How to respond to negative WooCommerce extension reviews

An unpleasant event in the merchant's journey can lead them to leave a public, negative review. These events usually are:

• a problem with the product,
• a missing product feature,
• an unhelpful reply,
• long wait times to receive a reply, or;
• combinations of the above.

When receiving a negative review, your goal should always be to turn this review around - this sounds tough, but it is really rewarding.

In the majority of cases, merchants who leave a negative review have first tried contacting support for help. This is useful knowledge, as we can read through the conversation history, understand the issue the merchant experienced and share more details with them when we reach out, even from our first reply.

The process we have seen work well is:

• Create a new response (via email, or on a public review) with subject: Regarding your recent review for xxx.
• Start by introducing yourself, for example: "Hey there, This is Andrew from the team that develops xxx".
• Use empathetic language and make it clear that this negative review had an impact on you. For example, "I read your recent review for xxx and I am worried to hear that an issue is preventing you from using this plugin as you had in mind. I'd be happy to help you resolve this!".

Compare the above sentence with: "I am sorry to hear that you experienced an issue with xxx". "I am sorry to" indicates that you are saddened by an event, but don't necessarily plan to do something about it. In comparison, in "I am worried to hear", worry indicates action. Additionally, "That you experienced an issue" can be interpreted as if the problem is mainly the merchant's fault, whereas language like "an issue is preventing you from using this plugin as you had in mind. I'd be happy to help you resolve this!" implies you and the merchant are on the same team.

• Share more details, a solution, an idea, a suggestion or an explanation.
• Urge the merchant to update the review, by highlighting how important reviews are for our team and for other merchants. Example language to do this is "We would appreciate it if you could take a couple of minutes to update your review and describe your experience with our product and support. Honest reviews are extremely helpful for other merchants who try to decide if a plugin is a right fit for them. Thank you for your contribution!".
• Include a direct link to the reviews section, so merchants can easily navigate there and change their review.
• On a follow-up communication, if the merchant has changed the review, consider saying something like: "I shared this with the rest of the team and it made everyone's day".

If the above things are true, sharing some of your procedures with merchants (highlighting how your team emphasizes and thrives on feedback) helps ensure merchants feel like you are part of their team and builds a strong relationship with them.

Even a merchant that doesn't change their review can offer a mutually beneficial discussion by learning more about their setup and offering some suggestions. These conversations help grow merchants' trust.