Making the Best of Feedback by Responding (Instead of Reacting)
When someone criticizes your church online, your first instinct might be to defend, explain, or dismiss. But what if that review is an opportunity in disguise? What makes all the difference is choosing to respond rather than react. While reacting to negative reviews can lead to negative outcomes, responding creates an opportunity for growth and genuine connection. Brushing off criticism, casting blame, or responding with more negativity only plants seeds of distrust. Furthermore, your church’s reputation is at stake with every review you receive. So what should you do?
Responding means reacting favorably, which requires careful observation, consideration, and composure. It is a patient and strategic approach, with the potential to yield positive outcomes for all parties involved. Does it always? No, but the opportunity outweighs the effort. Let’s start with the first step in turning these negative reviews in your favor.
Step 1: Get to the Heart of the Matter
Before you get into any review (regardless of its leaning), keep this in mind: a negative church review isn’t a personal attack. In fact, it’s a snapshot of one’s own experience with your community. In most cases, it’s highly preferential and subjective. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to be gained from a negative (or positive) review.
Read feedback like a good detective: with curiosity, not defensiveness. What context is the reviewer expressing from? What was the primary issue they experienced? Is their feedback part of an isolated incident or occurrence outside of your control, or have others tried to address the same challenge? Did they leave any opportunity for a resolution?
Working through questions like these while reading negative reviews about your church can help you think more strategically and empathetically about what the reviewer is saying. If more context is needed, reaching out personally can turn a critic into a conversation (and maybe even a connection).
Step 2: Consider the Consequences
Now that you’ve read through the negative review and have a grasp of what took place, it’s time to consider what’s at stake. If nothing changes, nothing changes. Ignoring feedback leaves room for the same problems to repeat. This is not an effective way to resolve the review and misses the opportunity to grow and improve in service to your community.
There’s either a system that needs fixing or an individual who could benefit from coaching. While it’s easy to pin a problem on a person, first ask yourself: was the system built to support them? Was the individual given everything they needed to deliver consistently positive experiences? If the answer is no, it might be time to add more value to them and the rest of the team involved. This does your team a kindness and sets them up for success in their respective roles.
Whether the feedback was a reflection of your hospitality, the comfort of your space, the quality of your service(s), the content of your sermon, or even their ability to engage with your community programs, there’s something that could be drawn from the review that could help improve the overall experience.
Step 3: Take Action
At this point, you know what prompted the negative review, as well as what happens if you choose to ignore it. Now it’s time to do something about it. Reviews are how people signal whether a place is worth visiting. Church is no exception. When you decide to not only be consistent with what leads to a positive review but also address the obstacles that lead to negative reviews, you show that your church isn’t just a place to visit — It’s a place where people grow, and leadership grows too! It sends a signal to your community that you’re listening, you’re here to serve, and you’re not afraid of feedback.
Additionally, when you make it a point to take action on feedback, others will make it a point to share their positive outcomes more often. The very fortunate byproduct of a church that is open to receiving feedback and being reviewed is that they are more present on search engines and directories. Now, when members of your local community search, “churches near me”, you’re more likely to pop up!
Having feedback loops as a church is something to aspire to, not shy away from. The impact it could have on your ability to serve your community and reach others for Jesus is well worth the temporary discomfort it brings. Addressing feedback subjects you to a level of exposure that could leave you feeling vulnerable. Jesus called us to be the light in the dark. We aren’t meant to be hidden, but seen. Vulnerability isn’t weakness; it’s how the light gets out.
Want help turning your online reviews into real-world impact? Visit getignitd.com and hit the Let’s Talk button on the homepage!