How to Address a Negative Online Review While Managing Your Reputation

 Posted on October 01,2014 in Illinois State Bar

As a practicing attorney, protecting your professional reputation online amongst your peers and, most importantly, with clients should remain at the top of your daily priority list.

For the more than 30,000 Illinois attorneys who have voluntarily joined the Illinois State Bar Association, pride in profession and maintaining a solid online reputation remains at the forefront of any successful practice. But what if by putting yourself out there, a disgruntled client or, worse yet, a competitor initiates an online rift for all the world to see?

Take a deep breath and do not throw in the towel yet. If you have retained the services of an experienced online marketing firm, give the team a call. If you have been managing your online reputation successfully up to this point, try not to take the online “slam” personally. Any business is bound to take a hit now and again, especially in today’s electronic marketplace.

Keeping this in mind, consider the following rebuttals to professionally address the reviewer’s opinion.

Look Over the Review

As your frustration level subsides, take a moment to objectively go over the review. Read between the lines to determine if the concerns raised constitute a legitimate complaint or perhaps a falsehood posted by a competitor or an opinion posted by a compensated online reviewer.

Your recourse can go two ways; if the “slam” is suspicious in nature, report the instance. Fortunately, both Yelp and Google+ utilize advanced algorithms to determine if negative reviews are legitimate or if direct hit to your online reputation has malicious intent. If the latter has been determined, the review can be flagged.

Voicing Virtual Verbiage

If the review has been submitted by a disgruntled client, you or your marketing team will need time to develop your online response. By responding, you take the chance of your reply falling on deaf ears, but responding is the professional path to follow.

The approach should be apologetic but proactive and certainly not defensive or retaliatory. Through your response, you may be able to gain more insight as to why the client was upset enough to leave a negative review. As a conscientious attorney, you will further demonstrate your sincere desire to improve your performance.

Keeping your emotions in check will also help you suppress your personal need to defend yourself. Responding with a cool head will only strengthen your professional and personal commitment to ethical integrity.

If you are a member of the Yelp community, various review response tools offer the opportunity for you to either respond publicly or privately. If you choose to publicly respond, you can leave a comment beneath the review. This option posts your response to all Yelp members. If you opt to respond privately, this option is synonymous with sending a private email message directly to the reviewer.

The way you decide to respond is up to you. Keep in mind that an emotion-filled response is not an option. Replying professionally is an effective manner to address the reviewer’s concerns.

Navigating the Negative Naysayers

Although one negative review or even more than one can evoke a damage control frenzy, it certainly does not signal the end of your legal career. Seize this opportunity to turn a negative into a positive marketing experience. It may solidify your professional standing and enforce your commitment to client satisfaction and ethical integrity.

Reiterating Your Reputation

One way to enhance your online reputation is to invite clients to review your services. This is a key component of any online marketing campaign as an interactive method of engaging previous clients to attract prospective clients and turn them into retained clients.

Managing your online reputation will certainly demonstrate your level of dedication to client satisfaction and by further developing your brand online can differentiate you from your competitors.

OVC, INC. understands your drive for excellence as well as the negative connotation of even one negative review. Since 2008, we have been building proprietary sites for Illinois area attorneys. These sites encourage clients to post reviews which are then posted to other various online sites, including Yelp and Google+. If you recently experienced a negative review and would like more information on your response options or you would like more information, contact a member of our team today at 630-635-8000.

About the Author: Greg Wildman is the President of OVC, INC. Since 1999, Greg has developed hundreds of websites for attorneys from his company's inception as Online Video Concepts, LLC to the modern era's OVC, INC. Greg's knowledge of law firm marketing has helped many attorneys establish online presences through custom website development, Search Engine Optimization, legal directory partnerships, social media marketing, content writing and more.