Don't panic! You can turn this around.
It happens to everyone eventually. No matter how much you poured your heart and soul into a product, someone isn't going to like it. And that someone will let you and everyone else know it by posting a negative review. What to do about it? That depends on what brand you're presenting to the public.
Your response is best guided by the platform, which determines who sees the response, and the content of the review itself. The mechanism in responding to the review is important to keep in mind; more often than not, you're not responding to the reviewer but to future customers who will read the review. Those potential customers are far more important in convincing the reviewer is wrong (if they are indeed wrong!).
One point of note here: Amazon companies now contact me every time I give them less than a stellar (five star) review in an attempt to "make things right." Three star reviews don't warrant this kind of response and the emails I receive via Amazon are clearly form letters managed by a call center. This process pivots on the idea that somehow, if I got a new version of the product, I would give it a better review. If the reviewer believes the product is fundamentally flawed, this doesn't fix the issue and it certainly doesn't endear you to reviewer. Focus on addressing the flaws, not placating the reviewer.
The bigger issue is that the review may mislead other consumers to think your product is flawed in some way that's not accurate. If that's the case, your response is an opportunity to inform everyone else what the reviewer got wrong. Remember, for platforms that can see your response, you're talking to that audience, not the reviewer who already made up their mind.
One way you can politely deal with these issues, which larger companies do all the time, is to simply take it off line. Show that you respect the person's concerns by giving them an email or other means of communicating with you to provide a refund or otherwise set the record straight. You probably don't want these types of reviewers as customers anyway. This shows you care and are the reasonable person in contrast to the reviewer.
You may want to turn off notifications and not read the reviews at all. One of the challenging aspects of crowdfunding and Patreons is that consumers let you know in real time if they like or dislike your product by their financial support, and you experience it in real time. If you're having a bad day, this can be personally devastating. If you feel very protective of your work or can't deal with criticism, those platforms are not for you.
But all that aside, taking things personally and going after the reviewer and not the review (publicly or privately) is a mistake. It makes you look bad. It ensures the reviewer will give you more negative reviews in the future. And because of the aforementioned power imbalance, it often looks like bullying even though you are the one being attacked.
Your Turn: How do you deal with negative reviews?
It happens to everyone eventually. No matter how much you poured your heart and soul into a product, someone isn't going to like it. And that someone will let you and everyone else know it by posting a negative review. What to do about it? That depends on what brand you're presenting to the public.
Who Reads That Review?
The first thing to consider is that reviews are moments in time, and are not an effective means of communicating between reviewer and creator. Some platforms, like DriveThruRPG, allow you to answer the review. Others, like Amazon, no longer allow comments in response at all. Amazon allows other readers to upvote reviews, while DriveThruRPG does not. This should influence your response: on DriveThruRPG, directly responding to the reviewer will be clear, while on Amazon you can only send a private note to the reviewer (I get many private notes from the companies I review, more on that later). And of course, on forums and other comment sections, you're joining a dialogue, not just responding to a review, so you'll want to keep that in mind.Your response is best guided by the platform, which determines who sees the response, and the content of the review itself. The mechanism in responding to the review is important to keep in mind; more often than not, you're not responding to the reviewer but to future customers who will read the review. Those potential customers are far more important in convincing the reviewer is wrong (if they are indeed wrong!).
The Review is Harsh But Fair
These reviews are gifts, as they are essentially editing your work by telling you what's wrong. If you can't make the edits, acknowledging the flaws and promising to do better is helpful. Even better, fix the flaws and explain in your response that the review improved your product. This is easier with digital products you produce personally. Your response makes the reviewer feel good, makes you look proactive, and turns a review into an opportunity to potentially retain future customers.One point of note here: Amazon companies now contact me every time I give them less than a stellar (five star) review in an attempt to "make things right." Three star reviews don't warrant this kind of response and the emails I receive via Amazon are clearly form letters managed by a call center. This process pivots on the idea that somehow, if I got a new version of the product, I would give it a better review. If the reviewer believes the product is fundamentally flawed, this doesn't fix the issue and it certainly doesn't endear you to reviewer. Focus on addressing the flaws, not placating the reviewer.
The Reviewer is Uninformed
If the review is misguided or ill-informed, your response is an opportunity to correct an oversight. Almost no one ever goes back and edits their review unless it's a professional platform (like EN World), so sending a note to correct an error in the review has dubious value unless you want to be able to state later that you told the reviewer what they got wrong and they didn't change it. In short, it puts the onus on the reviewer to fix their error.The bigger issue is that the review may mislead other consumers to think your product is flawed in some way that's not accurate. If that's the case, your response is an opportunity to inform everyone else what the reviewer got wrong. Remember, for platforms that can see your response, you're talking to that audience, not the reviewer who already made up their mind.
The Review is Ridiculous
The reviewer may make outrageous claims that are simply not true. The problem is that all reviews seem equally valid, so it's your job to show how it's biased. You can be factual, you can be sarcastic, but pointing out that the review is ridiculous is important. Not responding means that the review stands as is, and that wildly inaccurate one-star criticism will stick around to haunt you for the life of the platform.One way you can politely deal with these issues, which larger companies do all the time, is to simply take it off line. Show that you respect the person's concerns by giving them an email or other means of communicating with you to provide a refund or otherwise set the record straight. You probably don't want these types of reviewers as customers anyway. This shows you care and are the reasonable person in contrast to the reviewer.
The Review is Rude
If the review's just plain rude, you can of course just flame them to the ground in your response. This might not quite work out in your favor when others stumble upon your response years later. Generally speaking, a reviewer is considered "one of the people" and you, as a producer, are considered to have more power. So the onus is on you to appear calmer in your response. But if the audience is on your side (say, in a forum where you're well known), you have a little more latitude to fight back. Some reviews simply can't be salvaged though, and you may need to just let it go and move on. Or, if you own the platform, just yeet them.What Not to Do
If your mental state isn't a place to deal with negative reviews, consider not publishing content to the public. The implied contract with these platforms is that if you publish something, you're opening it up to public criticism. That's the tradeoff for receiving payment in return.You may want to turn off notifications and not read the reviews at all. One of the challenging aspects of crowdfunding and Patreons is that consumers let you know in real time if they like or dislike your product by their financial support, and you experience it in real time. If you're having a bad day, this can be personally devastating. If you feel very protective of your work or can't deal with criticism, those platforms are not for you.
But all that aside, taking things personally and going after the reviewer and not the review (publicly or privately) is a mistake. It makes you look bad. It ensures the reviewer will give you more negative reviews in the future. And because of the aforementioned power imbalance, it often looks like bullying even though you are the one being attacked.
Still Up to the Challenge?
Take some deep breaths, go for a walk, get some sunshine, or even wait a day, and then respond to the review. Like reviews, your response is a moment in time. Your response will be at its best when you're calm and receptive to feedback.Your Turn: How do you deal with negative reviews?
