How to positively respond to negative feedback
According to a podium study, 93% of consumers say that online reviews impact their buying decisions and that the minimum rating they usually engage with is 3.3 stars. Responding to online reviews is as crucial as having these reviews because responding does not only build a positive online presence, it also encourages other consumers to leave their feedback and engage with your business. Online reputation is a valuable aspect of marketing. Positively responding to customers’ feedback can help you leverage your online reputation to grow your restaurant. The question is how would you respond to these reviews, whether negative or positive ones?
Below are 6 steps for you to follow in responding to both positive and negative feedback:
- Address customers by name
Unless the review is written anonymously, the name of the person should be stated in your response. Adding a human touch through addressing them by name while referring to their feedback, they can feel that it’s not an automated response, and that they’re talking to a human being who’s going to take care of their problem. It is worth noting that automated responses are also great in some cases. - Thank customers for sharing their feedback
Whether the review is good or bad you should thank the reviewer for leaving their feedback. Show your appreciation and make it personal and never neglect addressing and referencing specific things they mentioned. It is crucially important for the customer to feel that they are heard and that their review is taken into consideration. - Sympathize with customer’s problem
Sympathizing with your customer’s problem does not necessarily mean you agree but definitely showing them that you understand their frustration would help in their reaction and ease up the following conversation. - Solve the problem
In some cases, negative reviews do not come out of nowhere, there must be a reason why a certain customer rated your restaurant one star out of five for bad customer service. You should look into it and figure out the source of the problem and solve it as soon as possible to never be faced by another customer. You should also state it in your response that you appreciate their feedback and that you are working on it. - Offer a compensation
Try to give a reviewer a more positive impression of your business by asking them for a second chance; a free meal, a discount, free delivery or whatever that might get them to change their negative review and turn it into a positive one. - Ask the customer to change the review
By following the aforementioned steps, you can easily ask the reviewer to change the negative feedback. However, try not to be pushy or ask about it publicly. If given a second chance, the customer will most probably change it themselves.
Below is an example of how to respond to negative feedback.
You also have to keep in mind that reviews are usually left immediately following the experience, therefore, time is of great importance for you as the business owner. Try to respond as soon as the review is left on your website or google or social media and keep it short and sweet. This way you can make negative reviews a powerful source for your business.
Finally, managing reviews is not an easy task to do. It can get frustrating, confusing and complicated to manage. If you are struggling to maintain an online presence and you want to attract more customers to your business, POSRocket will help its customers to start managing online presence and reviews from a single dashboard. If you want to know how, click here.
