Negative Amazon feedback can be devastating to your visibility as a seller.

Why? For starters, Amazon uses your feedback score when determining its much-coveted Buy Box algorithm. If that's not a good enough reason, your feedback rating is also publicly accessible to prospective and existing customers. This means that negative feedback could inhibit your ownership of the Buy Box and sabotage your efforts to build your brand.

How can you minimize the likelihood of negative feedback? A simple tactic involves responding to customers at a lightning-quick pace. Unfortunately, you're a busy person, which means a prompt response isn't always feasible.

Here are a few best practices for streamlining your customer response time, thereby reducing your risk of negative feedback. We'll also explain how to respond to negative feedback on Amazon.

Why Speed Matters

Let's start with a simple truth: there is a direct correlation between merchant responsiveness and feedback. Responding to buyer questions and concerns in a timely manner can positively impact your feedback rating.

Amazon doesn't just pay lip service to the importance of speed. While contact response time metrics are no longer displayed in your Seller Central account, the ultimate goal is to provide an excellent experience for buyers and Amazon still recommends acknowledging every email and phone call within 24 hours. It stands to reason that being communicative with buyers goes a long way toward delivering the world's most customer-centric experience.

Amazon Communication Tools

So, what steps can sellers take to ensure responses are provided within hours (rather than days)? Amazon offers several free communication tools to expedite the process. Most sellers already take advantage of auto-forwarded customer-initiated messages from their Seller Central accounts. Each time a seller responds from his or her own email inbox, a copy of the message is saved to the Seller Central "Sent messages" tab. Alternatively, sellers could download the Amazon Seller smartphone app, which provides another convenient messaging interface.

Either path bypasses the Seller Central login page, saving time and allowing for on-the-fly responses.

How to Respond to Negative Feedback on Amazon

Despite all of your best efforts to provide an unbelievable experience through streamlined communication, some customers may still decide to leave negative feedback. No matter how hard you try, negative feedback is an almost unavoidable byproduct of growing your brand on the Amazon marketplace. As eCommerce guru James Thomson points out, "the cloak of anonymity" makes it easy for buyers to give negative feedback. "They have never met you," he reminds us. "It’s up to you to make a positive impression that will establish a small relationship, to reduce the chance of negative feedback."

The good news is that negative feedback is not necessarily permanent. In fact, buyers have 60 days to change their minds and remove ratings.

Even better news is that our FeedbackFive tool automatically alerts you (via text and/or email) when customers leave negative feedback. Rather than waiting until the next time you log in to your Seller Central account, FeedbackFive immediately brings the issue to your attention. Many sellers take action quickly, seeking to resolve whatever went wrong for the customer.

Here's how to respond to negative feedback on Amazon:

Contact the Buyer: Amazon encourages you to contact the buyer individually to solve their concern. After the issue has been resolved, you can ask the buyer to update or remove their feedback. (Never pressure or incentive a buyer to modify or remove feedback.)

Post a Public Reply: Here's another way how to reply to negative feedback: You can also use the Amazon Feedback Manager to post a public reply to the feedback. This shows future customers that you are responsive and took action to solve the issue.

Consider Requesting Removal: If the negative feedback meets certain criteria, you may be able to request feedback removal.

Take Action While on the Go

If you're hoping to reduce negative Amazon feedback, here's the bottom line: continuously seek ways to improve your responsiveness, whether answering direct email inquiries or replying to negative feedback. Providing this type of unparalleled, personalized service is a key component for building a lasting Amazon reputation.