Article contributed by Marqii
It’s no secret that customers turn to online reviews to help them decide where they should have their next lunch, brunch, or work happy hour. Monitoring your reviews – and how you respond to them – might seem tedious, but it’s just as important as the reviews themselves.
Here are 5 mistakes restaurants should avoid making when replying to online reviews:
1. Responding only to positive (or negative) reviews
Replying to customer reviews should be a top priority for reputation-minded restaurant owners. Yet often, restaurateurs make the mistake of focusing only on positive or negative reviews. Sure, responding to five-star reviews with an expression of glowing gratitude feels great. After all, who doesn’t like a little appreciation for a job well done? However, one-star reviews can be just as influential as negative reviews and shouldn’t be ignored.
Every review is an opportunity to engage with a customer, strengthen your restaurant’s respectability, and convert potential guests into loyal customers. Regarding restaurant review management, it’s important to show customers you value all feedback – no matter how favorable or unfavorable the review.
2. Failure to respond quickly
Promptly responding to online reviews demonstrates your commitment to providing an enjoyable experience. Every review should receive a response within two to three days, if not the same day.
Suppose this task seems too daunting, or you’re dealing with a high volume of customer reviews. In that case, you can opt to utilize a review management software like Marqii to monitor and provide personalized and authentic responses to customer complaints and reviews.
3. Not responding at all!
If a customer leaves a review, responding is worth your effort. Whether good or bad, replying to customer reviews can help build brand loyalty and shows customers that you appreciate their feedback. In addition, your response provides potential and existing customers with an inside look at how you manage customer relations and can even encourage more business if done right.
Not every review will be helpful, and negative reviews can impact your brand reputation. However, no response at all is more damaging. Think of customer reviews as an opportunity to strengthen customer relations and thank every customer who leaves one – however unjustified!
4. Responding to negative reviews with hostility or defensiveness
Sometimes how you react to negative reviews is more influential than the review itself. When a customer leaves an unfavorable review, your first reaction might be to fight back. It’s understandable – constructive criticism can be challenging to accept!
Negative or low-star reviews can feel unfair and downright personal. Still, no matter how hurtful the review might be, refrain from writing a defensive or hostile response. Instead, formulate an empathetic reply, own responsibility, and offer a solution to remedy the issue. Remember your response is public and potential customers who discover your restaurant will be able to see how you handled a scathing review. Your response can make or break a reader’s decision to dine at your establishment.
5. Offering discounts or incentives to negative reviewers
Offering a discount or incentive to negative reviewers might seem like the best remedy for a poor customer experience, but relying on this approach can come across as disingenuous.
Generally, customers simply want to be heard. They want to know you care about their experience. Therefore, acknowledging the complaint, gathering more details on what went wrong, and providing a tailored solution to the complaint can help encourage dissatisfied customers to give your restaurant another chance.
In some cases, you can offer a special discount or an incentive to return; however, this shouldn’t be your go-to solution for all negative reviews.
We make restaurant review management a cakewalk.
Whether positive or not, responding to customer reviews will enhance your restaurant’s image, attract prospective diners, and strengthen your relationship with current customers. Improve your review management practices by partnering with Marqii, a digital review management platform for restaurants and the hospitality industry. We’re here to help you monitor and respond to customer reviews – the good and the bad – across multiple platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
Schedule a demo today and learn how Marqii can help you generate the positive reviews you deserve and increase your restaurant’s ratings and search results: https://marqii.com/schedule-a-demo
