How To Deal With Fake Customer Reviews

How To Deal With Fake Customer Reviews

In a world where online reviews can make or break your business, it is important to keep a close eye on the reviews that people are leaving about you. While most of the reviews you will get are from actual customers, there may be times where you have to deal with a fake review.

Fake reviews can come from a competitor, ex-employees, or people who are just out to harm your business. While you know that these are fake, others who are researching your business may not, so it is important to know what to do when this happens. Today, we are going to look at a few steps to take when dealing with fake customer reviews.

Don’t Act Right Away

One of the biggest mistakes that most businesses do when they receive a fake review is respond immediately. This can be very tempting as your emotions are running high and you want to get it taken care of. However, this is where many will let their emotions get the best of them and say things that they shouldn’t as a business.

Take a deep breath, gather your thoughts and review the next few steps before making a response.

Work With The Site To Get The Post Removed

Online reviews come in all shapes and sizes. Google, Facebook, and Yelp are some of the most common sites that people tend to share their experiences on and look for company reviews as well. Each site has processes in place to deal with reviewing posts and this should be the first proactive step you take when you get a fake review.

Depending on the platform, check to see how you can report or dispute a review and work closely with the review site to have the post removed.

Respond Publicly

If you are unable to get the post removed, you can always reach out publicly on the review. Every good review site allows companies to respond to customer reviews. This allows you to respond to the review to show customers that you are working with the reviewer to find out what went wrong (even though you know its fake).

It is also a great tool to use to thank customers for their rave reviews as well. Customers love to be responded to and when thanked for leaving a review, it can only help the customer’s overall impression of your business.

Reach Out To Customers For More Reviews To Offset Bad Reviews

If your overall review score has been damaged by the fake review, it may be time to reach out for more reviews to help offset this low score. Sending an email, running a promotion, or simply reaching out to old customers are all great ways to gather some more reviews to help raise that score. Also, it will only help your business as you will have more reviews to show how happy your customers are!

Your Turn

Now that you know how to tackle that fake review, it’s your turn to go and make the best of a bad situation! Remember to stay polite and tactical to present your company in a good light.