How Personal Injury Firms Should Handle Negative Reviews

Whether it’s choosing a restaurant, a computer, or an attorney, today’s consumers depend on customer reviews to help them make decisions. This is especially true for personal injury law firms.

What are you doing to protect your online reputation?

Some law firms are skeptical of online reviews because they don’t have control over what people say. This is exactly why consumers trust reviews so much – after all, their peers have no reason to be dishonest.

While a positive review is always nice, negative reviews are inevitable for even the best law firms. If and how you respond to a negative review matters. Poor reviews are nothing to fear – in fact, using our tips, your response can change a negative into a positive.

Always Respond to Negative Reviews

More and more prospective clients are turning to Yelp to research a law firm before picking up the phone. This is true even if they were referred by a friend or liked your website. It’s important to keep your company profile current, and relevant to people looking for legal help.

Responding to a negative review can remove its sting. Not responding to an unhappy client can seem like you don’t care, and allows that person to have the last word. A measured response is an opportunity to say something nice about your law firm, and reaffirm your marketing message.

When done right, your reply will create context and defuse the power of the review.

Always Respond Appropriately

Responding inappropriately to a negative review will make the situation worse. It is natural to become angry or defensive when you receive poor feedback, so it’s important to pause before preparing your responding.

An aggressive, insulting, or demeaning response not only angers the reviewer, it’s also a red flag to potential clients. Imagine if you were selecting a restaurant for dinner and you see the manager respond rudely to a reviewer. Would you still want to eat there? A potential client will feel the same about their personal injury attorney.

Review Response DON’TS:

DON’T demean the reviewer

How do you want your past clients to remember you? How do you want prospective clients to view you? Keep this image in mind when you are responding to reviews publicly or privately. Do not put down, insult, or condescend to the person who left the negative review.

DON’T lose professionalism

You still have a professional duty to past clients. Remember you were or still are their attorney, so don’t publicly reveal any aspects of their case. Remember, future clients as well as the reviewer will be reading your response. Don’t forget about the qualities prospective clients want in their personal injury attorney.

DON’T use all caps

All caps is perceived online as yelling. Would you yell at a client in real life? Would you want potential clients seeing you yelling at a client in real life?

DON’T sue clients

Suing clients almost always backfires. Lawsuits of that nature are very difficult to win, and frankly, are not worth your time. They’re also a matter of public record. Nearly every time, suing a client about a review creates more negative publicity for your firm than the review itself.

Review Response DO’S:

DO respond

Not responding to a review makes it seem like you don’t care about your law firm’s reputation. Responding to a negative review is all about showing future clients you care. They’re the ones who will be reading your response, even more so than the person who left the original review.

DO try to contact the client privately

After calming down, your first action should be to privately contact the client to address their concerns. If you can find the client’s phone number, call them. The issue may be an easy fix, and the reviewer may revise his or her old review to reflect the change in circumstances. Even if the issue is not resolved, at least the client knows you are responsive to their concerns.

DO acknowledge the reviewer’s feelings

Regardless of what really happened, the way the reviewer feels about the situation is real to them. You don’t need to say their version of events are true, but you do need to acknowledge the way the reviewer feels about them. For example, your response could include phrases similar to “I am sorry for your experience” and “Thank you for telling us your concerns.”

DO say something positive about your firm

Remember, review sites are a marketing tool for your law firm. People interested in hiring you will be looking at these reviews. When you respond to a negative review, throw in a positive comment about your firm, like your commitment to securing maximum value for clients or that your team is always looking for ways to serve clients better.

Prospective clients reading your reviews are savvy. They can tell the difference between a fake review and a real one, and crazy people from sane people. Do not fear bad reviews – a negative review or two nestled among a healthy amount of positive reviews will bring more authenticity to your page. Properly managed, your firm’s reviews will reinforce your law firm’s reputation in the community and will lend credibility to your marketing strategy.