Responding to a Negative Review

In this helpful article you will find information on how to deal with and respond to a negative review. This information is most relevant if you have received a 1 or 2 star review and would like it taken down, but it is also good general knowledge when receiving any kind of review.

Flagging a Review on Google:
There are no options for businesses to delete reviews on Google, but there are options to flag a review. When flagging a review, Google will review the content to see if it goes against their policies. (Google's Content Policies: https://support.google.com/local-guides/answer/7400114?hl=en).

If the review violates Google's policies, Google will take down the review, but when a review is flagged, there is no guarantee that the review will be removed.

For more steps on how to flag Google reviews: https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773?hl=en.

Who Can Remove a Review:
Reviews can only be removed by the person who wrote them. Sometimes reaching out to someone directly and resolving their concerns will create an opportunity to ask the reviewer to edit or take down their review. Otherwise, flagging a review is the only way to request that a review be taken down, but there is no guarantee the review will be taken down by Google.

Generating New Reviews:
One of the main ways to deal with a negative review is to keep encouraging new reviews to come in. Most people focus on the average star rating when looking at reviews, and they expect to see one or two negative reviews more than they expect to see all 5-star reviews. Continuing to generate new reviews can help balance out the effect of negative reviews that are posted.

Responding to Reviews:
Responding to reviews can potentially resolve the issue brought up by the reviewer, but it also can show potential patients how your practice handles negative feedback. A neutral, prompt, professional response to negative feedback can reflect positively on your practice. We also recommend offering contact information and trying to take the conversation offline for resolution.

WEO Media's video on responding to reviews: https://youtu.be/Fb_bTch46ME.