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January 7, 2018
How To Respond To Customer Reviews
Often while establishing business pages online, it is easy to forget that some platforms give users the option to review businesses. Pages like Google, Facebook, and Yelp, are amongst some credible review sources online. Reviews can skyrocket your business, or they can knock it down. Potential consumers are more likely to spend 31% more on a local business if it has outstanding reviews. If you live in a town that is small like Saint Petersburg, FL your reviews can mean everything to a local business. If you are in a big town, it can clearly differentiate you from your competitor down the street
Majority of people, about 92% of search engine users, will decide to use a business if it has at least an average of a 4 star rating (which if you read our article on SEO optimization services, you would know how important that initial visit is). Overall, 72% of consumers who used Google to search for a business or service-based their decision on the reviews of each business. So yes, online reviews are important when it comes to your business. What is even more important though? How you choose to respond to each review. Positive, negative, or neutral, no matter the kind of review, the way you respond can be very impactful on your business.
Responding To A Positive Review
Positive reviews are what you expect and hope to receive in order to be successful, so you don’t have to respond to every positive review. Most businesses do not have the extra time to do so, but it is great to respond to at least a decent amount of them. Expressing thankfulness and gratitude should be the first step while responding to a positive review. Show appreciation for the fact that a reviewer decided to leave a review and express happiness for them having a great experience in your establishment.
While responding, keep keywords in mind. This is an easy, quick way to increase your google rankings. Use relevant key terms, but keep them specific and limited. Specific key terms can improve your chances of being seen on a search page. If you want to create more credibility and trust for your target audience, use social media platforms to show off the highly rated reviews of your business. Using another form of marketing can also increase chances of showing up on a search engine, while also exposing your business on other platforms, which increases the chances of someone finding interest in your business.
Responding To Neutral Feedback From A Customer
Again, always start a response to a review by thanking the reviewer for taking the time to share their experience. If there are obvious positive remarks, repeat them in your response to reiterate the positive aspect of the review. For any negative remarks, see what you can do to turn their experience around and invite them back for a second try. If you can get that neutral review to be a positive review, it can instill more trust and credibility in your business, which will get more people walking through your door.
Responding To Negative Reviews
Negative feedback from a customer can frustrating for every business owner. Everyone wants to be above excellent and receiving critiques can be difficult when you feel you have put so much effort into your business. You have to be prepared for negative feedback, no matter what kind of business you own. Unfortunately, you cannot please everyone. Not everyone is going to like or enjoy your product or service and that is okay! You created it for a specific market.
Before responding, you must remind yourself of these things and then proceed calmly. Respond to a negative review first by at least apologizing for how they felt about their experience. Repeat any positive aspects the reviewer may have mentioned, then see what you can do to turn around their experience. Ask the reviewer for a form of contacting them so you can ask them more about their experience, what you could do to improve, and how you can make things right.
You could also apologize and send a gift card or give a discount towards their next purchase, so they will have the incentive to give your business another try. Do not do this in a way that seems like you are bribing them for business again; Do it in a way that is genuine so the customer knows you truly care about their feelings and experience with your business. Statistics show that 70% of unhappy customers return to a business if you fix the issue, but you can’t fix the issue without the proper response to the review.
Responding To Fake Reviews
It is estimated that about 15% of online reviews are spam or fake feedback. In fact, it is something Google is actively fighting. If the review is blatantly untrue, flag the review on the platform the “reviewer” wrote on. Do not respond to fake reviews unless the platform that the reviewer wrote on does not allow you to remove any reviews or flag them. If you are unable to flag the review or remove the review, respond kindly with certainty that you have not done business with that person.
Overall, it is difficult to respond to fake feedback about your business. You may not have the time, you may get frustrated, or you may not even know someone is leaving reviews about your business. Always do your best to check your pages on a weekly basis. Most reviewers expect a response within 7 days of posting the review. Customer Feedback have the ability to make or break your business. On one side of the spectrum, they can be a wonderful tool to provide trust and credibility in your business for your target audience. They can also increase your chances of being found on search engines. On the other side, negative feedback can always be turned around or they can push potential customers away, but you can’t expect to please everyone. Reviews are important, but knowing how to appropriately respond to them is vital.
While your focusing on how to get reviews on Google and Facebook and learning how to manage them, we suggest you pop over and learn about citations and how to get more exposure for your business or our Top 10 tools for entrepreneurs, one of our highest reviewed articles of all time.
