January 21, 2021

How to turn public criticism into sales #69

43 minutes

In this episode, the team talks about ways to turn negative feedback or criticism into sales for your online training business.

The Episode: How to Turn Public Criticism into Sales

Any business will have disappointed customers in some form or another. As online trainers, we experience this too, and this negativity often plays out for us in the form of a negative review in a group or forum. Although these can be tricky situations, they are actually great opportunities and can be used to benefit everyone involved in certain ways. By dealing with complaints or criticism in a caring way you can allow a dissatisfied customer to leave having had a positive experience; this is all about being clear on who your offer is specifically for and the process of dealing with negativity is a part of that journey.

In This Episode

Reframing feedback and healthy ways to deal with negativity in a forum [0:14:56]
A few specific examples of cases of criticism from the OTA groups [0:21:45]
Responding to bad reviews with context, useful information, and care [0:26:38]
Making things right by a disappointed customer or client [0:32:22]
The value of negativity and how this can help your sales [0:39:50]

“What is very, very important in any kind of a response, particularly a public response on social media, is understanding who you are responding to and who is going to see that response.” — Jonathan Goodman

Dealing with Negativity Directly

If you ignore and ban anyone who posts something negative in a group you will create more of a problem for yourself and your business. That person will then leave more upset, with a worse view of how you run things. It is much better to deal with complaints in a transparent way, trying to answer what has been raised, and taking responsibility for the dissatisfaction.

What to Include in a Response

No offer is for everyone, so complaints are inevitable at some point. Keep in mind who you are talking to and who will see your response, this can help you stay focussed on crafting the best communication possible. The first thing to do is to contextualize any comments, if you can do this, coupled with demonstrating the care you have for your offer and your customers, you can make progress towards allaying unnecessary negativity.

Clarity and Care for All Customers

Any training program will have tradeoffs, and in the end, you are not trying to convince everyone that your offer is for them. You want the right people to find you and your value. You need to make sure that even the people your package does not suit, leave feeling like they had a positive experience, and the most important part of this is to be clear on who your offer is for and who it is not.

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