How to respond to negative reviews as a tradesperson

The review that costs you £10,000

One 1-star review on Google, left unanswered, costs the average tradesperson between £8,000 and £15,000 in lost business over 12 months.

That is not a guess. Research consistently shows that 94% of consumers say a negative review has convinced them to avoid a business — and that number goes up when the business does not respond.

But here is what most tradespeople do not know: how you respond matters more than the review itself.

A calm, professional response to a negative review signals to every future customer reading it that you are reasonable, accountable, and trustworthy. A defensive or aggressive response does the opposite.

The response that makes things worse

Here is what not to do:

"This is completely unfair. We did everything we agreed and the customer kept changing their mind. Do not believe this review."

Even if every word is true, this response tells potential customers: this tradesperson gets defensive when things go wrong. I do not want to deal with them.

The response formula that works

Every good review response has four parts:

1. Acknowledge — thank them for the feedback, do not argue with the facts yet 2. Apologise — for their experience, not necessarily for wrongdoing 3. Explain — briefly, calmly, your perspective 4. Resolve — offer to discuss offline

Example:

"Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, Mrs Thompson. We are sorry to hear you were not fully satisfied with the work. We take all feedback seriously and would like to understand more about your concerns. We carried out the installation to current regulations and left the property clean on completion, but if there are any outstanding issues we are always happy to return and discuss. Please contact us directly on hi@draftedapp.co.uk and we will do our best to resolve this. Mike, MJ Plumbing Services"

This response does three things: it shows professionalism, it gives your side of the story calmly, and it invites resolution — which often results in the reviewer updating or removing their review.

For completely unfair reviews

Sometimes reviews are simply false. A customer you never worked for, a competitor, or someone with a personal grudge.

In this case, report the review to Google (they do remove reviews that violate their policies) and respond professionally regardless:

"We have no record of carrying out work for anyone by this name. We take our reputation extremely seriously and believe this review may have been left in error. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this directly — please contact us on hi@draftedapp.co.uk."

How Drafted helps

Drafted's Review Responder generates professional responses to any review in seconds. Paste in the review, choose your tone, and get a response that protects your reputation. Free on the basic plan.