How Cloutly Helps You Handle Negative Feedback (Before It Becomes a Public Review)

Worried about negative reviews? You’re not alone, but Cloutly has you covered.

Our platform includes a Google-compliant, private feedback channel that gives unhappy customers an opportunity to contact you directly before they leave a public review. This helps you resolve issues quickly, retain customer relationships, and protect your reputation, all while staying within Google’s review policies.

How It Works

When you send a review campaign through Cloutly, customers will see an additional button beneath your review links that says:

“Have a problem? Contact us directly”
or
“Need help? Contact us directly”

This button is always included as part of your review page. It’s completely optional for customers — but if they’re dissatisfied or have an issue, they’ll often choose this route before posting a negative review.

Step 1: Customers Click the Feedback Link

If a customer clicks the “Contact us directly” button, they’ll be taken to a simple, branded feedback form (see screenshot below) where they can share their thoughts privately.

The form asks for:

• A short message about what went wrong or how their experience could have been improved
• Their name and email address (optional)
• Permission to be contacted
• (Optional) Photos or videos to provide context about the issue

Step 2: Feedback Goes Straight to You (Not Publicly)

Once the form is submitted, that feedback is sent directly and privately to your business. It does not appear online or affect your review rating in any way.

You’ll receive:

• 📩 An email notification with the details
• 🔔 A dashboard notification inside Cloutly
• 📥 The feedback itself in your Inbox, where you can reply and resolve the issue

Step 3: Respond and Resolve Quickly

This private feedback channel gives you the chance to fix the situation before it becomes public.

It’s often easier to turn a disappointed customer into a promoter if you engage quickly and proactively.

Many businesses use this opportunity to:

• Apologise and offer a resolution
• Ask for a second chance
• Clarify misunderstandings
• Turn negative experiences into positive word-of-mouth

Why This Matters

Negative reviews don’t just impact ratings — they can also hurt trust, conversions, and revenue. Cloutly’s private feedback form is designed to:

✅ Reduce the risk of negative public reviews by giving customers a safe, private place to vent or ask for help.

✅ Improve customer relationships by showing you care and respond when things go wrong.

✅ Stay fully compliant with Google and review platform policies (we never “gate” reviews — we just give customers a contact option).

Pro Tip: Best Practices

• Respond quickly: Most customers leave a bad review only after feeling ignored. A same-day response can make all the difference.
• Thank them for the feedback: Even negative comments help you improve. Acknowledge their input.
• Resolve, then follow up: Once the issue is fixed, you can politely ask if they’d be willing to update their review or share a positive experience next time.

Google Compliance: Why This Feature Is 100% Policy-Safe

Cloutly’s private feedback form is carefully designed to stay fully compliant with Google’s review policies and the broader platform guidelines used by other sites.

Here’s how it works and why it’s allowed:

✅ It’s Not Review Gating

Review gating means pre-screening customers to only ask happy ones for reviews. This is prohibited by Google. Cloutly does not gate reviews. Every customer — happy or unhappy — is presented with the same opportunity to leave a public review.

The “Contact us directly” option is simply an additional pathway for those who prefer to speak privately first. It does not hide or block the review request.

✅ Review Requests Are Unbiased

All customers receive identical messaging and review site links. The contact form is placed below those links, so it’s always presented as a secondary option — not a replacement.

✅ Customer Choice Comes First

We never prevent, discourage, or dissuade anyone from posting a review. We simply give them a compliant and transparent way to contact your team if they choose to do so.

✅ This Is Best-Practice Reputation Management

In fact, many review platforms encourage businesses to offer direct support channels before or alongside review requests. It improves customer satisfaction, reduces public disputes, and often leads to better long-term ratings.

Key Takeaway

Cloutly’s private feedback form is not a workaround — it’s a customer-centric, policy-aligned feature that helps you resolve issues while staying 100% within Google’s and other platforms’ rules.

You can confidently use it as part of your review collection strategy, knowing it won’t risk your business listings, search visibility, or review integrity.

Updated on: 30/09/2025