Bad News Travels Fast: Effective Strategies for Dealing with Bad Reviews from Disgruntled Clients

Bad news travels fast, and when you have a disgruntled client, as everyone who deals with the public in a service business will have at one time or another, then steps need to be taken to minimize the damage. There is an old saying that a happy client will tell three people they are happy, but an unhappy client will tell 30 people they are unhappy. Keep that in mind and remember that preventive measures are the best cure. If you believe a client is unhappy and may become disgruntled try to be proactive and take action before the problem becomes out of control.

Talk to the client and try to determine what is causing the unhappiness with your service. Many times this communication beforehand will prevent a small problem from becoming a large one. Proving that you genuinely want to see the client satisfied, even to the point of offering a reduced rate for the treatment received, a refund, or a gift certificate for a few visit next time may cost you less in the long run.

If all of your preventive actions fail and the client is on the street bad mouthing you and your business, then you may loose some potential clients. However, people will still come in and if anyone should ask about the disgruntled client then honesty tempered with diplomacy is the best bet. Just let anyone who asks know that you are obligated not to go into detail about the treatments received by any client as that would be unethical and you respect your clients’ privacy.

However, you and the client apparently disagree and despite your best efforts are unable to come to an understanding. Then remind the person who is asking that you have many clients who are quite happy with the service and even have references available for anyone who wishes to view them.

It is simply impossible to please everyone and if you are staying busy there will be the occasional client who is not happy. That cannot be avoided totally. Just do your best, remember to always be polite and to never loose your cool. If you act as a total professional those who know both you and the client are likely to give you the benefit of the doubt about the incident. Then simply move on. Life is too short and there are many more clients out there to serve.