Damage Control: Reacting To Bad Reviews Online

Good reviews are the lifeblood of your successful business. Five stars on Yelp! or a fabulous Facebook post translates into more customers and more money in your pocket.

It’s important to know that even the most successful businesses get some negative reviews, but the right response can bolster your brand and overpower that poor rating or angry tweet. Here’s our tips for handling unhappy customers.

Start with an apology

The customer is always right. It’s a cliche, yes, but an apology off the top demonstrates courtesy and professionalism. Sorry you didn’t enjoy your gourmet burger. We apologize that no one helped you find what you were looking for! We’re sorry that you found our music to be too loud.

Offer an olive branch

Next, you need another chance to win their business. Find a way to meet their needs and invite them back. We’ll speak with our chef about what happened. We’ll be sure to remind staff about our obligation to our customers! Thank you for bringing the music’s volume to our attention and we’ll look into correcting this.

Take it offline

The last thing you want is a public war of words going back and forth in the comments section on Google Reviews. Always offer to hop on a phone call so you can address the customer’s concern one-on-one. We’d love to make it up to you. Let us know how we can make things right. We’d love to get your thoughts on making our customers feel more comfortable.

Offer an olive branch

Next, you need another chance to win their business. Find a way to meet their needs and invite them back. We’ll speak with our chef about what happened. We’ll be sure to remind staff about our obligation to our customers! Thank you for bringing the music’s volume to our attention and we’ll look into correcting this.

Tell your story

It’s inevitable that you’ll encounter some dishonest people. Sometimes people will lie to get attention, smear the competition or even extort you for freebies. Don’t be afraid to call out the liars and tell the truth. Sorry but we have no record of your visit and you haven’t gotten back to us so we can verify the incident. Your review is inaccurate and you were very rude to our staff. There is no truth to your review and we have reported your comment as abusive.

Highlight the good

Highlight the good comments too. Like we said at the beginning, the right response can overpower the negativity. Try posting screenshots of great reviews or pictures of nice notes someone wrote on a receipt. Another satisfied customer...check out this comment left by a diner. Cheryl, it was all OUR pleasure to serve your family. Here’s an example of one happy customer who was impressed with our ability to accommodate their special dietary needs.