Face it. You may be both empathetic and conscientious. However, you’re bound to eventually experience a negative comment. It will still happen. That’s because legal activities sometimes turn out to be uncertain. As a lawyer, you must deal with stressful situations. Plus, in some cases, you need to find the best “bad” solution to a case.
Therefore, some clients may have unreasonable expectations. However, once you build up a sufficient level of positive reviews, the tenor of the comments will improve.
Responding to Negative Reviews Online
If you spot a negative review online, the only way to respond is with a kind reply. You’ll also need to exert more effort to gain more positive reviews. Doing so will help you outweigh the negative responses over time.
Working toward making amends can ramp up your rating. For instance, you can turn a one- or two-star review into a 3-star or even 4-star comment. Sometimes, it really does pay to go out of your way to make things right.
How to Respond to Negative Comments About Your Law Firm
Never argue with a reviewer. Save your arguments for the courtroom. Attempting to defend yourself appears unprofessional. You want to show that your focus is on the client – not on defending yourself and your law firm.
According to the publication, Attorney at Law Magazine (AALM), you don’t have to reply with a long or drawn-out comment. A short reply is sufficient. Experts advise that it’s best to own up to a problem, if it’s legitimate, and thank the commenter for notifying you about the matter. If possible, offer a solution to the complaint. Or, simply direct the client to call or contact you by email privately.
Therefore, apologize for any substandard services that a client experienced with your firm. Again, doing so will tell the public your first priority is the client. You might also mention improvements that you’ve made in the meantime.
Remember your legal ethics. When you respond to a negative comment, you cannot disclose details about a case if the comment comes from a former client. You don’t want to expose a reviewer’s information even if the privilege has been waived. Treat the person as you’d wish to be treated if you, yourself, had a complaint.
Filling Out Legal Profiles Online
In some cases, you can drown out negative reviews online by profiling your firm and your background on sites, such as Lawline, Justia, or Avvo. A site, such as Justia, is more likely to increase your ranking than a site that features a rant from a dissatisfied client.
In some instances, negative reviews may come from people who consider themselves “citizen watchdogs.” This can turn into one online nightmare, so it’s helpful to make reputation management a priority.
By using the services of a digital marketing agency that offers reputation management services, you can keep your reviews positive and take care of any negative repercussions before they escalate or damage your legal site. Remember, positive reviews always diminish the effects of negative comments. It just takes time to make it happen.
Mastering Social Media Management
To heighten your reputation as a law firm, it also pays to establish your lawyer’s reputation on social media. You can either focus on your entire firm or highlight the individual reputations of the lawyers with whom you work. You might think of setting up multiple profiles so you can cross-promote your attorneys and their services.
You don’t need to establish a presence on every social media site. Choose one platform and focus on it instead. After you have built a large following, you can move onto a second platform.
When selecting a social media platform, you need to consider which platform your clients generally use. To find this out, spend some time on certain platforms and see where you receive the most connections.
You’ll need help from a digital marketing agency, as each social media platform has its own way of doing things. What works on Instagram, for instance, will not work on LinkedIn. Avoid pitching your firm on a platform or promoting its services. Doing so will jeopardize your standing.
Use hashtags for highlighting content and find similar content for engagement. Sometimes a thoughtful comment helps build your reputation more than adding a well-written post. People will click on your profile and end up, possibly, becoming future clients.
By being consistent with comments and posts on social media, you’ll enhance your legal reputation over time.
Expand Your Horizons
You might also look for ways to develop connections beyond your legal firm. Expanding your horizons in this respect will allow you to further develop your professional expertise and reputation.
For example, you might use podcasts to cement your standing online or build your reputation through interviews in prominent publications or through YouTube videos.
You might also affiliate your legal firm with a complementary company. Consider organizations that may serve your clients that are not direct competitors. If they already have a popular influence online, it will, no doubt, rub off on you.
Media assets, such as your own website, an email list, social media sites, or publications where you write guest posts, will help you maintain credibility as a firm. For instance, having your own website allows you to tell people about your legal services and your background, thereby enabling you to build trust over time.
You can also focus on writing valuable content and generating traffic to your site. When you use your lawyers’ names, Google will, after a time, begin to highlight your presence online.
Make it your goal to focus on client services and respond to all comments online. To help you make this happen, use a digital marketing agency that handles attorney reputation management on a regular basis. Aligning yourself with the firm will help you leverage your goals so you can earn people’s trust and increase your credibility.
Get Rid of Negative Comments – Who to Contact about Reputation Management Services Now
To ensure the best results, contact Attorney Marketing. Online right away. Give the company a call at (888) 992-9529 today.
