Help! My Law Firm Received a Negative Google Review. What should I do?

As a law firm, your reputation is everything. Clients must place 100% trust in your team’s legal knowledge. When you receive even one bad review, it feels like you’re moving in the wrong direction. 

So, what should you do when you receive a bad Google review? The team at LaGrande Marketing shares the top three action steps we recommend to our clients in most situations. 

1) Don’t Panic

A new review is always exciting–until you see you’ve been given one star out of five. You don’t recognize the name. You shake your head in disbelief as you read the review with consternation.

Most bad reviews don’t adequately explain the reason for the reviewer’s dissatisfaction. That can leave you frustrated, confused, and panicky. The most important thing to do is to stay calm. 

Don’t respond to the review until you’ve had a few days to think it over. In the heat of the moment, you might feel tempted to write an immediate explanation defending your firm, but this approach usually backfires. Instead, take a few deep breaths and move on to the next step. 

2) Responding to the Review

When you receive a bad Google review you have two primary options for handling it, depending on whether or not you recognize the person’s name. 

  • If you know who the reviewer is, call and ask them to explain their negative experience. Kindly apologize for the inconvenience and offer anything to correct the problem. Then ask if they would consider removing the review. People often don’t realize they can resolve their issues without complaining online.
  • If you don’t know the reviewer, dispute the comment from the review platform. All platforms, including Google, allow you to “dispute” poor reviews to prevent spammers and opposing parties from slandering your name. 

3) Focus on Your Offense 

One poor comment means nothing if you have hundreds of positive reviews. When you deal with clients daily, people expect a few unsatisfactory experiences. Maybe the client had a bad day, or maybe you were feeling off; either way, it’s okay to have a few bad reviews if you have a strong track record of success. 

That means the most important step is to focus on each positive review you collect to prove that the one bad one doesn’t represent your firm’s name. Acquiring good reviews from all your satisfied clients can seem like a daunting task, but the results make it one of the most worthwhile things you can do for your firm. 

Need Help Handling Reviews? Contact LaGrande Marketing 

If you searched for “What should you do when you receive a bad Google review?” you’ve already taken your first step toward improving your ratings. We understand that receiving a poor review feels like getting backstabbed.

At LaGrande Marketing, we can help you collect more positive reviews to improve your firm’s reputation. To get started or learn other ways we can assist with your marketing efforts, contact us at (972) 236-5750.

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