My firm has received a negative online review – what should I do?

A negative online review can cause companies to go into a bit of a tailspin, particularly if the complainant hasn’t previously expressed their disgruntlement to you.

It’s easier than ever for unhappy clients to post their disappointment and frustrations online.
In this article, we discuss how best to respond.

Responding to a bad online review

First of all, don’t panic. Whilst it’s important to act quickly, it’s also important to follow a considered methodology before deciding how to respond.

Find out all you can about the facts surrounding the bad online review and make sure you get your PR or Marketing Manager involved in these discussions from the outset. If you think this is something that has the potential ‘blow up’ and cause significant long term reputational damage, consider getting external PR advice early doors too.

The outcome of your speedy internal investigation should reveal if the client hasfollowed your formal complaints procedure. If they haven’t, then contact them and point them in this direction. It’s worthwhile asking them to remove their post whilst the investigation is carried out. Don’t worry too much if they don’t, it’s always worth replying to the online review to say that you take client care seriously and that the complaint is being investigated via your formal complaints process.

Can clients easily find your Complaints Procedure online?

Whilst it might be tempting to tuck your complaints procedure away somewhere hard to find on your website, this might do you more harm than good in the long run. It’s much better to have client grievances handled in-house than aired online, so make it easy for clients to find it on your website. Law firms are obliged under the SRA Transparency rules to “publish on its website details of its complaints handling procedure including, details about how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman and to the SRA.”

What to do if the online complaint is unjustified

You may have already dealt with your clients’ complaint as part of your internal complaints procedure, but they are dissatisfied with the outcome. Or, and this can often be the case, the complaint is entirely unjustified. With these clients it’s important to make an assessment of the client and the nature of their review. If the wording is not hugely damaging or defamatory, then it may be best to leave it alone. Don’t poke the bear as it could make things worse! Knowing when not to respond is just as important as responding.

Don’t be afraid to contact them and ask them to remove the negative comment. If they refuse, remember that prospective clients reading online reviews will form an opinion of you based on how you handle complaints. A good example of how to respond to a negative online review is: “We’re sorry you had a negative experience of our firm. In recent client surveys 95% if clients say they would recommend us to others. We welcome the opportunity to talk to you about your experience to see how we could improve our service.” Another good option is to write “Sorry, but we’re unable to comment on individual cases online due to strict professional conduct rules on client confidentiality.”

We wouldn’t recommend suing your client for defamation, however derogatory their remark. This was what one law firm did when an unhappy client left a review which read: ‘A total waste of money another scam solicitor’ [sic]. “ https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/trustpilot-to-fight-order-to-take-down-libellous-solicitor-review/5107374.article It backfired massively, when the law firm won their case and were awarded £25k in damages. This led others, who hadn’t ever instructed the firm, to jump to the defence of the client by leading a series of unflattering remarks about the firm on Trust Pilot.

Ask happy clients to leave reviews!

One way of dealing with the negative reviews that can’t (won’t) be removed is to bury them under a pile of positive ones. This is our preferred way of limiting the reputational damage of poor online reviews. Make it easy for clients to leave reviews by sending them links to your social media accounts and other website review options. If you need the reviews to be left on a particular platform, just send the link to that one.

If you’re still sending out paper client feedback forms...stop! It’s easy to create a quick online feedback questionnaire which automatically collates responses making it easier for you to analyse client satisfaction.

The good news is that you are likely to have more happy clients than unhappy ones….so have mechanisms in place to gather positive reviews wherever you can.