How to deal with bad app reviews

Mobile app developers often face the problem of bad app reviews, especially when they are promoting the app. The review of users can have a strong impact on the success of your app. App developers should remember that reviews are not set in stone and they can do a lot to resolve and prevent bad app reviews. Proper planning is the best way to deal with bad app reviews.

 

People are less likely to download something with low rating. It is both time consuming to push the ratings back, once poor reviews exist. Users tend to lose patience and move towards something different to meet their needs. It is must to ensure that both the paid and free apps should have solid reviews to succeed in the app store.

 

 

Here are a few things you can do to prevent or combat with bad app reviews.

• Go through the reviews in detail

It is important to go through all the reviews, regardless of their nature. Embracing the review as opportunity will make it much easier. Look at the negative reviews with amazement and respect. Imagine yourself in the position of reviewer. How many times in life you would take time to reach out and tell businesses about their flaws? Your app customers are the ones who want you to know the flaws of your app and help you improve the app.

 

• Don’t be defensive

In order to avoid criticism, people often make the mistake of becoming defensive. When you tend to become defensive, you are ignoring the customer’s point of view. Being on opposite side of an issue, especially with the customer can spoil the relationship — rather than finding a solution. The best way is to observe the emotions and tamp down defensiveness that arises.

 

• Get better reviews

People can be stubborn and difficult to understand. Remember that you can’t change the bad review, but can focus on making the game better by asking 5 star reviews from your followers. There are many tools and software programs that help you find happy customers before you send a pop up message. Getting bad reviews is a learning experience. Looking into negative reviews will help you improve the app further. You may get 10 amazing reviews after improving your app.

 

• Release updates

Negative reviews are not meant to criticize you, but will help you make necessary changes. You can deal with negative reviews by fixing the bugs as soon as possible and releasing an update. You can inform the users by adding a pop-up window with message such as – “bugs fixed”, “stability improved” and so on. You can ask the users to re-write the reviews for your app. This action will help you deal with negative reviews effectively.

 

• Make apology

There are some customers who are always unsatisfied no matter what you do. It is of no use to get into endless controversy with an unhappy customer. Just make an apology and reply like – “sorry for the inconvenience caused”, “thank you giving up an opportunity to fix this issue” and so on. This will help you to stop them from posting negative reviews. They can even change their mind and post positive reviews.

 

• Divert unhappy customers

90% of the unhappy customers will never say a word, and will never come back. They will either uninstall the app or move on to another app. App developers invoke unhappy customers by asking them to rate their app. You can filter unhappy customers easily by using different tools and ask them to send feedback without touching the ratings record in the app store.  This way you can stop them from positing bad reviews in the app store. You can even ask them to fill feedback form to figure out why they dislike the app.

 

• Get in touch with the users

Staying in touch with the users will help you reverse the bad app review. Sometimes, users give bad review due to misunderstanding or a confusion that can be mitigated with explanation. Dealing with bad reviews is a bit touch, as it is difficult to get in touch with the reviewer. App stores allow the developers to reply to the reviews and stay in touch with the reviewer. To deal with a couple of bad reviews, all you need is a small explanation.

 

• Watch negative reviews daily

The best way to combat negative reviews is to check them on a daily basis. Negative reviews can pile quickly, especially after a newly discovered bug or recently released update. By constantly watching the negative reviews, you can take action quickly and prevent more reviews from popping up. When the user brings negative reviews to you, you should first try to understand why he/she is upset. Let the customer express their feelings. This will deepen your understanding and help you make the app better.

 

App developers should not take the conversation private until and unless it is difficult to handle. Take a few conversations private, especially with frustrated customers. It is imperative to make sure that the app users know what to expect.

The list goes on and there is plethora of ways to deal with negative app reviews. Hopefully, the above tips will help you combat bad app reviews. If you have got other suggestions, please share in the comments below.