With Social Media Day (30 June) just around the corner, it’s a great time to refresh your memory on how to respond to comments about your business online. Whilst online reviews might not be the first thing to jump to mind when someone says “social media”, they’re a pretty important part of what consumers want to see when they search for you. This means you need to be armed with the right word ammunition to really make your responses count.
Here, Yelp has put together a quick guide to help you nurture your responses to positive, neutral and negative reviews: ranging from a glowing 5 star to a not so thrill-making 1 star.
First things first: a few basic pointers…
You can respond to both your negative and positive reviews on Yelp for free either on your desktop or using the business owner app. You’re also able to respond to each review either privately or publicly.
A private message is rather like a personal email and is only visible to that individual reviewer and you.
The other option is a public message which is visible to everyone and shows other users that you take feedback seriously. For the very rare occasion where you believe that a review looks to be violating the Yelp terms of service, flag it manually and one of the team will look at it.
5 star
This is the golden chalice of the review world; the creme de la creme of written words! This customer couldn’t ask for better and your business really delivered when it mattered. A private or public response is appropriate so choose whichever avenue works best for you. Keep your response straightforward and simple and be sure to thank them for taking the time out to write about your business.
Tip! Don’t be generic – pick something out of their review to comment on. For example, if they liked the seafood platter you could say, “We’re glad you liked our seafood platter. Our head chef Tom goes to Billingsgate Fish Market every morning to select which ones end up on every plate.”
4 star
A 4 star review is a fantastic achievement – so never forget it! Use the same techniques as for the 5 star reviews. Keep it short and sweet, friendly and diplomatic, and you’ll be on a journey to review responding perfection.
Tip! Resist the urge to draw attention to any nitpicks, as you don’t want customers to focus on the negatives, just the amazing positives! If a customer says, “I had an amazing time but I’d like the place to be open longer on a Friday,” it’s fine to leave this unanswered and just focus on all the other great stuff they had to say about your business.
3 star
First things first. Don’t ever feel that a 3 star review is a negative one. It is not. It means your customer had a good or neutral experience. Thank the customer for their business and their feedback and mention any changes you might have made based on their review.
Tip! Add a useful piece of information to your review, like this, “Thanks for coming to check us out and for the feedback. We listened to your review and we now have a happy hour that runs all night on a Thursday!” Providing this fact will alert that consumer, and others visiting your page, to any updates.
2 star
Almost every business will receive negative feedback at some point down the line, and it’s very important to be OK with the fact that it’s just part of business life. That said, if you do find yourself with a negative review – always be the bigger person. Thank the customer for their business and feedback. Be detailed about a customer’s experience and mention any changes you’ve applied as a result of the review.
Tip! If you’re upset – log out and come back 24 hours later. You don’t have to reply immediately.
1 star
Even though around 80% of the reviews on Yelp are positive, you may get the odd one star review along the way. Exercise extreme caution when responding to a less than positive review. If this customer had a bad experience – you need to respond very, very carefully. We recommend contacting your customer with a private message first to resolve any issues. Ask for more information and see if you can take it offline – perhaps with a phone call if the customer is willing. If you still feel a public comment is necessary, keep it short, pleasant, and as specific as possible.
Tip! Get a friend, family member or colleague to read over your response and tone it down if necessary. Remember that consumers tend to look at your response as much as the review – so tread carefully! If you’re looking for some examples of how other business owners respond to reviews – check out Ms Cupcake or The Jones Family Project.
About Yelp
- Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics.
- Yelp had an average of approximately 142 million monthly unique visitors in Q1 2015.
- Yelpers have written over 77 million local reviews.
- In addition to reviews, you can use Yelp to find events, lists and to talk with other Yelpers.
Every business owner (or manager) can setup a free account to post photos and message their customers.