Is this a client or prospective client that looks familiar to you?
If so, we would suggest having you politely reach out to the reviewer directly by phone or email to see if there are some misunderstandings that could be cleared up, etc.
Then, below is a suggested approach you might consider:
- We suggest that you call the client or reach out via email first (if you recognize the reviewer as a client)
- We recommend not coming across as defensive, but rather being open to their feedback
- At the same time, you may want to ask questions or seek to clarify or gently correct errors
- If the reviewer seems open to working things out, perhaps offer to see if there is something you can do to improve and/or to have them reconsider the review
- Then, you may also want to respond via TaxBuzz or we can draft a response to post on your behalf
- In the reply, thank the reviewer for the feedback and let him/her know that you have many years of providing excellent service, have many satisfied clients, so you take feedback seriously.
- Apologize, if you feel it is warranted, that the reviewer was not completely satisfied with the experience
- At the same time, if you think there are errors in fact or criticism that is not warranted, you might gently find a way to briefly respond to this
- A good outcome is that he/she reconsiders and asks us to remove or amend the review
We would also recommend generating more 5-star testimonial reviews on your profile from your clients – doing so would push this negative review further down the page.
For many accountants and tax pros, if you work with enough clients and/or are in business long enough, negative reviews may someday show up online -- whether it is on Yelp, Google, TaxBuzz or otherwise. So this is an example of why it really does pay to be proactive in getting lots of great reviews!
At TaxBuzz.com, we do not verify the content of the posted reviews. All comments are the sole responsibility of those who post them. ClientWhys, Inc., (DBA TaxBuzz.com) refers our users to Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code, which holds that we cannot be held liable for the availability of the site or comments that are posted therein. If you have concerns about content that a reviewer has posted, email us at legal@taxbuzz.com and request that a client review undergoes our dispute process. If you would like to strengthen the impact of your profile, we suggest that you solicit reviews from clients past and present. The most recent reviews are placed at the top of the reviews on each individual profile.