What if your competitors are out to dismantle your good standing amongst your customers and damage your online reputation? It’s unbelievable that your competitors would be so brazen and dishonest, but it happens more than most would like to admit. Dealing with competitor-generated reviews can be dealt with in the same way that you would with any other fraudulent attack. Below, we will discuss how to deal with bad reviews written by your competitors.

Here are 7 ways that you can respond to bad reviews written by your competitors:

1. Manage your online reviews daily. Put it into practice! Due to the pandemic, the online marketplace has taken more precedent and it is all the more important to manage your online business reputation. Whether it’s a positive review or a bad review, it is customary to respond to that consumer within 24 hours. This lets them know that their voice is being heard.
2. Make your brand stand out from others. Sometimes, your competitors will attack you with a bad review because they may feel that your brand or marketing angle is too identical to theirs. It’s best to be cognizant of differentiators.
3. Encourage your customers to write a positive online review. Make it easy for your customers to find where to leave their feedback. Make an effort to let them know that their feedback has been received and that you will take it into consideration when making improvements to your business and brand.

At the end of the day, the more good reviews you have, the more likely it will offset the bad reviews. Learn more about how to encourage great online reviews here.

4. Are your other competitors being victimized too? If you have a hunch that another business in your class is out to deface your online business review pages, you can pretty much bet that they have taken their bullying out on other businesses as well.

Do a little detective work to see if this is the case. Observe the language and the intention. If it has the same tone, it’s likely that it was written by the same offender.

It’s a good motion to bring this to the attention of the other businesses affected. It will increase the likelihood that your review is removed after being ‘flagged.’

5. Always respond politely. This is a must. Remember the golden rule? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If you want to be seen as a professional and be treated like a professional, it is imperative that you maintain professionalism and always seek solutions for your customers.
6. Never retaliate! If you are able to identify your attacker and it happens to be a competitor, do not, under any circumstance fire back with bad reviews of your own. It may seem like calling out that business is a great idea. However, there is a high probability that the situation will spin out of control and you won’t accomplish what you had originally set out to do – get the bad reviews removed.

Instead, remain professional and start a private conversation that addresses the issue. Alternatively, you can politely respond and seek a resolution to the issue publicly. It will show restraint to genuine customers and lets people know that you care enough to resolve issues, no matter the nature.

7. Don’t take it to the public arena. This is in addition to number 6. Don’t make your bad review issues a public issue. It makes you look extremely unprofessional and, often times, ends in an uncomfortable public argument. Competitor-generated reviews are typically in violation of the terms and conditions of the review platform and will likely qualify for removal.

In Closing

All business owners want to be successful. Unfortunately, there are many oppositional forces to overcome that stand in the way of your success as a business owner. In this case, it is your competitors trying to smear your reputation and take your customers. It is imperative that you have a reliable software, like Company Review Solutions, that can detect, dispute, and submit a fraudulent bad review for removal – all in realtime. Needless to say, a major part of your business success is managing your business reputation.

Company Review Solutions makes it easy for you and your business to manage your genuine online reviews while protecting you from fake or fraudulent ones. Get notified in real-time as reviews come in. You’ll be able to respond to your customers, submit fake bad reviews for removal, and potentially help customers generate good reviews. Please visit us at www.companyreviewsolutions.com to learn more about our review fraud removal software.  If you would like something a little more in-depth and personalized, we encourage you to set up a free demo with a specialist today! 

We look forward to helping you in your path to business success. Thank you for reading!