In whatever you write, you should keep it professional and respectful. Try to focus on understanding, transparency, and potential solutions rather than arguing, being sarcastic, or making excuses for their complaint. 

Apologize when appropriate 

Using your judgment, apologize where appropriate to do so. 

This doesn’t always mean you have to admit fault, but rather is respecting the other person’s point of view. For example, “We’re sorry to hear that your experience was disappointing.” 

Offer a path forward 

When possible, offer a path forward in your response. 

In most cases, the best option is to provide a way for them to contact you for a one-on-one conversation about how to make things right, or to learn more about their experience. This could be an email, phone number, contact forms, or social media messaging. For example, “We’d like to understand how we can address this issue. Please contact our office at [contact method] so that we can discuss this further.” 

If you already know how to contact the reviewer, consider reaching out before replying and, if there’s no answer, let them know in your response that you’re trying to reach out for a conversation. 

Communicate how you’re going to apply their feedback 

If relevant to do so, state as clearly as possible how you’re planning to use their feedback to improve for the future. This helps to show future clients that you take feedback seriously and are willing to continuously improve. For example, “We have recently updated our communications processes to ensure this does not happen again.”. 

Know when not to engage 

If a negative online review is abusive, offensive, spam, or otherwise intended to provoke the receiver, responding may not be the best course of action. In addition to exploring the available spam or harassment reporting mechanisms that different review platforms offer, consider developing an internal moderation framework to decide how your team will manage comments of this nature. 

Don’t forget the positive reviews! 

Sometimes businesses get so wrapped up in how to reply to the negative reviews that they forget to put the same time and energy into the positive reviews. Remember to do your best to respond to all reviews, especially the positive ones, adding in something thoughtful and professional feedback wherever possible. 

Reviewers, positive and negative, have taken time out of their busy lives to provide you feedback. Reading and replying what they have to say is a great way to demonstrate your professionalism and communication style to current and future clients alike.