It’s the end of a long day. You’re beyond ready to get home. Suddenly you get a notification. A dissatisfied customer has given your shop a nit-picky one-star review that paints you and your team in a negative (and, in your opinion, unfair) light. What do you do?

If your instinct is to fume, react defensively or ignore the post, you’re not alone. But if you want to stand out in an increasingly competitive field, a better approach is to take a deep breath, respond quickly and work to turn that disgruntled one-star reviewer into a loyal, five-star fan, says Sam Bowles, FSC, a longtime sales and service coach for FloralStrategies LLC.

“Online reviews and your online reputation are too important to ignore,” said Bowles, also the general manager of Allen’s Flowers in San Diego, citing research that shows that 88 percent of customers consult online reviews before making a purchase.

On April 3, Bowles presented “Master the Online Review,” an info-packed WebBlast that was free for Society of American Florist members. Fifty-four florists tuned in live for the session, which included a 20-minute presentation and a lively 10-minute Q&A session.

Among Bowles’ tips for retailers looking to improve their processes in the leadup to Mother’s Day:

Claim Your Listing. Foundational to any online review management process: You have to know where customers are reviewing you, and ensure you have access to the information on that site. “You need to claim your review and information pages” on all of the major review platforms, Bowles said, including Yelp, Google and Bing. “Once you’ve done that you can make sure your contact information is correct, and you can also update things like hours of operation for special holidays,” including Mother’s Day. Not sure how to claim a listing? Usually the sites include a link at the bottom of the page listing for your business. (Look for verbiage such as “Is this your business?”) Click the link to fill out ownership details.

Embrace the Dis. No one likes to get a negative review but take heart: If you respond proactively, you cannot only resolve one customer’s complaint, you can also build broader consumer confidence in your brand. According to Bowles, research shows that most consumers (81 percent) say it’s important for businesses to respond to reviews and 71 percent of customers will do business with you again if you resolve a complaint in their favor. Remember, because online reviews are public, your goal is twofold: Make the existing customer happy and — perhaps more important — show future customers that you are real, authentic and actively working to make sure mistakes are corrected.

SAF members have access to the entire session, which you can watch from the convenience of your shop or home at any time. Check it out here. 

While you’re on the site, you can also review the latest session, “Create and Implement Sales Boosting SEO” with Eric Wu of BloomNation. And, mark your calendar for Part III of this Mother’s Day Digital Strategies series with a session on Instagram best practices, headed by Jackie Levine of Central Square Florist in Boston on April 17 at 2 p.m. EST.

Mary Westbrook is the editor in chief of Floral Management.